taking the nest box down

[cdog]

So if you have read my previous threads you know that I am handraising two green cheek conure babies and the mommy and daddy birds are raising the younger one. Well their baby will be three weeks old this weekend and I was thinking about taking it for hand feeding. I was first going to let the parents raise it but then she will be hard to tame down to sell. My question is do you think I should take her from the nest or not. And if I do, will taking the nest box down keep the parents from laying more eggs?
Thanks in advance.

 

[roxynoodle]

Well, I think you should take the baby to give it it's best chance of doing well with it's new family when it leaves you. I can't advise on the nest box.

 

[cdog]

Ok thanks.

 

[cdog]

Anyone know about taking the box down? And they also sleep in the box so would they be mad if I took their "bed"?

 

[MikeyTN]

Just remove the nest box before they get ready to start another batch which they will do sometimes when the chick is getting older.

 

[cdog]

So they wont lay another clutch without the box? And I think Bella(the girl) wants to breed again but Sully(the guy) doesn't.

 

[MikeyTN]

They may or may not. It depends on your pair, each pair is different ....

 

[Pedro]

To answer your original question. There are people out there that want to purchase a parent reared chick for breeding purposes. GCC'S don't as a rule go to nest while there is chicks in the nest so if your not wanting a second clutch you can A. leave the chick with MUM or B.Take the chick for hand rearing see you already are doing it.

My Green Chicks triple clutch each breeding season. I take the nest box out after the 3rd clutch. I feel mean doing it though because they usually sleep in the nest box at night.

I would think that both of your birds would be keen to have another clutch again. And no they don't usually lay without a nestbox.

 

[cdog]

Ok so I guess I will take it down. But it just seems mean to do it because that's where they sleep. Is it bad for them to lay another clutch this soon, could I just leave it up and let them double clutch or is that bad to do this soon?

 

[MikeyTN]

Some will lay on the bottom without a nest box!

 

[Pedro]

I have never had conures lay eggs example seed dish although they could lay from a perch if they are ready to lay with no nestbox available. Cockatiels on the other hand will nest almost anywhere. This is my experience with breeding conures.

Yes you can leave the nestbox in. Being her first time she may not lay another clutch. If she does she wouldn't lay for at least a month. So in that time you can feed her up on good quality foods. Make sure she has access to calcium.

 

[cdog]

Well she is already trying to breed with the male but he doesn't want to. And this is her second clutch, she had one in June 2011. They are being fed fresh fruits and veggies along with seed/pellet mix. They have a cuttle bone plus a mineral block in their cage all the time.

And another question, the baby in the box is three weeks today and is the right size but is just now getting fluff and doesent have any tail pin feathers yet. The ones I am handfeeding already had a lot of fuzz and a lot of pin feathers when they were 3 weeks old. Do the ones that are parent raised progress slower than the hand fed ones?

 

[luvmytooo]

One thing to remember , the more consecutive clutches they lay , the more draining it can be on the hen .

 

[cdog]

Yeah I know that, that's why I was wondering if they should have another clutch this soon. I'm not in this for the money so I think I will let them raise their last baby and I will train it as soon as she gets weaned. Plus the cage is in my room where I spend most of my day so I can work with her as soon as she leaves the nest box. Plus I don't think they would appreciate me taking their last baby.

 

[cdog]

I'm still not sure if I should take this last baby or not. How do the parents usually react? They seemed fine when I took the first two but I left two with them. But this time they wouldn't have any left. Do they normally freak out or are they fine because they don't have to work so hard anymore?

 

[MikeyTN]

They'll be just fine when you take them. Take the nest box down at the same time.

 

[cdog]

Ok thanks.

 

[Pedro]

Well she is already trying to breed with the male but he doesn't want to. And this is her second clutch, she had one in June 2011. They are being fed fresh fruits and veggies along with seed/pellet mix. They have a cuttle bone plus a mineral block in their cage all the time.

And another question, the baby in the box is three weeks today and is the right size but is just now getting fluff and doesent have any tail pin feathers yet. The ones I am handfeeding already had a lot of fuzz and a lot of pin feathers when they were 3 weeks old. Do the ones that are parent raised progress slower than the hand fed ones?

cdog i don't know what you mean by the hen wants to breed but the male doesn't want to. What makes you think that.

If the chick in the nestbox looks a bit on the naked side, I wonder if the hen is plucking the little one. In which case i would take the chick ASAP.

Don't worry about taking the chick or the nestbox. This sort of thing happens in the wild except predators take the chicks & other parrots can take over the nesting log. Also double clutching does happen in the wild. If a nest of eggs or hatchlings are lost the hen will usually lay another clutch.

Breeding pairs kept in top breeding condition will have consecutive clutches without any worries to the hens health. My GCC'S will have 4 clutches a season if i let them. My sun conures breed all year round as do my Eclectus. It not for the money either. The eclectus nestboxes are to hard to take down so when i want the hen to take a break we block off the enterence hole. She is so keen to breed she works out how to get into that box one way or another. She even unlocks the inspection hole.
Up in the top end where the eclectus breed in the wild their breeding season goes for 9 months.

That said if you don't want your birds having anymore than 1 or 2 clutches a year then your going to have to remove their nestbox as soon as you take all the babies.

 

[cdog]

I mean she is rubbing up against him and making the mating noises. She looks like she is mating but the male is just standing there or moving away. And I am going to take the baby either tonight or tomarrow morning. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Echo]

I co-parent, so when the babies are weaned, I take the box down and replace it with a cozy hut for them to sleep in. They are fine with that.