Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:18 am Post subject: Choosing a kak friendly nesting box.
Hi from Sydney,Australia.I've been looking for info on breeding box's,but I'm finding more about aviary's.I have a large cage in the kitchen/lounge room,1.85hx1.2wx80deep.Only one pair,it's a bit like a penthouse,I go out of my way to make it as natural and interesting as possible.I'd like to get a nesting box for them that's what they would pick if they could show me.I have a 30cm one,but the guy I got the boy from said it needs to be taller.I have seen L-shaped ones or boot shapes and really like the design for the babies, and mum and dad can enter etc without disturbing the babies.Can someone tell me if what I'm thinking makes sense or what?
I personally use cockatiel nestboxes, 35cm tall, 18x18cm base.
But if you can find an L shaped nestbox 45-50 cm deep I guess it's better, I think that's what several European colleagues use.
Guys in NZ use really large boxes, 1m deep, L shaped.
I believe maybe there's no need for such deep boxes, 50-60cm deep, diagonal or L shaped I guess is a good idea.
Nesting boxes tend to be a personal preference to each breeder
And depends on if breeding in cages, small flights or large avaries, and how high they are from ground level and type of floors.
If high off the floor..chest height or greater, go for the deeper box, this stops the chicks coming out too early and damaging themselves, same with hard floors
A boot type also helps with the above, but primary reason is when the owner insists on checking chicks panicing parents into sudden moves , damaging chicks....Also if one has a tendency to large batches of chicks..more than 5 or 6.
We have experimented with lots of sizes, boot type etc etc
The novelty of checking boxes tends to wear off when producing a 100 or so kakariki per yr, so we have moved on from boots.
Different parent go to nest quicker with different depths...but the 2nd nest box the are not fussy.
We make our own out of rough sawn 25mm x 200mm un treated pine planks...elcheapo stuff builders use for boxing. This gives internal dimensions approx 200x 250mm
heights vary 400 mm 500mm and 600mm
The boot nesting boxes same as above with the bottom overall boot internal 200 wide, 250mm heigh and 400mm long...or put another way, 2 off the above nesting boxes joined together.
We chop the front panel (that has the excess hole) and hinge down....having hindge up means one has got to hold it up with one hand..makes life arwkard.
Panels are all scewed together...this makes easy dismantle and reassemble for cleaning..no crevasses to hide stuff....after a good hoese down, we then burn the surface with a large LPG burner,,,serilizes and looks good
inside below the excess hole is a 3" wide strip of square mesh ladder for birds to climb up and down
Nesting material we use NZ native timbers...kauri, mati, rimu, pohutakawa. This we source from the local wood turners club...
We have also used NZ forest floor mulch...the wood turner is just easier.
The material is thrown in loose then lightly pressed down about 3" deep.
Any less and by the time the chicks emerge , it is a soild mass of crap...
And this is fantastic around rose bushes.
Of coarse, if not in NZ one cant use NZ native timbers, I would imagin pine would be fine, but stay away from macrocarpa...if that makes cows abort, it could also effect birds????... and I think yew is similar???
We have batche of chicks from 5 to 8+ but since we have between 3 and 8 pair nesting at different stages at once we simply transfer a couple chicks in an over crowed nesting box to one that isnt.
After thoughts
Our nesting boxes are hung at a height that I can see down into the bottom without having to stand on tippe toes.....boot nesting boxes had the hidged part on the top of the boot
Dont buy nesting boxes, they are a rip off...you can buy all the materials, a saw, screw driver for less than buying 2 nesting boxes and still have the tools and left over screws, wood etc.
Im sure I have forgot something....ever get that feeling?
Oh yeah and this is not it....you need 2 nesting boxes , the 2nd introduced in the 1st week of the 1st batch hatching.
And THINK AHEAD....you need a holding flight to move the young to a week or so after emerging, just as the isis forms and can tell the young from the parents....not long after this the next lot of eggs will be hatching.
Im still sure I have forgotten something ??? _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:02 am Post subject: My Kak friendly box cost $15 L-shaped BARGAIN!!!
