N.D. Animal Care
2nd Year
Thursday, 03 June 1999
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY PRINCIPLES
Breeding Programme: Budgies
Introduction
The Animal I have chosen for this assignment is a small parakeet. The common name is Budgerigars or Budgie and the scientific name is Melopsittacus undulatus. Budgies originated in the continent of Australia where they still live in gigantic flocks. It was the corruption of the Australian Aboriginal name Betcherrygah, meaning ‘good food’, into budgerigar that became the most popular name.
Breeding Factors
When choosing a budgie to breed from choose the best one you can afford, never breed from a bird that has the following disorders:
· French molters
· Wry-necks
· Drooping wings
· Deformed bills
· The bird is a ‘runt’
This is because any birds in the wild with these disorders would have died before been able to breed.
It is also best not to use albinos, lutinos etc. if you are new to breeding budgies as the birds less chance of survival than the ‘normal’ strains such as green or blue.
The birds should be broad-chested, large-headed, straight-tailed, active birds. It is best to get proven breeding pairs or young adults
When picking pairs be sure to get equal numbers of each sex. Try to get birds that are around the same age – ideally one or two years old.
The Care of the Stud Male and Rearing Offspring to Independence
A male’s cere (a waxy fleshy covering at the base of the upper beak) should be cobalt blue (the females is mahogany brown). The male will require no additional food supplement or living quarters during breeding.
There are two ways of breeding budgies, in colonies or in breeding cages, in breeding cages there is a male and female budgie in a small cage with a breeding box attached to it. I do not like this method and will not use it, ad the budgies can not express their normal natural behaviour. I prefer colony breeding as it is more natural and the budgies get to choose their mates.
When breeding budgies it is best to have at least 3 pairs within sight of seeing and hearing each other, this is because budgies like noise and other budgies to breed with as they are a community bird, this is especially true with colony breeding. You should also have a least one spare nest box, but it is better to have two nets boxes per pair, this is to stop ‘squabbling’ between budgies and also so they can choose their site.
Male and the female will guard their nest with parental devotion
Budgies often mate early morning and you are often unlikely to witness the mating. It is possible that one mating will provide sufficient sperm to fertilise all the eggs in the clutch. It is also possible that subsequent matting might be necessary to ensure the eggs develop. In a colony a hen bird might accept courtship from another male. This is why some books advise beginners to keep only one homozygous colour or bird, so you will not ‘mongrelised’ the colour.
After the eggs have hatched, the breeder should ensure the concave in the nest-box is kept clean and not many dry faeces and no wet faces or punky wood. The parents will do most of the work, the hen will keep them warm and feed them, every four to six hours, if she does not get some pabulum and glucose into the little chick and it might get strong enough to demand parental feeding. Budgies feed their young by regurgitating the food in the crop. The male budgie will feed his mate as she is brooding the crop.
Young budgies will return to the nest-box constantly, they will look around and then return to their place of security - the nest box, especially if they are frightened, tired or cold. Young budgies like the security of the nest box and should never be deprived of it. You can put an additional nest box in the aviary. The adults will probably move into the new box and leave the chicks with their old birthplace. The chicks will still get some food from the male.
When the chicks are venturing out you should put more millet in the food bowls because this is easier to hull than canary seed and that should help the youngster feed itself.
I would not advise hand-rearing because it is not usually necessary. If a bird is not been fed and you want to hand rear it, you have to remember that it will take up a lot of you time as the bird will need feeding every few hours, for quite a few weeks until it can eat and drink itself. When the hand-reared bird is adult it will probably be a confused bird, not to sure weather it is human or bird, this is stressful for the bird, it is unlikely that it will ever breed.
Conclusion
Breeding budgies can be an exciting and interesting hobby, but you need to have a good knowledge of how to do it before putting the boxes up. It is also advisable to read more than one book as different authors have very different opinions.
Reference List:
Breeding Budgerigars, Mervin F. Roberts (1984), T.F.H. Publications
Encyclopedia of Cage & Aviary Birds, Cyril H. Rogers (1975), Pelham Books