By Grant Donaldson

 

March for most parakeet breeders in the UK is when the breeding season for most birds gets underway. It’s been a particularly harsh winter so it’s a relief that the days are starting to lengthen and the weather is significantly milder than the -12degC we had eight weeks ago!

 

My Splendid pairs have been paired up for several weeks now so that any incompatibility problems can be sorted. New birds bought at the Stafford Spring Show have been quarantined and are also paired up for the coming season.

 

I like to keep my birds in individual cages as the males can be quite aggressive to each other if in a colony situation.

 

We have had particularly mild weather lately so I took the covers off the nest boxes 14th March.

Some of the pairs have already been seen feeding each other so I’m hopeful it’s not going to be long until eggs appear.

Most of the birds are already moulted out and they have been getting egg food plus apple/vegetables most days in preparation.

I also feed them millet sprays which they demolish and extra grit and crushed oyster shell is sprinkled on the floor

 

First egg laid by one of the pairs 21 March. It’s pretty quick but this pair has been together since last year so hopefully they are fertile. The pair are both white breasted blues and the cock in particular is a nice big bird so I’m hoping for some decent chicks from this pair.

 

Another pair has laid on the same day but for some reason the egg has been laid on the corner of the cage. This time it’s a cinnamon sea green cock which should be split lutino paired to a lutino hen. I’ve seen the cock in the nest box but for some reason the hen is reluctant to go into the nest box. I will try putting a larger perch below the box to see if it encourages the hen to lay in the box

 

23 March disaster strikes! Found my creamino hen dead on the cage floor this morning. No obvious signs of illness and she was of a good weight. Suppose that’s one of the problems with keeping and breeding splendid’s, they seem to be particularly prone to stressing out.

 

Have spotted several more pairs going in and out of the nest boxes the last few days and more of the hens are begging to be fed now. It seems the sunny weather over the last few days of the month has spurred them on a bit.

 

One of my proven hens has now laid, a silver hen paired to a cinnamon split white breast. This hen has hatched chicks before so I’m hopeful.

 

Hopefully in the next update I will have a few more reports of eggs and chicks to tell you about!