Hi me again,I'm very pleased with myself.On my way to look once more at nesting box's at our Enfield Produce supplier,who is excellent with variety,seeds,advice etc,and the best price for Kaks in Sydney of course not breeders.Nice Greek family (a pair green or cinnamon)$120.Actually a few weeks ago he had gorgeous yellow with red heads,but asking $700 a pair.Anyway back to it,I looked probably for the 3rd time at the L-shape=$38,and a Z style one=$48.Way out of my budget,but this being my first,like your own baby,you want to not leave any stone unturned.It has to be satisfactory,this is the real thing,Life.Please Don't change the channel,I think I'm going to get to the point very soon!Then I leave because the guy I no with Birds is a wood turner ands making some up,says he'll do a L shape for me.Yahoo,walk around the corner from Enfield Produce and this couple are in a car with B&B Bird Boxes,Breeding Boxes&Carrying cages (0415394735)over the back of their car.Sooo I ask are you selling them?Yes.How much for the L-shape=$15!!!Fabulous I will have one now thanks,and made of stronger wood too.I hope I haven't broken any rules about naming business's.But all these people are up-front with you and O.K.
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:11 am Post subject: I meant to say thanks for the quick reply.
After all that,I really meant to say how thank-full to you people we are.You are professional bird breeders and carers.And the stuff most of us are going on with,you've probably heard it so often.Yet the replies are never condescending,always uplifting and info to move forward with.A BIG thank-you for this Kakarikis site.Specially to Steptoe,mate you've become a legend and started this show from scratch.Well presented and professionally managed.Pablo your cool too.And heaps of other reps from around the world doing a great job advising the relatively uneducated mass of newies finding Kaks becoming part of their lives.
I'm still far from being a 'pro', I'm just like an answering machine/errand boy, couple of guys like Steps, Peter Wouters, Peter Wauben, Cattscapes, Rob, etc... have shared their knowledge here and been great mentors, setting always the highest standard.
All I do is share the little things I have learned from them + a bit of experience. They are the real pioneers as you say, when Steps and the guys started keeping kakariki info was virtually non-existant.
About replies... when people need most help is when they start off, because we know virtually nothing when we start. But nevertheless for me it's a great exercise because someone always brings up a new idea, small hints here and there, or things that you completely forgot.
It's not the first time that I take some time to go back to one of the oldest posts to read it again, sometimes you realize new stuff, or stuff you forgot.
Also keeps you humble because you remember not that long ago you also started from scratch.
Im afraid not....There is no market in NZ for kakariki..sometimes each yr we are lucky to cover costs...and that us usually by selling a few kings or crimson wings.
Since we cant keep or sell all our kakariki, and Conservation Dept (DoC) will not accept them , even for free, we can experiment....
If things go wrong......hell we are going to dig a hole in the back garden , and snip their heads off anyway.
But thats the reality of beurocatic BS and small minded little public service ( I use that term very loosely) deskjockeys who all they are concerned with is maintatianing their grip and building up their little empires
Looking at the +ve side, if it wasnt for them...I would not have experiments and learnt so much.
The down side, because I dont have a string of PHds after my name, my experiance is worthless to them....or threatens their control and little empires.
Pabloc...he may not have the hands on experiance, but he has experiance, and is one of those people who listens, askes questions, talks and meets to breeders, reads....
For many yrs I have maintianed the site by my self, Pab has been helping out, in forums and behind the siences....not just an addition to 'staff' but one that is a real asset to the web site.
PS I do not give compliments...I call things as I see them, good and bad ...if thats a compliment then dont blame me...Pab's fault. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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After all that,I really meant to say how thank-full to you people we are.You are professional bird breeders and carers.And the stuff most of us are going on with,you've probably heard it so often.Yet the replies are never condescending,always uplifting and info to move forward with.A BIG thank-you for this Kakarikis site.Specially to Steptoe,mate you've become a legend and started this show from scratch.Well presented and professionally managed.Pablo your cool too.And heaps of other reps from around the world doing a great job advising the relatively uneducated mass of newies finding Kaks becoming part of their lives. 
