Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 6:46 pm Post subject: Diet and feeding habits
Hello,
I am new to having kakarikis as pets two in total, in the same aviary I have two cockatiels and four finches. My first question is what is the appropriate diet for Kararikis? At the moment I am feeding them cockatiel mix. Next question is I have noticed they are very messy eaters, they dig the food with their feet and all the food goes to ground wasted (it's like they are looking for something in particular), compared to my cockatiels who are quite the opposite. Any advice would be appreciated.
Also both Karkarikis took to the nesting box quite quickly they laid eggs, now they are off the nest completely, with eggs still in nesting box. Are the eggs still any good an/or should I remove them.
Kakariki tend to eat around 5 to 6 times veggies, fruit , meat over seed
Yes cockteil seed is good.
In the forms is a sticky thread
"what do you feed..."
It has diet tips on how to feed to eliminate mess/ work, what to feed and lot of other stuff.
Mixed flight while kakariki are breeding usually ends up in territorial issues with other kakariki/ birds......and if in adjoining flights, nesting boxes must be out of line of sight.
The issue u most properly have is because of something along these lines.
The hen lays but at the same time, along with the males, spend far too much energy and time off the nest to produce good fertile eggs.
But keep in mind.. most birds do not start to incubate their eggs untill all or nearly all the batch are laid... the eggs remain in a sort of suspended animation for quite a few days...Then the hen gets serious and incubates the eggs.
Also u NEED at least 2 nesting boxes and another holding flight when breeding kakariki.
They go to nest, but when the chicks start getting their adult feathers, the hen now goes and lays another batch in the other nesting box. If she doesnt have another nesting box she will eventually see the older chicks as invaders/ threat and do serious harm.
The male continues to raise the 1st batch and tend the hen in the other box.
The 1st batch come out.. no iris in the eye, this is how to tell them from the parents...the iris forms about 12 to 14 days later.. it is best to move them to the holding aviary... preferably with single males and a few young females in... the single males then take over from the original father weaning them off.
Mean time back at the nesting boxes the hen is getting ready to lay her 3rd batch of eggs in the 1st nesting box....
A pair of kakariki will produce around 120 healthy chicks at a ratio of about 80% healthy adults to number of eggs .. all yr round IF a good heathly varied constant diet is supplied.
At around 120 fertility drops off dramatically till around the 130 to 140 the hen becomes infertile.
If a new hen is put with the male, they will produce well again.
?If the female is paired with another proven male she still will not produce, sometimes not even producing eggs at all.
All of the above is from personal experimentation and observation over now several decades with well over 1200 healthy adults produced
On the lft of the page is a "Quick Search" block throw a word or so in and it will come up with over a decades of information to read
My dinner is ready now
Cheers
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