Spring has Sprung

[Agapornis]

WELL, it finally happened. My 2 GCCs are all grown up. *sigh* they are mating (i think) and basically acting like a couple in love. We initially thought they were both males, but then after DNA testing, it turned out that Fiji was a SHE. Since they were already bonded and living in the same cage, we let them be.

OK, fast forward to now: After reading Silversage's excellent post on what is involved in bird breeding and hand feeding, I can honestly say I DO NOT have what it takes to be a birdy grandma! Even if somehow I managed to keep the babies alive, I would not feel comfortable just giving them away or selling them, as I know i would worry they weren't being taken care of properly.

SO, I already took out their sleep tent, I think that was the only thing "nesty" in their cage. When the eggs start showing up, is it ok to take them out and replace them with the fake kinds? Is it acceptable to let them "act naturally,":54: as nature intended, but just not let any eggs hatch? Is it MEAN to throw the eggs out???? Arghhh, i was hoping I would have more time before I had to worry about this, but Nature waits for no man!

 

[Dinosrawr]

I think that if you're ill prepared to take care of the baby birds, you would be doing a huge disservice to let them hatch. I don't think it's wrong to let them do what nature intended, but personally I too would take the eggs and replace them with fakes.

 

[Agapornis]

Thanks Chantal - that's what i think, too. I think it is more unkind to let them hatch to an uncertain future, than to switch out the eggs. I love my 2 babies so much, I feel a little guilty, but in the long run, I think it's for the best.

 

[Dinosrawr]

It's kind of nice though, because you don't really have to worry about sexually frustrated parrots, haha! And really, you never know if they would make good parents anyways. Some younger birds just really bomb taking caring of their babies.

 

[SilverSage]

Good for you for tying to figure out what to do before babies come!

First, don't let them con you into giving them a box no matter how cute they are. Trust me, I KNOW how cute they are! Lol, resist!

I won't go over the things I said in the other post because you read it except to say again that now is a GREAT time to get them on sprouts and veggies if they aren't already, especially things like Kale which are high in calcium. Double check to be sure they are chewing their cuttle bone, and if they aren't you can buy powdered cuttle or honestly just scrape it onto their food from the bone. You don't want to deplete Fiji's little body of calcium, and even if she isn't raising them she is still at risk for egg binding if she lays. The two biggest things you can do to prevent egg binding are to make sure the calcium levels are high enough (soft egg shells lead to egg binding) and to let her fly. Flighted hens are not nearly as likely to egg bind because the muscles in their whole body are stronger than clipped birds, including the muscles used for laying eggs.

As for what to do with the eggs if they come, I have a suggestion that may upset some people, so first let me explain WHY I suggest this. A person, no matter how sincere and kind hearted, who is not prepared for raising babies can lead to the suffering of those babies as adults even if they seem fine as babies. Also, parent birds who were hand fed often make terrible parents, and this also could lead to the suffering and death of the chicks. However, simply taking the eggs away can stimulate the hen to continue to lay eggs which can be very very hard on her body. For this reason I suggest that each egg is immediately removed, boiled, cooled, and given back to the birds. Once the egg is cooked it cannot grow no matter how well it is tended and most parents will eventually get tired of sitting on it. I stress that it should be done to each egg right away, before nerve endings, etc, are developed. This essentially serves the same purpose as taking the eggs away or replacing them with dummy eggs, except it helps minimize the Risk of continued laying, as even dummy eggs can be rejected. I don't think most people consider it cruel to take the eggs and throw them out right away, they know they don't survive, but for some reason the act of boiling seems harsher than tossing in the trash, even though it is not logical.

Also, be sure to keep them from nesting in things outside of their cage such as under the couch, on a top shelf, in shoes, etc.

 

[Kalidasa]

I agree with silver sage, and have done it myself. Fake eggs, if not recognized as their own could possibly stimulate more breeding...although I've heard of people using the fake ones with some success. I'm all about boiling their eggs and replacing them. It's a seemless transition, especially if they're given back warm (not hot).
With that said,there's no guarantee that your birds will actually reproduce without proper nesting facilities, but they could. It helps a lot if you decrease their protein during courtship/breeding season...no eggs or animal proteins at this time, as it can stimulate the female's body and tell her it's time to breed. Keep them on a strict solar schedule and on vegetarian foods and the thrill with breeding will pass. Although, they are a bonded pair now. Actually, non-breeding birds that have regular, seasonal sex have less behavioral issues due to un-met sexual frustration. Just keep an eye

 

[Agapornis]

Thank you for your valuable insight, Chantal, Dani and Kalidasa! I have also been doing a lot of reading on the DummyEggs.com Dummy Eggs Stop Bird Egg Laying! Fake Falso Faux Plastic Eggs site, lots of good info there. I will be ready to use either fake eggs or boil Fiji's eggs. The vet looked at Fiji and didn't see or feel an egg in there, but we're keeping an eye on it. However, she has gone from 68-70 grams to 85 grams!

ok, so no animal protein - CHECK
up their veggies and sprouts servings - CHECK
take down the sleepy hut - CHECK
provide cuttle bone - CHECK (the vet also suggested oyster shells w/no grit, but she isnt touching that yet)

Thanks again for the help! I feel a lot better now, more informed, and ready to responsibly handle this (as much as I would LOVE to see what the babies would look like from these two...i'm resisting, since I know I don't have what it takes to raise baby birds).

 

[SilverSage]

Just to take the curiosity out of it, The females would look like sundance, and the males would be normal green. If by some chance Sundance is split turquoise, then the babies could come out turquoise for the males and turquoise yellow sided for the females, but more likely you would end up with normal greens and yellow sided babies

 

[Agapornis]

Thanks for figuring out the science for me! It is confusing to me, specially when there are "splits" involved, lol.

What if birds are related, would they still mate, and if so, would the babies turn out right?

 

[SilverSage]

They will still mate if they are related, and while it can work out sometimes, doing it repeatedly is a bad idea and can cause genetic disorders and deformities, and you have no way of knowing if they are inbred already.