Turk Pair- Breeding

[tommy]

Hi Guys,


I have a pair of beautiful Turquoise Parrots that appear to be nesting. They've always been a little timid but I'm worried about the girl. I'm new to the whole breeding thing and a bit out of my depth.

The boy happily flies around the aviary all day as usual, but the girl has sat in her nest for almost a month now. I've not seen her come out once. I confirm she's still alive, but she just sits in a corner of the nest and does nothing. I can't confirm whether she's sitting on eggs either. She hasn't built much of a nest- four or five twigs- it's mostly bare wood. She's chosen an over sized nesting box at ground level that was originally intended for quails? I left her a log and she wasn't interested. I've put new nesting boxes in since but I feel it's too late.

I fed them a little egg mix at one stage but mostly just a mix of finch and canary mix. I feel I should be adding something else into the mix but unsure what.

Eggs aside, I really don't want to lose her and not sure what to do.

[avinet]

Hi and welcome to the Forum

You need to check what is happening in the nest box - just pick up the female and see if she has eggs, or babies, under her.  If there is nothing there I would remove the nest box for a few days so she will feed herself in the aviary and build up any condition she has lost - and I'll talk about food later.  While in the box she will have been fed by the male - it is pretty normal for the hen to sit tight on eggs, relying on the male for food.  If there are eggs, or babies then obviously leave everything there and let her finish incubating or raising the chicks.

Turning to the nest box, you note that it is there for quail to use - quail don't use nest boxes, they will lay their eggs in a hollow in the ground, preferably under some shelter such as half a flowerpot of suitable size.  Also you need to put a good layer of sawdust or wood shavings in the bottom of the box.  Almost all parrots do not build a nest - they make use of whatever is in the nest site already - in the wild they will chew the insides of the hollow to make sawdust for the bottom.  The only species that will take nesting material in the box I can quickly think of are the Quaker and the Galah.  You mention the nest box is oversize - is she actually able to get out if she wanted?  Sometimes they can get in a deep smooth sided box and be unable to get out.  However since she is still alive I guess that hasn't happened in this case.  Get her a proper Neophema nest box, or failing that a cockatiel nest box, hung about 1.5 metres above the floor.

Now to diet - finch and canary mix is OK if of good quality - but they need fresh food.  Dry seed alone is missing many vitamins needed for healthy birds, and therefore does not provide a balanced diet.  It will need supplementing DAILY with fresh foods such as vegetables - I use corn, endive, kale, broccoli, Chinese greens, celery, carrot, silver beet, capsicum, beans peas, etc. Sprouted seed is also an excellent food for your bird. Do NOT feed birds avocado as this is toxic. Iceberg lettuce and cabbage, whilst not toxic, have little nutritional value so should be avoided. Other lettuces, especially darker coloured varieties, are slightly more nutritional.   I chop up the food into bite sized pieces rather than putting in a whole silver beet leave for instance.  Egg and Biscuit is a good food to provide as well, especially when they have babies to feed - but not all birds will take it.  Some prefer it dry while others like it moistened to a crumble mix, or even quite a wet porridge type mix - experiment to see what your birds prefer.

Additionally if they are breeding you need to ensure they have adequate calcium for egg production by making shell grit and cuttlebone always available, and perhaps adding a calcium supplement to their water - Vetafarm's Calcivet is a good one to use as per instructions on the bottle.

I have noticed you have also posted a question about your canaries - I'll be able to answer that properly later this evening - I've run out of time this morning.  However check if the baby is alive by picking it up and checking if it is getting fed.  If it has died then obviously dispose of it.

cheers,

Mike

[tommy]

Wow, mate, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help already.

I have been leaving the nesting material around the aviary, used to the finch's and canaries building their own nests. I should have put it IN the nests. The box has quite a lot of flat area and is relatively tall, but the entrance is also on ground level. If she can get in she can get out, so that's okay. I tried with a log but unsure how to prepare it so she's interested. I also have some new nesting boxes I've hung relatively low. Realestate for nesting boxes is a bit hard in my aviary as there's only one wall for me to hang nests out of the elements, and the Finch's have already sectioned off much of it.

I tried using some fresh food but they didn't seem very interested. I was mixing egg and biscuit into their seed mix, not a good idea? I will keep pushing the fresh food.

