Male kakariki attacks female while she is sitting on eggs! plz help

[Niloofar]

Dear Friends, Despite my attempts to discourage breeding behavior, my Kakariki laid her first egg in the beginning of January.

They are not hand- tamed, so it was very difficult to monitor the nest box, especially since it was on top of the aviary near the shed, which made it almost impossible to open the nest box lid. The only possible way to check the nest box was to take occaisional pictures from inside the cage (using flash) which indeed made them quite stressed. That's why I decided not to disturb them that much.

3 days ago, after 3 chicks were born, I took a picture of the nest box and noticed that one of the chicks was dead. We decided to take it out. We took the chance to move the nest box to a lower position too. The female refused to go back to the nest box for about 15 mins, then she was back inside and didn't come out for a whole day. The male was feeding her and the chicks in the nest.
The day after , she was out of the nest as usual to eat and drink. So everything was nornal for 1 day. However, since yersterday, whenever that she is trying to come out of the nest box, the male is attacking her, making her go back to the nest! It is happening over and over again! I don't know what to do! I wanted to separate the male, but he is the one feeding the chicks!
I kept the cage door ope so that the male would go out, then I closed the door again to see if the female comes out to eat, but she didn't! I repeated it several times, each time about 15-20 mins and she never came out.
On the other hand, it seems that in the nest box everything is fine. They stay together there without any problem. Since I have moved the nest box, the male even sleeps inside at night with his family! Could it be that he is just feeling unsecure after moving the nest?
When he is in, I hear him feeding ( he makes a special noise when feeding) but I don't know whether he is feeding only the chicks or their mom too!
I am really woried about my female kak. Don't know if she is being fed or not. She might also be dehydrated.
I really don't know what to do! plz help me:02:

 

[Sunnyclover]

If you didn't want breeding behavior then why was there a nest box?

 

[WakaWaka]

If you didn't want breeding behavior then why was there a nest box?

Excellent question.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and Arika

 

[Niloofar]

If you didn't want breeding behavior then why was there a nest box?

Because my husband didn't let me remove the nest box. He said I shohldn't manpulate the nature!! We had and still have a long discussion about that. He has been told if we remove the nest box, they may never breed again!!
However, I tried to cover them early and removed all the nesting material that she was gathering. But it didn't work

 

[itzjbean]

Breeding birds is complicated and can be dangerous. These behaviors are somewhat typical (aggression of male to female) but aside from separating the pair and letting mom raise the babies there isn't much you can really do. Males of larger species (like cockatoos) have been known to kill their mates.

In the future, please TAKE OUT THE NESTBOX. No reason to keep it with the pair if you don't want them to breed. I have a bonded mated pair of cockatiels, they do not get a nestbox in their cage unless I want babies. They do without a nestbox and live a happy life without it. They had a clutch of babies last spring but after that I took nestbox out and they have been perfectly fine, it's not messing with nature. Your husband is very misinformed about parrots.

 

[LordTriggs]

Separation is the only way to get them to stop.

By putting them in a cage nature has already been messed with. Take the best box away once the babies have fledged. You are going to have to get another cage for the babies once they're grown otherwise the current cage is going to get cramped and you may well see more violence.

 

[Sunnyclover]

I just don't understand how you "did everything" to prevent this when in reality you gave them a nest box which is used in encouraging birds to breed. You should have taken a stronger hand with your husband and told him you must take the nest box out. Now you have to separate them if you don't want piles of chicks and all the issues that can stem from that. Lordtriggs is completely right, you MUST take put the nest box and get the babies a cage.

 

[Teddscau]

Yeah, we don't want to sound mean, but giving them access to a nest box...there's no way prolific breeders like kākāriki could resist laying eggs. If they were living in the wild, then by all means, they should breed. But they're in captivity. In captivity, surplus animals are killed or abandoned by humans. This is NOT natural. Lots of animals love raising offspring, but at the same time, they can be just as happy, if not happier, never raising young.

I know men can be stubborn, whiny little babies (no offense), but sometimes you just have to put your foot down and tell them to go play with their motorcycles or whatever.

As for your boy behaving aggressively towards his mate...kākāriki tend to be extremely gentle and loving. For him to be forcing her in the nest... It sounds like he thinks the female needs to still be incubating the eggs/babies. Incubating is exclusively the female's responsibility (as with many bird species), and if they're inexperienced, the male may be overly protective. If possible, put food and water near the nest box, and make it a bit more difficult for the male to reach the nest box. You know, hang some "obstacles" (toys) around the nest box so his view is obscured and he has to carefully maneuver around them to access the box. Make sure you only use toys that they're familiar with and enjoy so they don't become scared and abandon the chicks or whatever.

