Human imprint on female ringnecks?

[JimHcctx]

I have about seven pairs of ringnecks and have probably had 50-60 ringnecks in total over the last few years. I have two female ringnecks that act like the other birds in the flight are complete aliens and are extremely aggressive to them. During breeding season, they are always looking to me cooing and pinning and squatting down on the perches and bars.

The first, a violet hen was incubated by a breeder and raised by itself without clutch mates of any kind. Its previous owner set her up to breed and she killed the mate in the nest box.

I set her up last year with a proven blue male that has produced with a few hens for me, and the entire season he was terrified, she was clipped, and she never once went in the nest box. She is 5 years old and is hormonal during the season, but would have nothing to do with him or any other bird.

Over this summer, she was thrown into a flight with 15 other ringnecks and remained miss cranky pants throughout the summer never getting near or allowing any of the other birds getting near her. I won a female cinnamon blue lacewing from the mart raffle table, placed it with the blue that she had tormented, and from day one, they have been two peas in the pod.

The second, a green female, also about 5 years old, in the community cage, like the violet hen, chases off everyone else and only follows me around wanting my attention. She too was raised as an individual bird out of the nest and has not interacted with any other bird.

Both hens act like they are 100% imprinted on humans vice birds and I am just wondering if this is a lost cause to attempt breeding them or not? Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks
Jim

[rod038]

I would be getting rid of them if they are disrupting the other birds. She may pass the behaviour on to any young she has. I have an aggressive Violet hen too that kills her young as soon as they hatch. It has also attacked another hen in flight cage. Always accepts a male and never attacks them though. I wont be using her again to breed.