Tips for successfully breeding parrots

Breeders, I have some questions for you...

Do you allow your birds to live in a social flock structure? 

Do you feed your birds a wide variety of foods to not only sustain them, but keep them from being bored of the same things?

Do your birds experience natural light?

Can your birds express natural behaviours?

Is your bird's partner compatible?

Do you provide your birds with enrichment?

If you said no to any of those then I suggest you read on!


How looking through a birds eyes helped my birds breed more successfully

I used to keep my breeding birds all in separate pairs, in breeding cages. I wanted to put birds together that would produce nice chicks, especially if I was breeding for mutation. A lot of the time I found that my birds were too miserable to breed. They were overweight, they were only eating seed (fresh foods were offered, but not much variety) and eggfood, they were living with artificial lighting over their heads with no exposure to the elements, they didn't like the birds I had paired them up with, they didn't have toys to play with as I was always told that it was a distraction when breeding

What did I gain from this? The occasional bird would breed. I had very little to no success. My birds didn't want to breed. If they mated and eggs were laid the chicks would often die. They weren't happy in the slightest

Now, I can't stop my birds from breeding! They're all over one another and I have a fairly constant flow of babies coming my way when birds are ready to breed

What success looks like

Here's how I did it...

When the birds weren't breeding, they were living in an aviary. A spacious aviary with plenty of space for everybody to hang out together with enough room to get away from one another if anybody were to bicker. This allowed them plenty of space to exercise and keep in tip top condition. Being in the aviary also meant that they could interact with each other and sitting back and watching the flock can be extremely fun! Personalities really start to show when you see them all together

I started to allow my birds to choose their own mates. They bonded with who they wanted (within reason, siblings and similar aren't allowed to breed!) and suddenly everybody was getting a bit randy. Fine by me

I provided them with both natural enrichment and toys. In the cages, whenever I did provide a toy, it was never ever used. Now my birds get through a toy in minutes! I have to buy very large toys for my budgie flock as they will all gang up on it when they get a new one. It always amazed me that some of the shredding toys would end up being attempted nest material

Their diets changed drastically. I stopped listening to other breeders and went looking for the best diets possible. Having been through seeds, pellets and fresh foods I decided to go as natural as possible and not cut out the seed diet. They do however now eat all of their fresh foods. When providing these fresh foods, birds seem to become more eager to breed. They know it is nutritious! Better fed parents also means better fed chicks, which means healthy, happy chicks

My birds love being exposed to the elements. They love basking in the sun, dancing in the rain (even bathing in the snow in the case of my kakarikis). Although these avian lamps are wonderful, they don't compare to the real sun, the real outdoors

All of these will improve the health and mental well-being of your breeding birds and help you produce wonderful, happy little babies. Just allow them to be birds for those months when they aren't breeding, they deserve it 

Another thing is to research what you species really likes, and stick to it. Don't think every species has the same requirements. Unfortunately, most people do put them all in the same category. I find this especially saddening with the eclectus parrots and their specialist diets. It's not just that though, it's nest boxes, housing, social structure etc. You have to dive deeper and get to know your individual birds too. In large flocks, it can be hard to tell who likes what but you can provide such a variety that helps them choose what they like themselves

The same chick. Weaned, healthy and very happy