Advise Please :)

[charlotte1047]

Hi,
This will sound corny but I'm afraid its true, ever since being a young girl my mum has always told me the story of her having a budgie ('Peter') as a child whom she chose from an egg and had a very close bond with... Ive heard stories about his cheekiness and even seen the most adorable photos. Ever since then I have always wanted a budgie and to breed them, however living in a house with a cat was never able to. I now live in my own house and have decided now that it is something I want to do. 

I have had my budgie Heather for over a year now and she has been wonderful and in last last few months bought Walter. They are the bestest of friends and don't leave each others side. Even when Heather is being extremely bossy!! I would really like to breed them,I have read loads about this, researched everything from diets ,conditioning, nest boxes, hand feeding chicks etc etc.in fact spending more time researching budgie stuff than doing my actual professional work!! haha. However, Im worried that I won't know enough, and I was wondering if you had any advise whether or not I should do this. I really think its a big commitment which Im prepared to take but I feel everyone knows so much about this I just feel very amateur and scared of asking questions etc. I was thinking of starting a blog but that's just an idea.

People have been so welcoming on here so I would really appreciate it if you could tell me your ideas, experiences of first time breeding or if in fact Ill be able to do this.

Sorry for waffling, and sorry if I've posted in the wrong place!!

Thankyou,

Charlotte, Heather and Walter x

[Hezz]

It sounds like you are doing the best you can to prepare yourself and the budgies for a possible breeding session, and as there has to be a first time for everything, that is probably as much as you can do. There are some breeding stickies at the top of this section, so read through them, take notes of what sounds good, what you might not have thought of, and read through other's threads to get their take on breeding, as much as to prepare yourself for what to expect, what can go wrong, what is normal and what isn't. The breeding journals are good as well, and generally full of lots of lovely photos.

[jellybean]

Good luck Charlotte, I hope you stick around on the forum to let us know how things are going, and show us lots of pictures of the new little baby budgies.

[samwiseg]

No such thing as silly or corny question charlotte1047

There are quite a few members that have bred their budgies at home and am sure they would give you advice if you asked them. Importantly it is giving them the right conditions - could skysmum FFG BudgiesBuddy kindly help me out here? Or anyone else who has had the experience?

[FFG]

Hello.
Sorry I missed this thread. I am certainly no professional in breeding budgies. To be honest I did exactly the same as you and researched and then researched some more (also when I should have been working! ).
I think as long as your pair are at least a year old, have good nutrition and the right conditions for breeding then they will be ok.
It is an amazing thing to see but also has its worrying times too.
In my first clutch there were 6 eggs, 2 hatched but only 1 survived. This time round there are 7 eggs and I've had to get rid of 2 infertile one's. It does take quite a bit out of the female so this will be the last time for mine.
I know you have been researching but if you haven't come across this link it may be helpful....
www.cutelittlebirdiesaviary.com/are-you-ready-to-breed-your-budgies.html

I think my situation may be different to yours as mine are in an aviary but any questions or worries you have I will be pleased to answer them. I'm sure other people will too.

[skysmum]

I'm going to be be honest here. When I first bred my buds it was pre internet day's. I had nothing but three books. One very old book by Phil Drabble which was brilliant, straight forward and to the point. The other two were A Beginner's Guide to Budgerigars and Caring for your Pet Budgies. They gave me everything I needed to know and I was very lucky and had no problems.

The Internet is just Brilliant with unlimited information on anything and everything BUT I think you can over research and flood yourself with doubt's and worry's.

A couple of old friends of mine used to run a local pet shop, Brian LOVED his Budgies and had and still has a beautiful aviary set up. He was helpful if I needed advice and he once said to me, " don't over think it, if you provide the right nutrition and environment, coupled with discrete observation, leave them to it they will do what comes naturally". I did and so did they .
If you want to increase your flock and your buds are old enough, happy and healthy you have the space and time to accommodate them, have a go. Its a lovely experience, you have to take the rough with the smooth but that's life, nothing ventured nothing gained
We are all here to help you along the way if you decide to go for it

[charlotte1047]

Sorry this is a bit late. Thank you so much everyone!! i really appreciate it.
Its been a month or more now and six eggs have been laid and two hatched a few days ago. I hope they are going to be ok. I will post when I know more, I really think I need to clean the nest box though soon, but don't want to disturb them. I have posted a more detailed post in the breeding section.
Thankyou so much you lovely bunch x

[ffiscool]

good luck with them

[jujubiiird]

Cant wait to see photos! Goodluck!

[milliej]

Oh heck I hope Tiny Tyler doesn't become a dad, he's very amorous but I couldn't cope

All the best for your new babies and their parents of course