Breeding and Sexual Maturity
Sexual Maturity:
Budgies reach sexual maturity at approximately 6 to 7 months old. Many breeders prefer to wait until they are about a year old before they breed.
Breeding Basics:
Breeding is not something that should be taken lightly. Budgies are prolific breeders, and before you know it, you could be stuck with two dozen birds.
You will also need to learn genetics and how splits work. This takes hours and hours of research and talking to several breeders in the business. Unfortunately there is so much misinformation out there on the internet, that a lot of the information you read is wrong. For example, some parrot breeders say tomatoes are safe, and some say that they’re not. I prefer to err on the side of caution and just don’t feed my birds tomatoes. This is the way it is in breeding. So many breeders do certain things and it works for them even though it’s generally not recommended. Inbreeding, for example. Some breeders do it, but it’s not something you should do because of the genetics of the animals and can cause health issues down the line. Inbreeding is very much frowned upon, yet some breeders do it. I do not.
Green series is the wild color and not a mutation. In the wild, Budgerigars are mostly green and yellow with black markings. All of the other colors are considered mutations. I’m not going to go into genetics because that would need a book and a scientist to explain it to you, but you will need to do tons of research before you jump headfirst into breeding, as it’s more than just pairing two pretty birds together and hoping for a mix of babies. And it also isn’t something that should be done without a basic knowledge of how genetics work and a knowledge of what the birds are split for. Especially since there are over 30 basic color combinations. My first breeding pair I got was a sky blue male and a cobalt violet opaline greywing female. I had no clue what they were possibly split for. It was just a trial to see if it was something that I really wanted to delve into. Five babies hatched out of my first clutch and I got this one boy who befuddled me. Turns out it meant that my male was split for both opaline and greywing. Now there are going to be breeders that discourage you from breeding with unknown genetics, and I get why they’re doing so. They want pure lines, and that is my goal as well, but don’t let that discourage you from breeding. Just do proper research before you get into it, and try to buy your breeding birds from reputable breeders that you can trust their genetics and not from a pet store.
Setting Up for Breeding:
What you will need is a nest box, aspen shavings, and patience. Now some breeders attach the nest box to their flight cage. I just sit mine inside their flight cage and attach a ladder to it. You will fill the shavings up enough to the point where once the babies are old enough to fledge the nest that they can climb out, but not high enough that they will fall out of the box while still babies. I attach a ladder to the outside of the hole on the nest box because I had left one day for a bit and my babies decided to fledge the nest, but couldn’t get back in, so now there’s a little ladder that they can walk back up and get in the nest should they fledge while I’m not home.
Bow Chicka Wow Wow:
Dad is going to check out the box first. It might take a few days to a few weeks. He’s going to inspect the outside, then slowly make his way inside. Once he feels that it is safe and secure, he will get the female to come in as well. They normally will mate inside the box but sometimes they’ll mate outside as well on a steady perch. Make sure you have a steady perch in the cage for this. After a few days mom will start laying her eggs. She will lay between four to six eggs, sometimes more, every other day or so. When the first is laid she might ignore it and not sit on the eggs until the second one has been laid. After that the majority of her time will be spent in the nest box. The dad will eat and regurgitate to feed her and the babies after they have hatched. It normally takes between 18-25 days for the eggs to hatch.
Handling Eggs/Babies:
If you want to candle the eggs to see if they are fertile, just be careful as they can crack under the least amount of pressure. It’s best to just write down the date when they were laid and let nature take it’s course. I try not to mess with the eggs too much. You just want to make sure they are getting proper nutrition and vitamins during this process. Laying eggs is a lot of work. Feeding babies is draining on both mom and dad. Besides, you want those babies to get the healthiest food they can get. This is why birdie bread and chop (chopped vegetables and fruit) are so important during this process. You will need to provide extra seed, extra chop/bread, and extra vitamins like calcium during this process. Also scrambling some eggs with the egg shells crunched up in it is very nutritious. Fry it in a safe oil like coconut or red palm oil, and make sure that it is organic.
Once the eggs hatch, you will hear them chirping from time to time, and mom and dad will spend the majority of the time in the nest box taking care of them. Dad will come out to eat and then go help mom feed the babies. Some people like to hand feed, but I do not agree with it. Birds have been taking care of their babies since the dawn of time, and I prefer to let them handle the upbringing. People say that hand feeding means you have tamer birds. I disagree with that. I also believe that when the parents raise their babies, that they are healthier and stronger. So I will only hand feed if the parents reject the babies, which can happen, and you should be prepared for that just in case with hand feeding formula.
