Colonizing
Future BreedersColonizing
Future Breedersby D. Marlena
There is much to be said pro and con about housing potential breeders in large pens together. For mating and bonding of young birds, I have found colonizing to be a positive tool, but never rewarding for breeding. I recommend purchasing young stock and letting them mature in their permanent environment. This is especially true with cockatiels, budgies, lovebirds and other small hookbills.
It is also wise to have a few more males than females if possible so the hen can have options. This is a period of time that you will find remarkable personality traits and behavior resembling the human species.
I once had an absolutely beautiful Lutino English Bugerigar hen and she knew it...she was also a little tramp! This was a test trial of colony breeding. Little miss gorgeous had mated up with a less handsome dude, but he adored her. He worked hard preening her feathers and collecting food and feeding her. Total loyalty on his part. But alas there was a strutting macho playboy in the pool that visited around. Missy was smitten with his charm and when her mate was out of the nest hustling food, playboy would dash over and she would let him into the nest. Poor old faithful stood by while she hatched fledglings that was identical to both males.
"Go figure!" While this was not a common problem as most hookbills mate with only one and for life, I did find interference from both males and females disturbing nests.
I have also run small tests of cockatiel/budgie combined colonies. Again I experienced an unexpected phenomenon. One young inexperienced cockatiel pair sometimes neglected their clutch. I found a budgie over working himself trying to fill the baby cockatiels. Because he was so devoted to them I allowed him to continue, but I took over most of the supplemental feeding. He seemed to appreciate my help with the fast growing babies and we all became close bud's.
Individual cage breeding is more desirable and productive. One good way of selecting your pairs is to watch which two are preening and feeding each other. If there are several birds in one pen, arm yourself with a spray bottle that puts out a fair stream (not one that is harsh and able to injure the birds) of water. When the couple is close together, spray both. Then you can go into the pen and take out the pair that has been sprayed.
I have found individual breeding cages the most beneficial by far to all birds including canaries and finch. Some exotic finch require special environments, so I don't recommend a novice to begin with these birds. Breeding a few canaries can be a delight to the beginner or expert. Off season canaries can be housed in colonies enabling them to have a social life and most of all proper exercise.
Most areas of the United States use Valentines Day as a guideline to separate the hens into breeding cages. These cages are relatively small with a divider in the middle. The male (cock) is kept on one side and the hen on the other. When the female makes friendly overtures toward the adjoining male, it is usually time to place him in her area, where a nest and nesting material has been provided.
You should familiarize yourself with the anatomy of a canary and that will aid in your knowledge of the proper breeding time. When both are out of season, the male often quits singing and both have distinctive changes in the ventral areas. Both male and female vents will begin to look alike in non-breeding seasons. When the male comes into song his developing male organ will have a definite protrudence. The female will have a more rounded and enlarged vent enabling passage of eggs. A little time and experience will soon have you being a pro in knowing when to set your birds together.
If breeding takes place earlier in the season you will be sure to get a second nesting before hot weather sets in. When it becomes too hot, birds usually will molt (shed their feathers) and stop breeding. Many hens will abandon their nests. Naturally the heat is very hard on mom and babies. Your library can probably supply you with good information regarding the many questions you may have.
If you live in a very hot area you will need to adjust your breeding schedule for all birds, as heat build up in nests cause many deaths of babies and abandonment's by parent birds. This applies to all species. Winter and very cold areas also have unique situations.
Most birds require heated housing areas which can be implemented in different ways depending on severity of coldness and species of birds. Research is the most important criteria in decisions made regarding raising birds or having as pets. Climate and atmosphere will be discussed in later articles.
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