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BREEDS & Their NEEDS
AMAZON PARROTS
(Pyrrhura hypoxantha
)
NOT TO BE USED YET - UNDER
CONSTRUCTION |
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Yellow-Naped
Amazon
Babies |
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Blue-fronted |
Yellow-Sided
Green-Cheeked Conures
(Pyrrhura
hypoxantha
)
Interesting
FACTS
- If you do have pairs in adjoining
Aviaries it's best to have double mesh with a min of 1" between
the mesh.
- Also, if you have the Nest boxes on the
mesh side of the adjoining Aviary, between the 2 pairs
- - put a piece of Plywood on the other
side of the mesh blocking the view to the Nest site area,
- so the birds using the Nest box do not
feel threatened and spend 1/2 their time chasing off "potential
competitors" instead of getting on with the business in hand
i.e. breeding, feeding the hen/chicks !
- They do not need extra
heat (even tho some Breeders do pamper theirs with extra heat in
very cold weather).
- They usually start
to breed in winter months
(end of Nov - Dec/Jan) but must have suitable shed or
sheltered
area to nest and/or roost in and be well-protected from the
elements, esp. draughts.
- A lot of Breeders use lighting on
timers to lengthen the daylight hours during the dark winter
months.
- This emulates more spring-like
conditions and stimulates the birds into "Breeding mode".
- They can lay their first round through
December, hatching their first young in January (or earlier).
- This seems to be quite normal, as I
found out when looking for a pair
- None were available (first week of Jan)
as they had mostly gone down on eggs or already had chicks
NESTBOXES:
- IDEAL SIZE : 18
- 24" Deep and 9 - 10" square
- Some Breeders advocate
having the entrance to the nest-box on a 45⁰angle with a shoe
box section
on the end
- This stops the birds damaging the eggs
if the drop down too heavily onto them.
- Birds feel more secure in a deep,
dark, small, neatly-sized space
- - less chance of predators finding
them in the wild or gaining access to the nest site!
- Make yours fairly deep and a
compact-size - never have the base too spacious, as the
eggs can roll away
- this can damages the embryo &/or
the eggs can become chilled
- Best to have a concave base
made out of a piece of thick 1"+ chip-board - this is
good for insulation
- the concave also helps prevent
the eggs rolling away from the hen.
- Use " Easibed" wood chip in the
base
- This is primarily a Horse
bedding and as such, you will find it cheaper in an
Agricultural Merchants
or a Saddlers than in a Pet
shop or anywhere it is sold for birds.
- It's dust free and ideal for
Aviary floors too.
- ideally the Nest
box should be made out of 3/4" marine-ply for good
insulation
in the colder weather
yet thick enough to help keep
the insides of the Nest box cool during warmer weather
- Marine-ply, as the name suggests,
is also weatherproof.
- We always put a piece of Aviary
mesh, fixed to the inside of the nest box from just
above the base
to the Pop-hole opening
- - this is to make it easy for
both parents and chicks to climb out when they are ready
to fledge.
- the Pop-hole should just be big
enough to accommodate the hens' body if she sits in the
entrance with
her head and shoulders sticking out
(approx. 1½"
diam.)
- this gives them
the feeling of security, as predators wouldn't be able
to gain access if the hen
was blocking the entrance
hole with her body and the entrance would also be too
small for the average predator to get in in the wild.
- this just proves that instincts
from living in the wild do kick in when keeping and breeding
birds, so you should try and emulate
their breeding
conditions from the wild as closely as possible.
- This follows that all nest boxes
should be positioned as high as possible - height is
important to birds.
- Also,
do NOT face the pop-hole or the Nest box South as
during the hot summer months the nest box would get
unbearable hot inside.
- The chicks could over-heat and even
die (a bit like a dog locked in a car on a hot day with
windows closed)
- Try and face it towards
North-East or South-East.
- They can lay 4-8
eggs but the average is 5-6 eggs
- The ideal humidity for
incubation is 50-55% while the hens incubate in the nest box
- When incubating
artificially in an Incubator - keep at the above humidity
levels until approx 4 days
before they are due to hatch and
then "up" the humidity to maximum i.e. 85-90+%
- This helps the
chick rotate and break out of the shell successfully.
- More chicks are lost by the air
being too dry around the egg and the chick struggles to get
out.
