Introducing New Budgies to Existing Flock?

[RandomGemini]

George and Grace are a mated pair.

I would like to move Cricket and Sunny into their cage. George and Grace are in. Prevue Hendryx Flight Cage and it has enough space for four budgies. I really need one less cage to clean. My daughter’s four budgies are here to stay with me for a while at least and anything I can do to cut my workload would be great.

How do I introduce them?

My husband said to just let Cricket and Sunny into George and Grace’s cage and that does not seem right to me. Also, Grace is in breeding condition right now and I am positive Sunny is also a female. The jury is still out on Cricket’s gender.

Any suggestions?

 

[itzjbean]

If you have pictures, we can help you identify gender.

I would NOT recommend just putting the two other birds in with the other two. Especially at this time of year with breeding season, things can turn deadly quickly. You can see how they react towards each other by putting hteir cages next to each other and watching them this way. Based on how they respond, then you can move forward. Do not under any circumstances put in nesting or breeding boxes, as it will only stimulate them all to breed and lay. While communal breeding can be successful it isn't uncommon to have a budgie parent injue and kill all young of another bird's babies in the same cage.

So to sum things up you can introduce them by putting their cages next to or near each other first, wait a week, then go from there to determine if they get along enough to house them together.

 

[RandomGemini]

Sure thing! Yellow bird is Sunny. Her cere is almost white. Grey is Cricket. Very pink. The photos look a bit more blue than his/her cere actually is.

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

Sure thing! Yellow bird is Sunny. Her cere is almost white. Grey is Cricket. Very pink. The photos look a bit more blue than his/her cere actually is.

Cricket seems like a female to me. I'm not an expert though.. Either way s/he's quite cute​

 

[bug_n_flock]

I'd say too young to tell for sure on Cricket, but I am leaning towards male.

 

[RandomGemini]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I took the above poster's advice and put Cricket and Sunny's cage next to George and Grace's cage to see how things went. So far, so good, but.. Grace is in breeding condition and I am not going to try an introduction when she is like this.

I have no intention of breeding any of these birds, just FYI. I just want them to be able to cohabitate so I have less cages to clean and have never had this many birds at once. I've always only had two, and adopted them together.

I agree, I think Cricket is just too young to tell. Sunny is definitely a girl. Cricket and Sunny are very sweet on each other, so I am leaning toward thinking Cricket may also be male myself, but I'm just not sure. Cricket's feet are very pink and my male budgies have all had very blue or gray feet. It's a toss up until he/she is mature, I guess!

I'll post again in a few weeks when I am sure Grace is no longer in breeding condition and feel like it's safe to attempt to integrate, but so far, no one has had any fights through the bars.

 

[Amsterdam]

George and Grace are a mated pair.

I would like to move Cricket and Sunny into their cage. George and Grace are in. Prevue Hendryx Flight Cage and it has enough space for four budgies. I really need one less cage to clean. My daughter’s four budgies are here to stay with me for a while at least and anything I can do to cut my workload would be great.

How do I introduce them?

My husband said to just let Cricket and Sunny into George and Grace’s cage and that does not seem right to me. Also, Grace is in breeding condition right now and I am positive Sunny is also a female. The jury is still out on Cricket’s gender.

Any suggestions?

im not an expert but if Grace is in breeding condition she could be territorial and even harm sunny or crickets budgies can get very jelous too i woudnt put them all together to many risks

 

[RandomGemini]

Well, we had many long conversations with the local bird guys about this. And... last night, I moved everyone in. So far, George and Grace are sticking together and Cricket and Sunny are hanging with each other. No blood shed. I am ready to catch a bird and will be home all day to supervise. They got along well on meet and greets outside the cage. Grace is no longer being hormonal... so we decided to go for it and see how things went. I have seen some bickering over the feeding stations, but nothing that cannot be managed by adding more bowls.

Here’s a shot of everyone this morning. Hoping it continues to go well.

 

[RandomGemini]

Thought I should post an update. Things have gone well. Grace and Cricket and Sunny are all buddies and everyone is getting along, except for George. We are discovering that George may be a special needs bird. I have an appointment for him with my avian vet next week. I think George May have splayed legs and as George is an older bird, we will have to move him to a cage setup that is more comfortable for him to get around. The other birds don’t socialize with him and he is mostly getting social time with me and my daughter at this point. It’s sad, but at the same time, I am glad we are finding this out so that we can get George into a better situation for him that will make him happier and more comfortable.