mating / breeding related feather pluck (parakeet)

[cindini]

Hi, I am new to the forum, so I hope this is an okay spot to post on, problem is this:

I had for some time two male and one female parakeet together. Then one female and one male. Female passed away last November and the single male was very lonely. In January I found a local parakeet that was in a similar situation and she is now living with lonely male.

Apparently they have bonded, and have attempted mating, although I have no idea if anything was successful. Female is belly plucked and a bit on her back, too.

They have been separated.

Question: Does the plucking only start after eggs are on the way? (if so, I should prepare) Can they be housed together after spring has passed? Would a third bird prevent this? (since it never happened with the other combination)

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
Cindy

[Monica]

The plucking can possibly be due to wanting to breed and not having a 'nest' built... though budgies normally breed in a nestbox with safe nesting material provided... the females normally take the nesting material out, but it's for the safety of the chicks.

If you are not interested in breeding or you are not prepaired it's best to keep the two separated to keep any unwanted eggs from being laid. If however you are interested in breeding you need to be aware of all the pros and cons of breeding, have at least a couple avian vets and breeders on hand in case of an emergency, and be prepaired with all items....

I am assuming however that the female started plucking (and wasn't plucking before) for nesting, and not because she's upset about something in the surroundings...

[cindini]

Female was not plucking before. I noticed a pink patch, and then a few days later walked in and startled them in a tender moment. For now I have a dish with fleece in it in the females cage, but will be creating more of a nest just in case she is going to try to drop some eggs. I would really like to keep them together in the future for companionship purposes, but would like to avoid eggs... or egg binding. Thanks.

[Monica]

It is apparent that you are unaware about the proper breeding ethics. I do not mean to sound cruel or heartless, however budgies REQUIRE a nesting box with SAFE nesting material (such as pine shavings, aspen, or recycled paper... anything else could be hazardous). Most parrots nest in cavities or holes in the ground, they DO NOT build nests (only exception is the quaker parrot).

You should go out and buy a second cage (if they don't already have two cages) and house them in separate cages next to eachother. Otherwise, you may very well be getting yourself into something that you are completely unaware about therefore risking the birds life, as well as any possible lifes that might come about.


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ before getting into ANYTHING!

[Monica]

Here is an incomplete list of items that you should buy if you plan on being a breeder, whether hobby or not.... these are things you should have just in case...

Proper Breeding Cage or a Large (flight) Cage
Pipettes
Syringes
Handfeeding Formula
Wooden Nestbox
SAFE Nesting Material
Incubator
Brooder
Scale
Thermometer (two)
Hygrometer
Heat Lamp
Heating Pad
Paper Towels
Humidifier


Like I said, this list is incomplete, and there are other things that you should have on hand... Some of those include a couple qualified avian vets as well as a few knowledgeable breeders who could help you out in case of an emergency. Breeding IS NOT to be taken lightly.

[cindini]

Wow, well you don't sound cruel and heartless, just not very helpful.

I have no plan on breeding. As listed, I was placing a temporary fix with the fleece. The parakeets are already separate, but yes, right beside each other (since before I posted).

I was looking for advice on how to deal with the brood patch. I have tons of reference materials, but they are not breeding references as I have never intended to breed birds.

I thought that this forum would be a good place to get some advice, namely 1) does the brood patch occur just from hormones, or does it indicate fertilization, 2) can they be together in the future (since the prior male / female combination was fine. That is all, but then I guess I can "say all I want, but you are not listening."

I take nothing about my birds lightly. And will cease looking for advice as I have found nothing specifically helpful here.

[Monica]

I'm sorry that I wasn't quite as helpful, though there's been some people lately having some problems with breeding birds and it really worries me.

A bare spot is normally from plucking, and some hens do pluck an area on their stomachs to create a brood patch to help keep eggs warm. It is also possible that the feathers fell out to create the brood patch. In this case it's normally hormonal, which tends to be seasonal. However, if it was plucking, it could also be of different reason's, and there are far too many to always be able to pinpoint which one. Sometimes, it can be a number of things combined.

It might be possible to keep them together at a later time, if they don't breed, however it's hard to say, and if you really aren't interested in breeding then you might have to keep them separated if they truely want to breed. I do currently have two males and two females together without any problems, but I believe that's more so do to the fact that only one is interested in breeding, and that's a male... however he gets far too excited to normally get that far anyway.