- Incubation usually
22 - 25 days
- The young fledge
around 7 - 8 weeks
- They are usually
close Rung at 12 - 14 days with Size P
rings
- (some sites say size N
but size P seem a better fit the size N could be a bit neat).
- Once they Fledge the
hen may go down and lay again
- She is capable of
laying 2 - 3 clutches of eggs per season but never be
allowed to lay any more.
- The Cockbird
continues to feed the youngsters for a further 2 weeks+ in
the Aviary.
- Until they are
fully independent and able to feed and fend for
themselves
- At this point,
if there were any problems they could be removed to a
Crèche Aviary
- the Youngsters can
be identified as they are a duller colour to the adults
- They need to be
sexed via DNA - Feather or blood send to "Avian Biotech"
- They also supply PSUK Closed Rings
for your birds. (Avian ID) - same firm as above - diff.
departments.
^Top
FEED
FRUIT & VEG
FOODS TO AVOID - Toxic to
your birds' health
- Apple, cherries, peaches, apricots,
and pears Seeds contain trace
amounts of
Cyanide!
- Remove the cores/seeds before you
offer to your birds
- Make sure you wash the fruit before
offering bits with skin on if they have come from an unknown
source
- i.e. not from your own or known
fruit trees - just in case they have been sprayed with
insecticides.
- Avocado : Both skin and stone
have been known to cause cardiac distress and eventual heart
failure in
most Pet bird species.
- Mushrooms
(fungus) - have been known to cause
digestive upset in Pet birds.
- Caps and stems of some varieties
can effect the Liver.
- Tomato Leaves :
Tomatoes like Potatoes are
o.k. to feed to your birds.
HOWEVER:
- The stems, vines, and leaves,
however, are highly toxic.
- Make sure that any time you offer
your bird any tomato it has been properly washed
- ALL green parts must be removed
first, as these are the parts that are toxic to your birds
- Chocolate : Chocolate poisoning
first affects a bird's digestive system,
- causing vomiting and diarrhoea.
- If the condition progresses, the
bird's central nervous system is affected,
- causing seizures and eventually
death if not caught in time and treated by an Avian
Vet
- A VERY GOOD
REASON NOT TO Offer Choccy biccies to your pampered
pets!!
- Dried Beans :
- Cooked beans or soaked, sprouted Beans
are safe to feed, have good feed value and are enjoyed by lots
of Birds
- but raw, dry bean mixes can be
extremely harmful to your pet.
- Uncooked beans contain a poison called
haemaglutin, which is very toxic to birds.
- Make sure you thoroughly cook any
beans that you feed your birds
- or soak until they sprout and
rinse well b4 feeding.
- Dairy/Milk products : Birds are
"Lactose Intolerant" and lack the digestive enzymes needed to
break down
milk sugar and milk proteins.
- Products such as milk, cream and butter
should not be fed
- but yogurt, cheeses and dried milk can
be used in the diet in moderation (as they are
also high in fat)
^Top
SPROUTED / SOAKED SEEDS /
Pulses
- Can be fed once
or twice per week to all birds throughout the year.
- When Conures are
breeding it would be beneficial to feed some every day
- Seeds change their
food values as they start to split and sprout
- They then provide a
higher level of protein, vits & mins than when in their
dormant,
normal seed-state
- (i.e. before
they are soaked).
- Soak the mixed seeds
approx 24 hours, put into a sieve - wash by running water
through the sieve
- Keep damp seeds in a
dark place until sprouting occurs -
- it works better if
you can spread them thin rather than have in a deep
container.
- Once they start to
sprout
- Wash again until you
are sure they smell "fresh" - then feed.
- Do not offer any
seeds/foods etc., if they smell even slightly off or rancid.
^Top
WATER
- Fresh water must be
provided at all times in clean dishes or drinkers
- They love to dunk their
food in their water dishes - so to prevent a "Cold Soup"
concoction you must clean
out any open water containers and refill with fresh water at
least once per day.
- Another reason for
having a tube or bottle feeder as well as an open dish they can
dunk and bathe in.
- Conures love to bathe,
so ideally they need a drinker (bottle/tube or small dish)
higher up to drink out of
- plus a bigger bath/dish
to bathe in.
- they will break water
to bathe as will Kakarikis.
^Top
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