keep together or separate

[luvalutino]

hi all
I am new to this forum and also new to IRNs. I have bred other birds as a hobby but i am understanding IRNs need a little more "know how"- I have 6 beautiful IRNs 3 males and 3 females two pairs are pretty much paired off
the other two M & F ( that are newer to the aviary ) havent decided who they want yet.
breeding season will be upon us in two months ( sydney australia)...to effectively breed them this season should I put each couple into their own separate cage with nesting box.. or will they breed in the communal aviary. if so how many nesting boxes should I put into the aviary-1 each or more.
best regards

[ellieelectrons]

I'm not a breeder but everything I've read in this forum indicates that you need to have one breeding pair per aviary else the females will probably kill each other.

breeding season will be upon us in two months ( sydney australia)

Is that right? I thought it was more towards Spring? I was thinking about trying to breed my guys next breeding season.

Ellie

[luvalutino]

hi
thanks for the reply ive read a lot but i understood the hen will kill the extra male if its 2 to 1....mine are 1-1
re season....from what i have been told they prefer to breed in cooler months.....and i was told in sydney u can start
in april.....perhaps someone on the forum can confirm this
thanks

[pinkdevil]

I live a couple of hours from Sydney and for my birds, the earliest they started breeding was in July but most of the time it is August.

I personally have all my breeding birds paired up separately, to stop aggression between pairs and also so I know for sure just who is the parents to the chicks. Just because a pair have bonded doesn't meant another male won't 'jump the fence' to another hen. I even have double wired a few of my aviaries as they fight between the wire with each other.

[rod038]

I would seperate the pairs into their own breeding cages with double wire between the cages if they are to be kept side by side. I keep all my birds in a 6m x 3m aviary when they are not breeding and pair them up at the start of July into suspended cages that are 1800 long x 900 high x 900 wide, with a nest box hung on the outside. The birds will behave alot more aggressively to each other once the nest boxes are placed in the avairy if they are all together.

The only way this may work is if you got 3 pairs of young birds at the same time and had a very big aviary where they grew up together and even then you could still have problems. You would need to place additional breeding boxes, all at the same height and not too close to each other. But it would be best to pair up in seperate cages. That way you know for sure who the parents of the babies are and that they are safe from other more dominant birds.

[rod038]

April is a bit too early. I would pair up early July.

[luvalutino]

thanks to all that have replied
in sydney august is the last month of winter.....would you introduce the nesting boxes in june / july or august
thanks

[rod038]

I would place the pairs in seperate breeding cages in July with the nest box already for them in place. How old are your birds?