Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject: Could you have 2 hens with the one male
I am wondering if you could have 2 hens in a cage with the one male.
I can only assume that if you were to put 2 males in adjoining cages they would fight
My daughter was lucky enough to buy a young hen ? split to pied which after her first moult has turned mottled.
She also bought a ?split to pied cock ( from a bit of a con-man) he has now developed a yellow spot on the back of one wing ha ha we win !!!
I bought her a cock cinnamon split to pied now I have to get him a girl
I am wondering if you could have 2 hens in a cage with the one male.
Cage or flight? dont over crowd...
So long as there is no nesting box u shouldnt have a problem, and if all are introduced to the enviroment at the same time, before terroriies have been established
Once they pair off and start going to nest then the paired kakariki are likely to get aggressive to anything close.
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I can only assume that if you were to put 2 males in adjoining cages they would fight
Only if going to nest like described above, generally they are ok even in the same flight.
Blocking line of sight between the nesting box and next flight fixes any stress _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
I would like to bump this old thread, if you don't mind.
any experience in this kind of "threesome" breeding?
Steps, do you think taking up an experiment in a 2x1 flight with 3-4 nests can be safe?
Release 1 cokc 2 hens and observe the behavior?
Recently I saw a doc. (The Land of Parrots I think) where they talk about the relaxed attitude of eclectus when it comes to breeding.
A male feeds several hens, and a hen accepts food from a number of males.
Of course, it's different in the wild, as we talk about huge spaces, where as in captivity the birds are limited to a rather small place.
In my case I have aviaries 1mx2mx1.80 high.
It's not about beeding high numbers, but rather curiosity or research why I wonder about this setup of 1cock 2 hens.
cheerz / Pablo _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
I have don this many times...forcing either one of the seleted females to m8 with the male.
You need 2 nest boxes...
if 1 box either the male beats up on the female or the females beat up on the male...in the nesting boxes.
No nesting boxes is fine.
I have had burkes and othe species , the male servicing 2 females...even 2 females that nest in the dame box together..
Kakariki..never had it happen..
Thu have observered in the community flights no nest boxes, a male will be very freindly to 2 females, feeding and such...isolate them all in a breeding flight and 2 will pair of to a nesting box and the odd female out gets beaten up. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
as far as I know this has happened in lineolated parakeets breeding in colony.
And 2 of my girlfriend's cockatiel hens decided it was fine to use the same nest. The 2 hens and 1 cock lay eggs, take turns brooding, and they feed the chicks nicely. They make a nice team, my girlfriend had a few laughs with them.
Then... maybe I do some small experiment in the future
If something goes wrong it's Steptoe's fault. _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
Any advice or opinion much appreciated, as I'm not sure what to do? .
In a flight 2.5m long x3m wide by 3m high a pair from two distinctly different lines (hard thing to get or be certain of! ) bred last spring/summer, I retained one of the chicks(a hen but thought it was a cock ) and left it in with them.
All well till recently, the breeding hen sat on infertile eggs through mid July/August(eggs were pulled after and she lay again in the last 2 weeks); while doing this it looks like her mate has lost interest and is now feeding the offspring hen who is checking out the other nest and savaging the older hen (mother)at any opportunity, the cock shows no protective tendencys.
I saw no feeding let alone breeding from the original pair so assume the eggs the older hen is on are infertile, I think she stays in the box to hide as well! .
Should I remove her and let the current bonded pair carry on with their breeding or remove the youngster and hope the original pair get together again? .
Obviously I would be breeding the cock with offspring, though never done this before, how bad would this be considering the distance of the two lines etc?.
Not the best idea but they are bonded and the older hen would be an asset to breed with other spare cock birds I have.
I have often left a cock bird in with it's parents with no probs, when they get a bit randy come spring they may be quite vocal, pretend-feed knots in wood and sit close to their parents when the cock will feed the hen etc, but no fighting (other than toes nibbling of the neighbours at worst .
