Budgerigars are such a domesticated bird that you can even breed it in an ordinary apartment. In this case, a number of rules should be observed so that the offspring turns out to be viable, and reproduction is carried out easily and several times a year.
The homeland of the budgerigar is Australia. In the nineteenth century, this bird began to be massively imported to Europe. Due to their unpretentiousness, friendly disposition and sociability, these parrots are very popular. They are easy to keep at home, they are very social, they easily get used to people, new conditions, it is easy to teach them to imitate human speech.
Best of all, budgerigars breed in special enclosures with several nests, where up to 10 pairs of birds can live and breed. However, the budgerigar is a hardy bird, domesticated for almost two centuries, so it reproduces even in small cages in city apartments.
Breeding conditions
The best age to breed budgerigars is from 2 to 6 years old. To prevent the bird from being exhausted and the offspring to be healthy, the laying of eggs should be carried out no more than 2-3 times a year, although after the first brood, the female is ready to lay eggs constantly.
A metal cage with dimensions 60x30x30 cm is suitable for keeping and breeding a pair. A nest box or a nest made of natural wood with a recess at the bottom and a lid for easy care should be fixed to the outside of the cage. The bottom of the nest is lined with a layer of dry birch sawdust mixed with dry chamomile for disinfection.
For the bird to start nesting, lighting should be at least 15-16 hours a day, and greens, eggs, tiny shells, crushed chalk, fresh cherry twigs should be added to the usual forage in the form of millet.
The budgerigar is a schooling bird, so reproduction will occur faster if there are two cages with pairs of birds in the room, and the pairs should see each other at the same time.
Pair preparation
Budgerigars choose their mate out of sympathy and after the first nest they remain faithful to each other for life. Therefore, after the artificial creation of a pair of offspring may not work. You also need to make sure that the pair consists of individuals belonging to different flocks, because the relationship of a pair has a bad effect on the health of the offspring.
In the formed pair, the male begins to look after the female and feed her from the beak. Egg laying begins 2-3 weeks after the first mating.
Breeding offspring
A young female can lay 3-4 eggs, an older female - up to 12 eggs, on average, 5-6 eggs are usually obtained. The female incubates eggs for 17-18 days, while the male feeds her carefully. Chicks hatch blind and naked. After 7-8 days, their eyes open and plumage appears. For the first 12 hours, the chicks feed on the reserves of the yolk sac, then the female feeds them with goiter milk, and after that - with softened grain from the goiter.
When, after 2-3 weeks, the young begin to leave the nest and feed on their own, it is very important to feed the parrots with bread soaked in milk and dandelion greens. It is also advisable to drip fish oil into the grains. After this, the nesting site should be removed, otherwise the female will continue to lay eggs. From 3 weeks old, young animals can be removed from the parental pair.
