Where could I put the nesting boxes?

[BudgiesBuddy]

Mar 10, 2012 20:19:04 GMT Nicola said:

Thanks everyone for replying


Hi Gerwayne ( sorry if I spelt your name wrong We have 2 nesting boxes with 3 hens. 2 of the hens are related (mother and daughter) The mother recently lost her mate and hasn't paired up again yet. Another female doesn't produce any chicks but she lays eggs. And finally, the daughter doesn't have a male to pair up with. The only one that's a male we have left is her brother. And I think she is too young to breed. She isn't even 1 yet I was also hoping to have the nesting box inside the cage. Do you have another suggestion how how to hold it up inside the aviary?
Thank everyone again!

Nicola

So how many males and females are there? It doesn't matter whether they are related or not, once one hen start to lay eggs everyone will be interested and possibly cause trouble.

[Nicola]

Hi BB. There are 3 males and 3 females. As I said before there is already one pair, Dave and Tess. Then theres Lilly, Romeo, Georgia and Gilbert. Lilly is Georgia and Gilberts mum, therefore Gilbert and Georgia are siblings. Do you think I should get another nest box? I am just a bit worried that Georgia and Gilbert will pair up and cause chicks (if they have any) to be inbred.

Nicola

[brian1]

It's a difficult one Nicola, could you buy a cheap breeding cage and put it in the garage or some where, it would solve a lot of problems or get your dad to make one, I wouldn't like you to lose any............just a thought

[Nicola]

Ok thanks Brian.

Nicola

[Hezz]

Seems a more sensible solution, Brian, otherwise as the others have said, there is going to be bloodshed plus possible inbreeding plus possibly breeding too young! It would just be colony breeding on a small scale.

[Nicola]

Thanks Hezz. Although a lot have said not to put nesting boxes in yet, we have decided to try our luck. But if it lokks like its getting violent, we will probably take them out.
Thanks for your concern though

Nicola

[BudgiesBuddy]

By the way, what is the size of the cage?

[Nicola]

Hi BB. Here are the measurements:
Height: 1.8m
Length: 1.52m
Depth: 0.75m

Nicola

[skysmum]

Hi Nicola, this is a bit of a tough one, as the other guys have said it needs to be high up in the left or right hand corner i think, but as it appears to be metal this would mean you drilling through to attach the boxes, if you put them on the outside you would need to cut the mesh which isn't ideal and then they would be exposed to the weather.
I bred my pair indoors in a large cage with a nest box attached, it wasn't until i had 7 indoors that the time came for an Aviary outside and although i could put nest box's in my Aviary i would probably select my pair and breed indoors again, its so much easier and your pair will get the piece and quite they need to do the job then after a time you could re introduce them to the Aviary.
The other thing you could do is put a breeding cage inside on a table and just put your chosen pair inside, that way there would be no competition.
Just one thing, it seems that there is no internal door, how do you stop them from escaping when you clean out etc.

[Nicola]

Hi Skysmum. Yes there is no internal door. Normally I just get someone to lock the door while I am in there and wait and help me until I am finished.

Nicola