Care for a budgie

Not everyone wants to breed budgies for display. Besides, why should they?

We all have this hobby because we are attracted by the colors, activity, and character of the parakeets themselves, but also because they are not very expensive to buy and can be raised freely. It is unfortunate that all clubs and societies seem to have a strong desire to encourage parakeet breeders to show the ones they have bred in order to compete with other breeders. My personal belief is that most budgie owners/breeders want to breed them simply because they like to watch them fly or bustle in aviaries and are fascinated by their colors.

Help breeders love their budgies even more

Parakeets are easy to breed: they nest in a wooden or cardboard box. It is enough to place a concave container at the bottom of the cage of about 200 mm X 125 mm. It is
necessary to make a hole, usually on the side, to fit in (50mm) and place the nest as high as possible so that the young do not come out too early.

All About Budgie

Small parakeets with pretty plumage are prolific in breeding. They seem to enjoy some activity around them and reproduce better if other pairs are close to them. Once the new pairs are formed, the eggs appear after 10 to 14 days. The female lays every other day until there are 6 or 7 eggs in the nest. After 18 days, if all goes well, the incubation is complete and the cubs come out of the shell.

It is the female who assumes all the care of the young, with the very modest help of the male. This is why it is recommended to add a little rich food, called “egg pie” several times a day to relieve the feeding work of the female and to provide a protein supplement to the chicks.

Two weeks later, the color of the chicks is visible

At the age of one month, young birds then have all of their plumage and can leave the nest. So either they huddle together in a corner of the cage for a few days, or they find a perch very quickly. Then begins a period of education that lasts about a week. Both parents teach the young how to find their food.

Finally, these young birds are completely autonomous.

All new breeders are fascinated by the colors that begin to appear in the nests. The greatest joy of budgie breeding!It doesn’t matter if the colors match, no matter the genetics, just breed the birds whose color you love and can afford to buy!

CAGE REARING

All you need to know about budgie cage

There are two ways to breed budgies

The first called “colony”, corresponds to aviary breeding. It is recommended to hang a greater number of nests than males present and especially to put them at the same height so that the highest nest is not more solicited than the others. There is sometimes a little aggressiveness during the formation of couples. To avoid this competition, couples can first be formed and placed temporarily in separate cages. They will later be put back in the aviary. This method is called “gluing” and effectively tends to eliminate any possible arguments during the choice of partner.

However, this alternative is much less fun because it deprives the breeder of the spectacle of evolution, parade, chase … until the choice of partner and nest for the couple.In practice, starting breeding with 5 or 6 pairs and 8 nests is a good choice.

Budgie food

The easiest way is to feed them with a ready-made “budgie mix”. In general it is composed of half canary seeds and half millet.

It is also necessary to add sand, a cuttlefish bone and possibly a block of stone (mineral salts), the special mixture for the females who feed the young and do not forget the fresh water regularly.

If parakeets are bred as pets and breeding is doing well, it becomes difficult to keep them all. So you have to think about selling some!

The demand is important, especially as “pets” but if you have any hesitation, think that a bird sold corresponds to a bag of seeds!

No doubt young males are excellent pets, but the following year you will need females! Then keep the chicks whose colors you like and sell the others, thinking about keeping females for the following year.

Sell budgie

Budgie for sale: It’s much easier than you imagine. Just do a little advertising in a local newspaper, on a poster, or better on a website (there are several). Sometimes this approach costs a little money but it is fast and effective.

There are also pet stores that are looking for young budgies but they are subject to restrictive laws and especially not very generous. Private selling is more profitable at all levels.

Do not forget to bring a few cardboard boxes because buyers have not always provided a cage for transport.