Christie's Bird Links

Warning: this line of questioning may seem offensive, but if you are not ready to answer these questions honestly to yourself, you are not ready to breed in my opinion. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who has had over 22 years with cockatiel owning/breeding and all it encompasses. Two of my current flock are rescues/re-homes from horrible situations. 

One, Ash, came from a home where the people got "free" bird and didn't care for it. He is the last one of four birds from this house, the others didn't make it. He was starved, some would say tortured, had a broken foot that could no longer be repaired, and has trust issues with humans because of the abuse and neglect he suffered at their hands.

First, why do you want to breed? Do you have top notch birds or are they pet store quality? Are you aware that there are hundreds of unwanted cockatiels and budgies out there that are in shelters and rescues because they can't find homes?

Are your birds on a proper diet? Cockatiels can not all seeds, but not all pellets either. They need a constant supply of fresh healthy foods as well, which needs to be removed after 1-2 hours to prevent bacterial growth. 

If you are wanting to breed budgies, did you know that they do better without pellets? A pelleted diet has too high of a protein content for their little bodies.

Also, if you are breeding budgies in the state of California, Colorado, and Connecticut, did you know that they must have a traceable state registered closed band on in order to be sold, traded or bartered legally in the state? This makes many of the budgies that are sold in small pet stores illegal. What will you do with 5+ chicks that you can never legally sell?

Next, are you aware that you need to wait until the birds are at least 2 years old before they should breed? What will you do if the hen is egg bound? What will you do if they refuse to feed? Can you spend 4-10 weeks hand feeding the chicks around the clock? 

Do you have an emergency avian vet you can go to in any emergency with the chicks? What will you do if they get an infection or aspirate the formula? What if they don't wean on time? You cannot force wean a bird and expect it to be healthy.

What will you do with the chicks when they are grown? They don't sell for much, so you won't make money breeding them. 

Not all breeders are wild, but they won't be cuddle bugs either. They will be bonded to each other, not you.

What will you do if one or both parent birds pluck the chicks? Not only does this make the chicks look ugly, but it causes them to use needed caloric energy growing feathers a second or even a third time instead of growing. This could stunt their growth permanently.  At this point, you will need to pull the chicks and handfeed, even if you didn't plan on it in the beginning. 

Last but not least, what will you do if your hen becomes a chronic egg layer? Constantly laying and depleting her system of needed nutrients? Are you willing to do what it takes to get her healthy and keep her that way, even if you can never breed her again?

Information on banding gained from:

Winged Wisdom Magazine 11/06 
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww5eiii.htm

History Of The Leg Band
Originally used to trace the movements of wild birds, leg bands today are used to identify a pet bird’s origins
By Dick Schroeder

Do you know the signs of crop burn, other crop problems like slow or sour crop?

Have you been trained on proper hand feeding techniques and disease control?

Do you have, or know how to make a brooder?

Do you know what temperature your chicks need to be kept at?

Parents Pluck Baby Bird’s Feathers