GCC Not Breeding

[Sophie]

Hi everyone! I am new here and haven't been on a bird form in quite a while. I used to breed budgies for show, and have bred cockatiels in the past as well. After getting my own gcc conure as a pet, I decided to upgrade to a pair of breeding birds as well.

My name is Sophie. I live in Adelaide, Australia.I was wondering if anyone would possibly be able to offer me some assistance with my pair of breeding birds. I had a DNA sexed pair of conures and had them in an aviary with a box. The female escaped on a windy night so the **** bird was alone, he was DNA sexed as a male. I moved him into a different aviary, its roughly 2.2m X 2.5m and a good 2m high. I bought a new hen bird who wasn’t DNA sexed, but the owner said she lays eggs regularly and has bred before her mate died. I have had the pair in this aviary for a good 3-4 months now, and they sleep in their box every night and I sometimes see the hen in there in the day. I feed my birds a high quality seed mix, and they get a fruit mix every day (pineapple, kiwi, apple, pear, peach, broccoli, banana) I have also been feeding a range of vegetables such as peas, corn and beetroot.

I am really not sure why these birds are not breeding. They have budgies and cockatiels in an aviary joining theirs (it’s a big aviary split in two) and can be a little territorial sometimes. The male also has a good screech at me when I go near the aviary. The weather has been warming up now we are coming into Summer, a low of 22-25 C in the day and maximum 35 C, which I wouldn’t imagine is too warm. The nest box is an ‘s’ style, with a long angled neck down into a box (kind of like a boot). Short of getting the hen DNA sexed for proof, would you possibly have any suggestions I could do to try and get them to breed? They act like a pair sometimes, sit very close and are ‘touchy’, but I have never seen them feed each other or mate.

I can send through some pictures if that would help, any suggestion would be appreciated!

 

[Kinny]

Hi Sophie! YAY another South Australianite! ;D

I had my pair of Green Cheeks for well over a year and when I first got them they were sexually mature and they were bonded. They only sat next to each other and sometimes preened in my view, they did everything else 'naughty' out of sight haha, they are good little private birds. They did not actually breed and make babies until about 4 or 5 months ago. Even though they had the right foods, a nestbox etc. They were in a small holding cage however and I was about to move them into a bigger cage/aviary but then... eggs appeared O.O

Perhaps try adding some Vetafarm Pellets to their daily mix, or a different shaped nestbox, however if they are in that one a lot then I'm sure they will breed.. when they want to anyway. I also give my breeding birds extra calcium either in their water or as a powder sprinkled over their seed/pellets. And extra protein too.

Good luck

Hi everyone! I am new here and haven't been on a bird form in quite a while. I used to breed budgies for show, and have bred cockatiels in the past as well. After getting my own gcc conure as a pet, I decided to upgrade to a pair of breeding birds as well.

My name is Sophie. I live in Adelaide, Australia.I was wondering if anyone would possibly be able to offer me some assistance with my pair of breeding birds. I had a DNA sexed pair of conures and had them in an aviary with a box. The female escaped on a windy night so the **** bird was alone, he was DNA sexed as a male. I moved him into a different aviary, its roughly 2.2m X 2.5m and a good 2m high. I bought a new hen bird who wasn’t DNA sexed, but the owner said she lays eggs regularly and has bred before her mate died. I have had the pair in this aviary for a good 3-4 months now, and they sleep in their box every night and I sometimes see the hen in there in the day. I feed my birds a high quality seed mix, and they get a fruit mix every day (pineapple, kiwi, apple, pear, peach, broccoli, banana) I have also been feeding a range of vegetables such as peas, corn and beetroot.

I am really not sure why these birds are not breeding. They have budgies and cockatiels in an aviary joining theirs (it’s a big aviary split in two) and can be a little territorial sometimes. The male also has a good screech at me when I go near the aviary. The weather has been warming up now we are coming into Summer, a low of 22-25 C in the day and maximum 35 C, which I wouldn’t imagine is too warm. The nest box is an ‘s’ style, with a long angled neck down into a box (kind of like a boot). Short of getting the hen DNA sexed for proof, would you possibly have any suggestions I could do to try and get them to breed? They act like a pair sometimes, sit very close and are ‘touchy’, but I have never seen them feed each other or mate.

I can send through some pictures if that would help, any suggestion would be appreciated!

 

[Sophie]

Hi Sophie! YAY another South Australianite! ;D

I had my pair of Green Cheeks for well over a year and when I first got them they were sexually mature and they were bonded. They only sat next to each other and sometimes preened in my view, they did everything else 'naughty' out of sight haha, they are good little private birds. They did not actually breed and make babies until about 4 or 5 months ago. Even though they had the right foods, a nestbox etc. They were in a small holding cage however and I was about to move them into a bigger cage/aviary but then... eggs appeared O.O

Perhaps try adding some Vetafarm Pellets to their daily mix, or a different shaped nestbox, however if they are in that one a lot then I'm sure they will breed.. when they want to anyway. I also give my breeding birds extra calcium either in their water or as a powder sprinkled over their seed/pellets. And extra protein too.

Good luck

Wow, I never expected to find another Australian, let alone a South Aussie! Haha Hello! Thankyou for your advice! I think the hen may be moulting, she has one wing completely chopped off by a previous owner and can't fly at all, so maybe after the moult? I have a calcium block in there, but I am not sure they go for it. How do you add extra protein? in powder form? What type of box do you use?

 

[crimson]

could be a number of things... sounds to me that they are not a 'bonded' pair.
How old are they? if to young, they won't mate.
some pairs will never mate no matter what, their is just no 'magic'

conures like to choose their mates, like most birds.

3-4 months seems like a long time for us, but not for birds, sometimes it will take a year or more before they want to breed.
You can try and remove one of the birds, and place a cage beside the other mate, (absence makes the heart grow fonder sort of deal) or try another mate

 

[Sophie]

could be a number of things... sounds to me that they are not a 'bonded' pair.
How old are they? if to young, they won't mate.
some pairs will never mate no matter what, their is just no 'magic'

conures like to choose their mates, like most birds.

3-4 months seems like a long time for us, but not for birds, sometimes it will take a year or more before they want to breed.
You can try and remove one of the birds, and place a cage beside the other mate, (absence makes the heart grow fonder sort of deal) or try another mate

They are both at least 2-3 years old. I was thinking of maybe removing the box for a bit , but I know Green cheeks like sleeping in them so I am not sure. Would you recommend double checking their DNA sexing? I don't really have the money to try and get another hen or ****, as I am trying to get them to breed to make some money! Unless it was a swap but most people don't like swapping.

 

[Sophie]

I sent some of the hens feathers away to be DNA sexed. I Also put up some shade cloth around the box to try and make it a bit darker, as I realised it is against a wall that gets sun so may be pretty light in there, and I dont want the box to get too hot in summer. I think I will just wait until the hen moults out all her nasty feathers from the previous owner before I worry about her not breeding.