Hi again just wondering if anyone has sucessfully bred IRN s while they are with other IRNs.The reason i ask is that I have 3 young birds (last years chicks) in with an older pair (about 2 years old).
The only reason the older ones are in with the others is purely a space prob----havnt got another aviary to put them in just atm.Would it be an idea to put a box in anyway an if it happens it happens or would i be wasting my time.I def know the younger ones wont mate so it would only be the older pair.
Thanks for your help----as you prob realise im new to this breeding thing
I leared the hard way not to put my pairs together unless I had TONS of space- which you said was a problem.
I don't THINK that the juv will be comp. next year BUT I wouldn't risk it. I kept mine colony UNTIL 4 months before breeding season and then put them in seperate breeding areas.
In other breeds of birds- NOT ringnecks- I have had adults kill the young birds that were the same species but not their babies...
All I am saying is it really wouldn't be something I would do. I don't let my year old birds around my new babies cause they are very territorial.... I would think the same would apply in reverse... the much older breeders with the year old birds.
Try to find you some cheap cages on Amazon or Ebay.. or build some yourself.
I hope this helps - it was the long way around the mountain to say- No I wouldn't recommend it.
I faced the same problem than you one year ago and I decided to let the youngs of the last year together with the parents during the breeding season. I observed:
1. Young females used to disturb adults while mating, but not young males. Maybe it happens because females get mature quicker than males...
2. Young females used to approach the nesting box and the adult female had to go out to defend the nest and the 50-100 cm around.
3. Youngs of the year developped slower (around 10-15 more days till leaving the nestbox) than those bred in independent cages, but the final weight was the same (around 130-140 grs). I thinck that parents spend time and energy to repulse the curiosity of the young females about what is going on inside the nestbox and they do not feed the chicks as they should.
This year I repeated the experience and there were 9 youngs with the couple of adults. The observations were the same. I could also see, for the first time, the young females trying to feed the youngsters after leaving the nestbox.
This is my experience. I thinck this can be done if you have a big cage (mine is 8 m3), but I would not do it with valuable birds if you want the best conditions for developement of the youngs.