After about two weeks they’ll start spending less and less time in the nest box. Dad will be doing the bulk of the work at this point. Keep feeding an excellent diet of seeds, millet, chop, birdie bread, vegetables, and nutrients. At about this time of two weeks you can start handling the babies daily to start taming them. If you have an aggressive parent(s) then you might have to wait until they fledge the nest. This is a judgment call that you will have to make based on the parents behaviors. Be prepared to have to pull the babies to hand feed. Have a separate brooder that you can set them up in just in case. You will need a heat source and learn how to hand feed. You can easily find resources on Google and YouTube to help you out with this.
Fledging:
At about a month the babies will start to venture out of the nest. This is an exciting time, and yet an anxious time. You will need to pay close attention for the next month as they wean. The parents will slowly stop feeding them and they start to eat out of the food bowl. They should be fully weaned by eight to nine weeks old, but some babies might still need to have what is called “comfort feedings” at that age. So it’s best not to pull them too soon. My first experience was different with my parrotlets. The babies were fully weaned at six weeks old and the parents were starting to nip at them. I had to pull them early but thankfully they did very well. What I did was pull them throughout the day for a few days and then put them in at night for any comfort feedings. I did this for about three to five days until I pulled them completely out. Again though, this is a judgement call on the behavior of the parents and babies. I did what was best in my situation, but my experience might be completely different from yours. You just need to do what you think is best for your birds. I could tell mom and dad were getting tired of all of the babies in there so I made a judgment call that worked for them. And each clutch could be completely different. What worked before might not work again. That’s why it’s best to do your research, friend some breeders and listen to what they have to say. I’ve thankfully had the help of several people on Facebook to help me out during my first time breeding.
It’s Not Always Easy:
Like I said above, breeding isn’t something that should be taken lightly. Breeding pairs can kill each other, kill their babies, pluck their babies, destroy and eat their eggs, and it can be quite emotionally draining. You need to be prepared for the worst, while hoping for the best. It can be heartbreaking when you get your hopes up and wake up one morning to destroyed eggs or body parts among the aspen. I don’t know why they do this. Maybe they sense that the eggs are bad, maybe they think the babies won’t make it. No one really knows why, but it can happen. Don’t let it get you down.
Hand Feeding:
The temps need to be maintained at a steady temp (buy a temp gun from your local home improvement store for accurate readings), and they have to be fed at a certain angle or they can aspirate and die. They also need to be fed on a schedule which might have you waking up every hour or two throughout the night to feed. This is part of why I choose not to hand feed unless absolutely necessary. You will need to be available 24/7 to care for their needs.
Finding Them Homes:
So now that you’ve bred your birds and raised your babies, now you want to sell them. Well first off, you will need to follow your local City/State laws in what you will need to be able to legally sell them. I live in Florida and to sell birds and other exotic animals, I have to have a permit from Florida Fish & Wildlife as well as a business license for my county or any county I do business in. I also have to have either an LLC/Corporation/DBA/Fictitious Name Registration for my business name. These permits and licenses cost me well over a $150 each year. That’s just the business aspect of it. You will need to advertise either locally or online. I use social media and advertise in groups on there, but you need to be prepared with extra cages in case you are stuck with your babies for an extended amount of time. You could be stuck with the babies for quite some time.
Also, as a reputable breeder, you need to do research about what type of homes that your birds are going to. I ask questions and gauge my customers responses to decide if my animals are the right fit for them. Parrots are a great pet, but sometimes their behaviors won’t mesh well with the hopes and dreams that a customer thinks they can be. They see these cute videos of them talking and think every bird is like that. This is why I say on my Bird Purchase Agreement that “previous temperament is not always an indication of future temperament”. Sometimes birds aren't the right fit, especially for those living in apartments. It’s best to find that out prior to selling them instead of getting a frantic message from your customer freaking out about their behavior. This is also why I created this site, to spread information about these awesome little birds. It is up to you to decide if they are the right fit. It should never be about the money, but the joy of raising and having an amazing creature that can bring joy and happiness to their lives.