my two females need a male!

ringneck_kaliboi · Post by **ringneck_kaliboi** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:36 am

hello im new here i just have a question. i have two females who are alone in my aviary. ive been wanting to get them a male just to see if they would get pair up. im going to see a 2 year old male this weekend but is there anything i should look in the bird in order to make sure that it will be a good partner for one of my birds? is a two year old male mature for breeding? and does color matter? because i ve been reading and heard that if a green IRN has had a green partner before they will only pair up with another green IRN. is that true? thank you all and hope to hear from yal.

pinkdevil · Post by **pinkdevil** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:22 am

I have read conflicting infomation on breeding pairs of IRNs. One book I read says they partner for life but most say they don't. I don't believe that colour matters to IRNs. I have a few different colours in the aviaries (seperated into pairs) and a male in one cage does his "love dance" to the female next door (he HAS a partner :roll:

) while she is interested in the bloke in the next aviary down from her lol.

Colour only matters if you want to breed a certain colour or to keep colours.

nil · Post by **nil** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:35 am

hi kaliboi
you need 2 males not one, dont put the 3 birds into a cage, each pair must live alone without other birds, or if you have a big aviary put the 2 pairs inside.
If you put 2 females and a male together, you ll have big problem with injuries , maybe even kill.
The color hasnt any matter.
2 years male is enough young for breeding, 3-4 years will be perfect, but this is not problem now, they ll have more time to used to and the next year must be ready for breeding.
How old are your females?

ringneck_kaliboi · Post by **ringneck_kaliboi** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:13 pm

yea the thing is that both girls lost their partner this winter.

they had been paired up for quite a while and now i feel like if i keep the two females together they will probably fight during breeding season. i have an aviary which is about 15 feet wide and 12 feet long with 12 feet high. will they still fight if i was to add the male into the aviary? i know ive heard that also when theres more females the males tend to flirt and wont mate. i guess i should invest in two males and separate them for this spring.

nil · Post by **nil** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:50 pm

i guess i should invest in two males and separate them for this spring.

i think this is the better that you can do!

i prefer a pair to live alone in his place but if you want, you can put 2 pairs in your aviary.
But not the 3 birds together :!:

Peachykeen · Post by **Peachykeen** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:56 pm

I have a male that breeds two females. He is a real go getter and the females do not care. My situation could be special... I don't know. But I contacted the breeder that I bought mine from this weekend just over this very issue. I was concerned that the females would fight each other or that he would not be able to tend to them both. I was told that he is able to breed them both and take care of them both and not to worry about it. Just to keep a watch out on my other males in the cage. Because this male is so hardy he could take a liking to yet another female and hurt her mate because if it. The size of the fight only helps in this situation because it gives the other male some way of getting away or staying away from the dominant male.

As I have learned- people thoughts and experiences are different. I would listen and do what you think is best. Males are just as dangerous in the breeding season as females I have learned this season. So no one answer is the gospel or will work for you. Know your birds and don't forget to quarantine. You might miss out on breeding this year.... but atl east no one will get sick or hurt.

Good luck and also if there is anyway you can monitor them via webcam or the like you will be more able to tell how things are going in the aviary then just the 10 minutes of cleaning and feeding time in there.

Best Wishes!!!!!

ringneck_kaliboi · Post by **ringneck_kaliboi** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:43 pm

thank you so much for that. yes i had a similar experience with my African Greys who are having their first babies together and should hatch any day now. i had bought the female in December and as it seems are now having babies. so i totally understand. so you think if i was to add a male it would be too late for them to breed this year?

Peachykeen · Post by **Peachykeen** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:29 am

my two best pair are still mating and have laid eggs late. When I spoke to my breeder friend he said his were laying late too and they are on natural light and seed.

But you do want to make sure that the one you are buying is quarantined- that is how you might miss this go around. He could have something and you just not know it and that could hurt your two girls. I know quarantine is a pain in the butt... but it is sooooo worth it in the long run. Nothing stinks more than loosing a bird to something you could have maybe prevented.

