Breeding lovebirds is a hobby that can be
to almost anyone's level of skill and intrest...... These birds have such a strong drive to reproduce that even a beginner
with just one or two pairs in a moderately size cages can enjoy success.Yet, because there are so many new mutations
being developed and a few rare lovebirds that need to be better established in captivity, an expert breeder can find Lovebirds
breeding an exciting and a life-long challenge. Furthermore, breeding your own lovebirds yourself is the number
one way to get more experience. Once you decide to hand-rearing or seclecting a bonding pair of lovebirds, don't be surprised
if you establish a waiting list for for all the people who are eager to buyone of your bonding pairs or one of your tame
sweet and adorable lovebirds.
Most lovebirds species are easy to breeds, which account
for much of their popularity with bird lovers and fanciers around the world. Lovebirds rank just behind budgies and cockatiels
in this respect you can say that they are the third must popular pet bird kept around the world where their are birds lovers
and fanciers alike.
Generally you can count on successfully breeding and raising
young if you provide your lovebirds or any other birds fot that matter needs the proper Housing , Feeding and Care.
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The toughest and hardest part of breeding Lovebirds
can be making sure you have a true pair of lovebirds, since the sexes look alike in the most popular species of love birds.
Here's where the person who intends to devote alot of time and space like myself to lovebirds has an advantage over the the
hobbyist who can only start with one pair. If you have several Lovebirds to examine, it become easier to sex them if
only by comparison. With several of your lovebirds sitting side by side, it's easier to pick out the slighly heavier
females or to feel which birds have the most distinct sapacing between their pelvic bones. So, even if you plan to set up
your lovebirds pairs in to individual cages, you will have a better chance of establishing some true pairs than the person
who just bought the last two lovebirds left in the petstore.
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The peach-faced lovebirds and the
four species with white eyerings are adapted to breeding in colonies. Since you're probably starting with one of these popular
species of lovebirds, if you have bought several pair of lovebirds and you are not sure that the pairs are
genuine , you could also place them in colony aviary so that they can choose their own mates. They tend to like that better,
since lovebirds don't necessarily want to acept the mate we choose for them. I was told that the rare and timid woodland lovebirds,
such as the Red-faced, Grey-headed and black-winged Lovebirds, shouldn't be asked to breed in colonies since they
are naturally breed in the widely separated territories and could be too territorial to share space with other pairs. Fortunately,
the males and females of these lovebirds species do look different, so that you won't run into any problem pairing them off
should you encounter these varities of lovebirds.
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However, if you simple don't have room or space
for more than a pair or two of lovebirds , don't be despair . At about eight month to a year or older
, you can start encourage your lovebird to breed by giving them special food , nesting materials, and so
on. Since the common lovebirds rarely need much urging to go to nest, you can watch and see what happen. Are the
birds working hard to build a nest which they proceed to fill up with eight to ten eggs? You have got yourself two hens.
Are they mating alot then just sitting there looking at each other, waiting for the other to get started on building
a nest? Then you probably have two males ( although there's an off chance that you have a pair but
the female might be in a poor condition or just not ready to breed ). Find someone else--perhaps
through a pet store or a breeder or a birdclub--who's is in a similar situation and arrange a swap with one of your birds
until you have a true pair of lovebirds....It never hurt to ask.
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Take careful note of the following advice before
you attempt to breed your lovebirds. Make sure that your pair is from the same species of lovebirds eg; peachface with peachface,
fisher with fisher and mask with mask ect.....crossing some species causes hybred
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Keep good breeding records..You can use a note
book for this. Set it up to record matings, eggs laid, hatching, behavior, health, and other key data. Every time you check
on your lovebirds (regularly but not too often!) , record your finding . I consider this to be the foundation of any successful
breeding program ....is a good record keeping of your lovebirds.
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You are going to need good breeding stock meaning
you are going to need healthy parents to get healthy bady lovebirds. In other words, the parent birds must be selected with
care. Not to discourage anyone, but because you might have acquired a male and female lovebird doesn't mean you are going
to have a success at breeding.. First of all,birds will accept the partners we select for them ...........if you are breeding
for certain color mutations, you of to select the bird that you want to produce the colors you are looking for , this his
call selective breeding. In general , birds bred in captivity won't present much of a problem and will accept the partner
we give them in this respect.
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