Their water supply is from a pond with two pumps and fish that I clean once a fortnight. I don't think I'll be able to add calcium. The cuttlebone sounds like a good idea, or I'll mix in some powdered supplement into the egg and biscuit mix to boost it. Excitingly, every bird in my aviary is nesting at the moment so it's probably a good idea.

[avinet]

Sept 27, 2013 12:42:35 GMT 10 tommy said:

Wow, mate, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help already.

I have been leaving the nesting material around the aviary, used to the finch's and canaries building their own nests. I should have put it IN the nests. The box has quite a lot of flat area and is relatively tall, but the entrance is also on ground level. If she can get in she can get out, so that's okay. I tried with a log but unsure how to prepare it so she's interested. I also have some new nesting boxes I've hung relatively low. Realestate for nesting boxes is a bit hard in my aviary as there's only one wall for me to hang nests out of the elements, and the Finch's have already sectioned off much of it.

I tried using some fresh food but they didn't seem very interested. I was mixing egg and biscuit into their seed mix, not a good idea? I will keep pushing the fresh food.

Their water supply is from a pond with two pumps and fish that I clean once a fortnight. I don't think I'll be able to add calcium. The cuttlebone sounds like a good idea, or I'll mix in some powdered supplement into the egg and biscuit mix to boost it. Excitingly, every bird in my aviary is nesting at the moment so it's probably a good idea.

In the box for the Turks use wood shaving or sawdust - nothing lese is suitable, although Vetafarm make a good nest box product - but itis expensive xompared to wood shavings, and no better in my opinion.  The box should ideally be up higher - 1.2 to 1.5 metres is good.

Keep up the fresh food - your Turks will eat it when they have babies and the finches, canaries and quail will also eat it.  Place it next to the seed so they will better relate to it as food.  Keep it up - it is important for them to have.  Egg and biscuit is best given in a separate dish so you can monitor its use, and if moistened it will go off so needs changing every day - even twice a day in hot weather.  Don't add calcium powder to the egg & biscuit but sprinkle some on the fresh food and mix it through.

I'm not keen on your water supply - fish ponds can carry bacteria harmful to the birds.  One problem is droppings going into the water leading to dirty water which a filter isn't going to clean - bacteria are too small to get caught in a filter.

How big is your aviary and just how many birds do you have in it?

cheers,

Mike

[Laraine]

I am having the same problem with my female Plumhead who has laid her eggs on the ground under a breeding cabinet. There is a spare breeding box but obviously she prefers where she is. Hopefully her eggs will hatch and grow OK. This is the first time she has bred for me. I put the pair into a breeding cabinet but all she did was attack the male who was constantly cowering on the floor, so let them out. She is in a communal aviary.

[tommy]

So my Turk girl has two eggs she’s sitting on. I’ve put an appropriate amount of wood shavings in the nest, though she’s a bit useless and hasn’t really used them…
I can’t get that box up high; it’s too big and bulky. I will have to wait for next nesting season to put something in that she likes higher up.
Also, I don’t spend a huge amount of time at home, I am home every second night, so I will need to avoid wet mix.
The pond had a UV filter in it but that recently broke. I’ve got one pump pushing water up and then down a waterfall, then another pump moving the water in the base around. There are fish that eat the cr*p as well. I replace half the water every few days and gurney the whole set up every fortnight. There are no perches above the pond so it’s rare for them to poo in it.
The Aviary is 3x3x3m. I’ve got ;
- x2 Canaries
- x3 Quails (plus x3 bubs)
- x1 Bangalese Finch
- x4 Zebra Finchs (plus x3 adolescents)
- x2 Turquoise Parrots

I need to remove all young Zeb’s and hopefully two of the adults.

[avinet]

She won't "use" the wood shavings - they do not make a nest - just flatten down the existing material in the nest, in this case the wood shavings, and form a bit of a hollow for the eggs to be laid in. Some hens might chew them up a bit to make them finer but Turks rarely do this. How big is the box? And is she is coming out OK? Normally a box for a Turk will be around 20 cm x 20 cm and 30 cm deep. A hole will be around 5 to 6 cm in diameter near the top, and a perch will pass through the side just below the hole with 4 or 5 cm inside the box and 6 or 7 cm outside. If the box is much deeper it might be difficult for the babies to climb out so you would have to keep an eye on that.

cheers,

Mike

[tommy]

Neither of the eggs have hatched. One of them has gone grey. I'm going to pull the nest- she's been on there for far too long.