Furthermore, I suggest trying to distract the male by making him work for his food (foraging toys, making food more difficult to access, placing small amounts in various places, throwing in mealworms and waxworms for him to forage for on the bottom of the aviary, etc.).

 

[Niloofar]

Thank you all for your replies. I will remove the nest box once the babies are out. But first I have to solve this violence issue! This is happening all the time. And now it has been more than 1 hour that I have kept the male away from the cage, but the female doesn't come out!
If she really was hungry, she would probably come out at the second when she noticed her mate is away.
I agree with Teddscau. I think he just want to be too protective. Especially after what happened few days ago and they might feel a bit insecure outside the nest.
I noticed that she has abandoned one of her eggs as she believes it is infertile. According to my calculations, If the last baby doesn't come latest by they after tomorrow, the other two eggs are infertile too. could it be that he is angry at the hen, as he thinks she didn't take good care of the eggs and he wants her to stay in the nest?!

 

[Teddscau]

Hmm, I doubt he's angry with her due to the eggs not hatching. If anything, he thinks she has to stay in there so that they will hatch. Or, being inexperienced, he might think she has to stay in the nest 24/7 until the chicks fledge. Or it could just be that he's stressed and is being aggressive because he's inexperienced. It might be a good idea to feed them food with extra fat, protein, and vitamins in order to keep the female healthy, but I don't know if that would harm the chicks. I mean, assuming the levels of fat, protein, etc., are within a reasonable range, I don't think it would hurt the chicks? Either way, wild kākāriki are significantly fatter and more muscular than captive kākāriki due to differences in diet and activity levels.

Oh, heads up, I don't know how warm it is where you live, but make sure the chicks don't overheat. Kākāriki chicks are quite susceptible to heatstroke due to their thick down.

Man, you're lucky to have healthy kākāriki. My poor kids were almost dead when I got them from the shelter, and unfortunately Ria died a few weeks ago after becoming trapped when she was unable to remove her leg from the grate at the bottom of the cage when she slipped (they're both extremely weak due to various infections, malnutrition, not enough exercise...). She was actually putting on weight and was getting so much better before we had to euthanize her . Anyways, good luck with your kids.

 

[Niloofar]

unfortunately Ria died a few weeks ago after becoming trapped when she was unable to remove her leg from the grate at the bottom of the cage when she slipped

I am so sorry to hear that. I know it is very difficult to lose a beloved bird.
And thanks a lot for your kind advice and good wishes

 

[Niloofar]

Separation is the only way to get them to stop.

You are going to have to get another cage for the babies once they're grown otherwise the current cage is going to get cramped and you may well see more violence.

Actually, this issue has occupied my mind for a long time! I put the babies in another cage. But what when they are mature? Do I have to separate them too? Sibligns might tend to be mates if I don't separate them. Right? So should I buy one single cage for each one of them or what?!
Should I get new Kakarikis and pair them with mine? What after they have babies too? Of course I cannot have 100 of cages at home. So is the only way is selling them all and keep only 1 or 2?
I have no idea how people keep a lot of birds in one aviary for long periods ( if it will result in violence and mating of siblings)!

 

[Niloofar]

Dear friends, actually I just wanted to give you my updates. As a solution for attacking, I kept the door of the cage open, so when the male was attacking the female, she could run away. This seemed to worked as a temporary solution.
Unfortunately only one of the babies survived (one died when he/she was 10 days old and I still wonder why, because he/she seemed to be very healthy)

After sometime, things went back to normal (almost) but she was still spending most of her time in the nest box. I thought she wanted to take care of the baby, but I noticed that they have started mating again.
So as soon as the baby was 5 weeks old, I removed the nest box. The baby seemed to be ok with that. He started climbing the cage and very soon he learned to fly (though he is still being fed by parents!)
However, removing the nest box didn't cause parents to stop mating! They are mating non-stop! I wonder if soon she will lay an egg at the bottom of the cage?!

And another issue is that though the baby has learned to fly, he keeps falling down the perch while sleeping. He is now 6 weeks old but it really breaks my heart when I see him falling down the perch constantly. Maybe he was supposed to sleep in the nest box yet.
I would appreciate any suggestion from you guys!