keeping babies with adult birds

[papa23]

Hi there,

Would like to know about keeping a newly weaned budgie with parent birds.
Up to what age is it advisable to do so?
What are the risks of in-breeding? 

Any advice gratefully received 

[suesbird]

Hi there Papa sorry I can't help, Daz or someone will be around later who can help you. Welcome

[Hezz]

This might be of some help: budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/231/basic-budgerigar-breeding

[Budgies Retreat]

In-breeding is a big NO

You may not see any underlying health issues in the birds that you have now, but if you in-breed these issues have a tendency to suddenly come out, twofold. Then if you breed that chick with another from a different pair it puts that health issue into a bird that wasn't previously affected. This could be any health issue, not necessarily one that can be seen, so IMO I would definitely NOT do it. When you have chicks, you may wish to put rings on them to identify which is which. These could be closed rings or split rings. You don't have to be a member of any recognised society, you can buy rings anywhere, and in any colour. So long as you keep accurate records of which chick came from which parents, you will know not to allow sibling/sibling or sibling/parent mating.

As for what age to remove the chick from the parent, read the link that Hezz has posted. If you want to breed the parents again then it would be best to remove any chicks that are now fully weaned and can fly, off the top of my head somewhere around 6-7 weeks from birth. If you don't wish to breed the parents again, then you can leave the chick/s with the parents but you may need a larger cage unless they are in an aviary??