A Complete Guide to Budgerigar Breeding Techniques
Speaking of parrots, I think everyone is very familiar with them. Parrots are very cute, and parrots have a trait that other birds do not have: they can imitate human speech, which is why parrots are kept as pets by many people.
What is a budgerigar?
The budgerigar (scientific name: Melopsittacus undulatus) is a bird of the order Psittaciformes, family Psittaculidae, also known as the shell parakeet. It is a small climbing bird species native to the inland regions of Australia. Wild budgerigars inhabit forest edges, grasslands and similar places. They live in flocks. They feed on plant seeds and similar food. The breeding season is from June to January. They nest in tree hollows, laying 4-8 eggs per clutch, with an incubation period of 18 days. They are lively in temperament and easy to tame, and are one of the most common pet birds in China. They are a Class II nationally protected animal.
The budgerigar is the most common parrot in the world. Playful and cute, it is widely loved by the public. The total number worldwide exceeds 5 million. They are often the first parrot bought by many people who have just become interested in parrots, and they are also the species most often seen at bird shows. Since the Australian biologist John Gould's major discovery and breakthrough in genetics in 1860 AD, various budgerigar mutations have entered unprecedented diversity, with over a thousand varieties in total. Combined with the fact that they are very easy to care for and breed, this is why they are so common. Budgerigars are tropical birds and have poor survival ability in the wild in China. Many cannot survive. Especially, they cannot get through the winter. Please do not release them!
How to breed budgerigars
1. Cage
A relatively large square metal cage should be used. The cage size is 40 cm long, 35 cm wide and 35 cm high. The bottom of the cage should have a drawer-type sand tray (dropping tray) for easy cleaning of droppings. The budgerigar's nest box is a horizontal nest. The nest box is a small rectangular wooden box 25 cm long, 14 cm wide and 14 cm high, with a partition in the middle dividing it into inner and outer chambers. The outer chamber has a round hole leading to the outside with a diameter of 6 cm. A similar round hole with a diameter of 4 cm is opened in the partition between the outer chamber and the inner chamber as the doorway for the birds to enter and exit. Clean drinking water should be replaced every day, droppings should be cleaned once a week, and in summer take care not to expose the budgerigar to direct strong sunlight.
2. Food
The feed is mainly millet and barnyard grass seed, and some hemp seed or perilla seed should also be fed, but the amount must not exceed 10%. To ensure the nutrition the birds need, green vegetables (cabbage, rapeseed greens) and minerals (bone meal, oyster shell powder) should also be fed regularly. This bird tolerates coarse feed, and concentrated feed should not be fed too much, so as to avoid fat deposition and affecting egg laying and reproduction.
3. Feeding
When feeding, be careful to blow away the husks in the food dish. Green vegetables should be washed and disinfected before feeding (a 1/1000 potassium permanganate aqueous solution can be used), then drained, and any leftovers should be removed the same day. Pay attention to hygiene inside the cage, and frequently clean the sand and droppings. Food and water dishes should be scrubbed 1-2 times a day. Although budgerigars are not very afraid of cold, too low a temperature will affect reproduction, so the indoor temperature in winter should not be below 0°C.
4. Temperature
In winter, attention should be paid to keeping warm, and the indoor temperature should not be lower than 16°C. In summer, when the temperature is relatively high, generally above 30°C, ventilation should be strengthened. Budgerigars like to eat feed with husks. Usually the diet should be mainly millet, barnyard grass seed, foxtail millet or egg millet, with some green vegetables fed every day, and oyster shell powder or bone meal as standing feed (you can also place a whole cuttlebone in the cage for them to peck at). Budgerigars reach sexual maturity at 4 months of age, begin to come into heat and mate, and can then be used as breeding birds for reproduction. Budgerigars can breed all year round, generally laying 4-7 eggs per clutch. The eggs are white, with 1 egg laid every day or every other day. When the third egg is laid, the female bird begins to sit on the nest and incubate, with incubation mainly done by the female bird.
5. Rearing management
Budgerigars can be kept in pairs or in groups. Generally, wire cages or box-shaped cages lined with iron sheeting are used. The activity space for each pair of birds should be more than 0.5 cubic meters, otherwise reproduction will be unfavorable. The bottom of the cage should be made in a drawer style (nailed with iron sheeting) for easy pulling out, cleaning and spreading sand. Food and water utensils should be deep and large, and sturdy, to prevent them from being bitten and damaged. The feed is mainly millet and barnyard grass seed, and some hemp seed or perilla seed should also be fed, but the amount must not exceed 10%. To ensure the nutrition the birds need, green vegetables (cabbage, rapeseed greens) and minerals (bone meal, oyster shell powder) should also be fed regularly. This bird tolerates coarse feed, and concentrated feed should not be fed too much, so as to avoid fat deposition and affecting egg laying and reproduction.
6. Reproduction. Budgerigars are easy to breed, but crossbreeding should be avoided to keep the breed pure. For the health of the offspring, parent birds aged 1-2 years should be chosen for pairing. After the male and female mate, the female soon begins to lay eggs, one egg every other day, 4-9 in total.
7. Once the female bird begins laying eggs, she does not leave the nest until incubation is finished. During this period she relies entirely on the male bird to carry food to her. The incubation period is about 18 days. Budgerigar chicks are altricial birds and cannot live independently within 25 days of hatching, relying entirely on the adult birds for feeding. The way the parent birds rear the young is: the male bird feeds the female bird, and the female bird then feeds the chicks. After growing for 28 days, the chicks can eat on their own and live independently. At 5-6 months they can reach sexual maturity.
How long do budgerigars live?
The average lifespan of a budgerigar is 7-10 years, and with careful rearing it will be longer. In fact, the lifespan of parrots is generally divided into physiological lifespan and actual lifespan. Excluding all environmental factors and external accidents, a budgerigar may generally live to around 50 years. Similar parrots such as small parrots like the budgerigar are about 8-12 years, cockatiels are about 15-20 years, medium-sized parrots such as amazons are 20-50 years, and large parrots such as macaws and cockatoos are 30-60 years.
How to feed budgerigars
For owners who make their own feed for budgerigars, you need to pay special attention to the nutritional balance in the food, because this is related to the health of the budgerigar. If you are not particularly clear about how to prepare food for budgerigars, then do not casually give them things you think are good for them. You can buy special budgerigar feed, or seek help from people in the industry.
In the process of breeding parrots, there are many breeding techniques. Parrots have high ornamental value, and many bird keepers like to keep them. If you like keeping birds, it is suggested that you might try keeping a parrot. It can also learn to speak like a human, which is very interesting.