[PoukieBear]

Breeding budgies is not as easy, fun, or full of sunshine and rainbows as you would like to think it is. There is a LOT that you need to learn and prepare for in order to have a successful clutch of healthy chicks, and parents at the end of it.

A heartfelt plea to forum members new and old

Guidance for Breeding Advice Threads

Here is a document I have made for my clients to help them reduce the changes of egg laying. Hopefully it copy/pastes ok here.

HOW TO PREVENT BREEDING AND EGG LAYING

• Reduce Daylight Hours.
• Cover the cage so your bird(s) only gets 8 hours of daylight per day.
• Why? Budgies naturally breed in the summertime when days are longer. This allows them more time to forage for food to feed their growing clutch of chicks. By reducing daylight hours, you will also reduce hormones that trigger a bird wanting to breed.
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• Do not Overfeed.
• Do not completely fill up your bird(s) food dish, or feed high fat/high protein foods.
• Why? Budgies naturally breed when food is plentiful and easy to find. Budgies only need 1.5 teaspoons of seed per day. The rest of their diet should be vegetables and pellets.
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• Re-arrange the cage frequently.
• Move perches, rotate toys, rearrange ladders and swings, move food and water dishes. You can even move the entire cage to a new location in your house if you have the space to do so.
• Why? Budgies will only want to breed when they feel safe and comfortable and have a stable environment. By changing things up frequently, you can reduce the chances of breeding behaviour.
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• Remove any potential nesting spots.
• Make sure there are no nest box, coconut shells, happy huts, grass baskets, pottery bowls, or anything else that is not meant for a budgie’s cage that could be mistaken for a nesting spot.
• Why? Budgies can be opportunistic breeders and may use items that you think are unlikely nesting spots.
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• Do not stroke or pet your budgie’s back, wings, rump.
• If you want to touch your budgie, give it some loving scritches at the head and neck area. You need to avoid stroking your budgie’s back.
• Why? Stroking a budgie’s back is like molesting your bird. It’s part of the mating process and should be avoided at all costs.
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• Separate Male and Female birds.
• Place your male and female birds in their own respective cages, or use a cage divider to separate them.
• Why? If they can’t mate, they can’t breed.