housing baby with parents permanently?

[Adri]

Hi there, I just registered and I am hoping that someone can expertly guide me through some questions. My two lovebirds have bred (they were baby rescues and I was not intending to be a breeder). Mom is a 1 yr old dutchblue dad is a 2 yr old green peach face. They had 10 eggs - two did not hatch, one hatchling survived. The baby is a peachfaced lutino (go figure lol!) I am considering keeping the baby but I am concerned about introducing him/her to the parent cage in a months time. Mom and baby were removed into their own cage as dad was aggressive with the hatchling. The cages are in the same room next to eachother. Mom will go back when the baby is fully weaned baby is parent fed but handled daily). Just wondering how best to introduce the baby. Thanks!!

[expressmailtome]

You said that she laid 10 eggs. Did you remove some of them and she replaced them totalling ten? If the baby is a lutino and neither parent is, then the father is split to lutino and the lutino chick is a female. If the male was being aggresive then it probably would not be the best idea to put the baby with the parents after she is weaned. Be carefull though. Watch the mother and the baby. It is very strenuous on a bird to raise a baby alone. Many people feel this is bad for the mother. As I have never experienced this I am not sure but would ask an avian vet. This said I would go with the side of caution and say that it is probably not good for her.

Matt

[Adri]

Thank you very much for your reply! Oh my, another woman in the house :) Mom and baby are doing very well. Unfortuantely dad was throwing the hatchlings out of the nesting box so the vet said to removed mom and babies asap. I have a feeling this is why only one survived :( She laid 10 eggs in total; one egg every other day.

[mayaexquisite]

Hey! I didn't know you were here too!! Well, I already posted my answer to you at the other place so... I'll just say cute picture!!!

[Adri]

From the answers I have received it seems best to house my baby seperately; which I will do. My next concern is this; the parents will continue to mate and produce offspring. I think there are too many animals awaiting a good home; I dont want to add to the masses with more babies. What can I do other than seperate the parents? 3 cages in a small condo...I cant leave the baby with mom forever especially if the baby is a girl. If the baby goes in with dad they might breed....my oh my. From one rescued lovie to this lol! Please know I will do whatever it takes to ensure all have the best situation possible...even if my condo is full of cages lol

[mayaexquisite]

If you don't want them breeding, the best thing really is to cage mom and dad separately. Maybe you could get stackable cages so it takes more vertical space rather than horizontal?

It's just really hard 'cause even if you do all the typical things to discourage breeding - shortening daylight hours, no shreddables, monitoring diet, etc - if a bird really wants to breed IT WILL!!

Now, if you don't mind your hen laying eggs but just don't want the hatchlings, you could keep the pair together and boil her eggs. As she lays eggs, boil them for a couple minutes so they can't develop. Let it cool off and return it to her nest. You could also buy fake eggs to replace (some people use white marbles) the ones she lays. Then when she loses interest in her boiled or fake eggs, remove all nesting material.

My main concern for females that just want to lay, lay, lay is that each time they lay an egg they exert so much energy and use up so much calcium. I didn't allow my birds to breed more than two times a year (once in a while it was three times, if they were ADAMANT on breeding) because I didn't want them to over exert themselves and tire themselves out.

[Adri]

Thank you so much for all the information. Looks like more cages no matter how I go about rehousing any of my lovies. It's very comforting to know and meet people with the same passion for animal welfare such as myself and I hope to continue sharing our success stories!

[mayaexquisite]

No problem!! I have to get my "fix" on-line since none of my friends or people I know are into birds whatsoever!!

[Adri]

LOL Ditto! I live in a concrete jungle 52 stories in the air with a cat, dog and now 3 birds..my friends call it my animal kingdom and think I am somewhat insane :) I love every one of my babies...however I would guess that my neighbours are not as fond of the lovies as I am. Your birds are beautiful! Mika looks just like my mom bird Mudiwa!!!

[mayaexquisite]

Well, come on and post pictures then!!!