It seems that a ready to breed young hen can "turn" even their parent male, at about the time when the bonded mate of the male bird is busy brooding and especially so at the precise time when the clutch doesn't hatch, it was at this time it all started and feel it would have been all fine if they eggs had been fertile.
Two cocks and one hen can work, depending on pecking order, intrioduction times, ages, bred relationship etc; but two hens and on e cock is tricky regardless.
I need to do something very soon as this is a stressed aviary and this can pass along to others nearby.
By the way, I don't usually get sexing wrong , but on this occasion I had a little doubt and was tricked by the size of the bird somewhat and of coarse especially it's beak...I'l try get a pic up someday. This terrific young hen is a big, robust bird, one of the best I have ever bred and a completely new genetically diverse line.
All the great expertise out their greatfully appreciated in advance. Ta.
wait until the experts come here and drop a line, but... if as you say the old hen can be valuable to pair up with other cocks, why not?
Father to daughter should be avoided as much as possible (as any direct-related pairing), but maybe letting them test-breed once is ok. If the results are not good, dissolve the pair and find them new partners.
But maybe if you remove the young hen from the aviary, the older birds get bonded again and lay another successful clutch with a few more unrelated excellent hens and cocks.
From what you say I guess the hen laid infertile eggs due to the young hen disturbing them somehow.
As far as I know kakariki don't bond for life, and both cock and hen are willing to mate if given the chance. But probably Steps, or some of the European guys that have been re-arranging pairs for some time can give you a more accurate reply.
Indeed time is important because it's not nice to have hen laying clear eggs.
Just as a final note, bear in mind that maybe if you remove the young hen and place her with another mate, although she lays eggs the parent could be the former male. I don't know for how long the matings would be still valid.
Should I remove her and let the current bonded pair carry on with their breeding or remove the youngster and hope the original pair get together again? .
I would pull the nesting box and hen sitting and put in a flight by her self....well being in NZ that would be the " acceptted way"
What I would do, is get a wire cage about 500x 500x500 tie it to a small table, because if you dont , when you cut a hole on one side, and aatach the nesting box, it will not fall over...
The small table is so you can keep it inside...
A female sitting , only comes ot to have a poo, strech the legs, while having a bit of afternoon tea in the sun... So other than a good fly around the room every few days, late in the afternoon so she goes back at dusk..she is better off.
If when the chicks fledge, had a few flaps around the room...but them back in the holding flight or whatever..
I have done it..both ways..the cage.
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I think she stays in the box to hide as well! .
If so, Good excuse to to have one in the house for a little while.
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Obviously I would be breeding the cock with offspring, though never done this before, how bad would this be considering the distance of the two lines etc?.
That opens up a bigger issue
and
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(hard thing to get or be certain of! )
this is getting to if you had a bird with a few yellow feather, pink feet....Pied gene...so the process would be the same...
Watch for any chick deformed....what is will die in the nest or usually by some weeks after leacing the nest, but anything that is suspect, no matter how good..cull.
Watch the offspring of the remaining chicks for the same thing.
If clean cool...if not careful it is not a bad gene made stronger or destory the line...
The infertilty issue, I believe , is fixed very easy with a bit of new blood or distantly related back into the line.
I have read the inbreeding stuff theories, read stuff papers on studies of limitted gene pool releases...and learnt a hell of a lot of those guys in Europe and Aussie.. The above is the conclusion I have come to
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By the way, I don't usually get sexing wrong , but on this occasion I had a little doubt and was tricked by the size of the bird somewhat and of coarse especially it's beak...I'l try get a pic up someday. This terrific young hen is a big, robust bird, one of the best I have ever bred and a completely new genetically diverse line.
Thats interesting...couple yrs back we had one..BIG BIRD/ small beak..
Tried with a make, tryed with a female....thought it looked possible...put in the holding flight..nothing.....I have to admit Im not realy sure to this day.. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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