Is this birds a singleton and not around any other birds and been vet checked within the last 15 days. That would about the only way I would even consider it but even then - it is just such the right thing to do for your other birds sake- All I can say- I am a faithful quarantiner. :wink:

ringneck_kaliboi · Post by **ringneck_kaliboi** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:30 pm

what is a quarantine? im buying him froma breeder that is the only reason i am concerned but i do want to get him vet checked once i get him so nothing happens to my girls.

Peachykeen · Post by **Peachykeen** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:13 pm

it is where you keep your new bird away from you current birds..completely.. washing your hands after contact and I even change clothes. They should not be able to share air...lol.. I know that might sound funny- but as far away from each other as possible, speak to your vet about the time frame as I am sure he/she will do a feces check... if everything looks good- maybe a week or two...but ask the avian vets recommendation.

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:15 pm

what is a quarantine?

Quarantine is a period of 30 to 60 days you keep your new bird away from your existing flock.
No matter where you get the bird from (breeder,petshop) any where the bird come from that has been around other birds should be quarantined.
The reason for this is birds sometimes don't show any signs of illness until they are stressed and bringing a new bird into a new enviorment is stressful for that bird. You can have the bird tested for any diseases during quarantine period. Like Peachykeen said better to be safe then sorry

Donna

Peachykeen · Post by **Peachykeen** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:36 pm

Donna is right... the longer the better. You have to be sure there is no sickness. When I bought my breeders.. they stayed away from my Grey for 3 months. I watched their poop- I changed them from seed to pellets and fresh fruits and veggies and when you do that- there is a big change in poop. Don't freak out. If you want to avoid any confusion on poop issues.. do not buy pellets with dye. The red dye can REALLY freak you out when it comes out in the urine part of the droppings. It looks a bit like a blood issue. I personally think that a pellet diet with fresh veggies and some fruit is better than just seed. But the man I bought them from had them on the seed and they weren't starved or anything. But I could tell a extreme difference in their appearance after a few weeks of being on the pellet and veggies. Their feather looked healthier and they were much more perky. They just looked great over all. I spritzed them with water too. They just love the bath. They were new birds after about 4 weeks.

The good thing about quarantine is that you get to know what is normal for your new bird. That way if after the quarantine you see some strange behavior you will know it is different. Everyone of my birds have a different personality. I have one that is crazy- she doesn't hurt people but you can see it in her eyes... she is a strange bird. Now- thats because I watched them alot during quarantine . My turq female is the leader and my green female is number 2. The turq male is the king of the castle and everyone else knows it. My poor little white bird... well she is the lowest on the totem pole. She eats last BUT I know to give more than enough veggies and treats because of watching them. But she will fight for her bath time- but not food. See how that is just different. No one gets in front of the spray bottle until she is done.. period.. or she will get ya. They know that about her and respect it... it is very strange.

I didn't mean to go on and on.. I know you will have a great experience with your new bird if you are just careful to keep the health of you existing birds in mind.

ringneck_kaliboi · Post by **ringneck_kaliboi** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:52 am

ohh wow dats cool. yeah im definitely going to do that. yes mine love carrots and apples but they wont touch any other veggies than carrots and brocoli!. do you guys think it is safe having both my females in one aviary?

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:24 am

Can't say I have tried that, my pairs are always separated. But I have heard from other breeders that has tried putting two females with one male that when the chicks hatch the dominate female will kill or mame the chicks that are not hers. But on the other hand there are alot of people here that have big breeding aviaries and do just fine colony breeding.

Donna

Peachykeen · Post by **Peachykeen** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:56 am

Ok.. now that freaks me out. Now I am worried. I mean we are changing the set up of our birds- not right now because there are eggs.. but as soon as they are pulled for hand feeding we were going to take the next boxes... replace them with the new larger ones and put them in a room instead of the cage. The room is pretty big and we were only going to put two pair in there. 12x10x10 feet. with 4 nestboxes.

But #$^%*& I am kind stuck right this second. Is there any signs that you can look for besides dead chicks?? Does this happen early or with the 2-3 week period??.. Cause I will take them as soon as they hatch if I have to. feeding every hour on the hour is doable... we have 4 capable people that are experienced in handfeeding in this house.

Let me know what you find out Donna if you can.