Mating the wrong way!!

[auty04]

Hello
I have a male and female Red Sided Electus I have had them for almost 2yrs. I have had several infertile eggs the prob Im seeing is when she is ready to mate she gets into position for him and he gets on the wrong way .He mounts her head most of the time. There have been times that he gets on right but he dont look like he is stable I know that he will position himself from the side but There not getting it done right. Sorry trying to use a little tack. I have searched breeding perches but im not seeing anything .Is there anything I can do or get for him to be (productive ).. Thanks everyone any help would be very greatful

 

[sodakat]

How old is he? Is she experienced or are they learning together? It may just take time and practice.

If they are attempting to mate, then I would say at some point they will succeed. I would not offer a nest box until you are sure they are mating properly. When hens have a nest box they do tend to lay, fertilized or not!

 

[auty04]

Charlie my male is 13 and Trixie my female is 16 . Charlie has been with females before from what his previous owner had told me. Trixie has been with males but not in a breeding position . Yes they are breeding I know for sure. My hubby made them a nice large breeding box. I have had them for almost 2 yrs and only once have they had a clutch ,one chic did not make it out of the egg and the other lived for only 6 days. I was worried that maybe it was the female so we installed a tiny camera so I could be sure that things were fine. She is a great mommy she nest and fed well . Trixie showed serious breeding behavior when I got her.You can tell she longs to mother .I know thats sounds weird but I know my bird's behaviors . The problem Im seeing is that he mounts her head most of the time . He got it right one time but then right back to the wrong way. If and when he does get on right he seems to be unstable . Do I need to build a platform for them or is there something I can do..Please let me know if you need more information on them so I can get your input.. Thanks so much for your help

 

[U2gal]

So this pair has had one fertile clutch?

 

[U2gal]

How thick are the branches?

 

[sodakat]

I don't know what kind of a setup you have for them but I'm going to guess they are confined to a flight or you wouldn't be asking if you should offer a platform. My breeding birds are in more of a pet situation so they go in and out of cages, climb on branches and ropes and spend time on play tops of cages at various times. This means they have lots of opportunities to breed on perches, cage bars, play top trays, branches and ropes.

If you only have perches available to them I would say definitely give them a nice sized platform.

The females really do love to nest. I completely understand what you mean. But, I think it's okay to give them a nice long break with no nest box in sight too. Otherwise some hens will sit year round.

Do you know what happened to the chick that lived 6 days?

 

[auty04]

Yes they have had one fertile clutch ! The baby that only lived for 6days got crop stats Im pretty sure! I looked in on it and it did have a full crop the whole time The pet store I go to he raises birds and he gives me lots of info but then again he does not breed Electus. He tells me not to mess with them sense this was her 1st clutch I needed to see if she would mother and feed well he said before I mess with them to let nature take its course .I did look in on the baby and she was feeding .As far as there cage goes they are in a pretty decently large sized cage with a play stand on top. Under the play stand there is a plate form for them to walk around on . I leave there cage open all though the day so they can go in or out as they please. As far as there perches there are 2 plus there are 3 large ropes. Trixie will lay eggs with or without a nest box !!! I know that the box make her want to lay eggs but she was like that before I even put it in .. She is a bird that will and wants to lay eggs all yr around . I know that it not healthy on her but NO matter what I do or take away from her she is going to lay eggs ! ANYWHERE! All I can do is keep her happy and healthy . lots of fruits veggies and I also give her vitimins in her water.. Trixie did lay eggs last week. After installing the mini cam we got to watch her lay a egg REALLY NEAT ! But once again they are not fertile.

 

[U2gal]

I think you may want to first consider stopping her continual egg laying before worrying why the male mates her wrongly.

Laying all year long sounds very stressful and tiring.

Any pics of their cage setup? Sounds nice

 

[sodakat]

Vitamins in the water is not normally recommended for Eclectus. They have very efficient digestive systems and can extract all nutrients from any food source. This is because their intestines are much longer than most birds their size. So if you add vitamins, especially man made vitamins you may do more harm than good. I think you can feed them a good fresh food diet and provide all the vitamins they need.

Does the male feed the female?

 

[auty04]

I have tried stopping my female vet said to take her box away (did that) he said try to give her fake eggs did that .She sat on them till she laid more. Im not encouraging her to lay. She is my pet I did not get her intending to breed we just figured if they did that great if not No HARM FOWL. They are our babies either way ... I will not give them any more vitamins in there water any more pet store recommended it sense she lays so often, Also yes the male does feed her.. The male often goes in the nesting box and will sit on the eggs as well then she will come out to feed too .

 

[sodakat]

Not trying to be rude. Pet stores often try to help but end up giving incorrect information. Calcium depletion would be a greater worry than vitamins, IMO. But, if she lays 3 or fewer clutches a year and eats a good diet she is probably okay. Eclectus by nature, will lay year round, starting another clutch after the first one is weaned, but of course if the eggs were fertile and she was feeding the chicks until weaning or at least until fledging, she likely would not have more than 3 clutches a year. Most chicks fledge around 11 weeks and the hen will continue to feed for a while after that. My males will finish off feeding the chicks to weaning. I had one clutch hatch when the previous clutch was exactly 4 months old. The male stopped feeding the older clutch and began feeding the hen when the chicks hatched. It took a toll on him.

I know that hens who have their chicks pulled at 10 days will often lay more than 3 or 4 times a year. You might want to ask Steve (coltfire) how that works for his hen, because he has said she lays with or without a box.

I managed 3 years between hatching when I put my mind to it and kept my Rose busy with pinecones and things outside her cage and cleaned up all the things she chewed every day so she didn't think any area was a nest.

Just because she lays with or without a nest box doesn't mean you should provide a nest box, IMO. On the chance she takes a break, I would keep the nest box in a different room out of sight for 6 months or so.

It is wonderful to have a pet who lets you experience them rearing chicks. But believe me, it can be very overwhelming when you it comes time to find homes for the chicks. It is so hard to find a good home for a parrot. At least it is for me. I know that most end up being rehomed.