Spray millets, your pet's favorite treat-is nutritious, easily digestible, and can be used to nurse sick and weak birds. This is actually the wonder food for budgies, but should be served sparingly. Well, the reason you should avoid going overboard on the millets regime is that this is likely to make the bird put on weight, which is something you should guard closely against. Another supplement you can include in your bird's diet is protein. (Mix 1 tsp of hard-boiled egg yolk with some low-fat cottage cheese. Feed this to your bird, once a week only.) To try doing it differently, add some freshly cracked grains to the egg yolk and cottage cheese mixture. Important dietary supplements Budgie Breeding Devote extra time, care, energy and patience, to be a successful breeder Over-weight budgie The amount of food your budgie needs depends upon your pet bird's age, habits and activities. Neglected, lonely, and bored birds generally turn to overeating. If your budgie has become over-weight, it flies awkwardly. It is too heavy and starts panting, even at the slightest exertion. Plus, you cannot feel the breastbone, with so much of fat and muscles. If something like this happens to your budgie, you've got to eliminate all the high-calorie food from the diet. That means no spray millets, no oat kernels, and certainly no egg yolk and cottage cheese mixture. Plenty of activity and exercise, coupled with a good balanced diet, should see your bird get back in shape. Okay, so why are we talking about budgie food now? This is a chapter on breeding, right? Budgie Breeding Before you begin breeding budgies, you’ll have to get a nest box. Simply because you need a healthy bird, to have healthy babies. Before you begin breeding budgies, you'll have to get a nest box. The nest box should be spacious. For one pair of parents to raise their young ones, the size of the cage should be at least 24 in. X 12 in. X 16 in. For two pairs of birds, the cage size should be proportionately bigger. In their native habitat, budgies use tree cavities to brood in. So, you don't have to supply nesting materials. You can ask for nest boxes in pet stores. The box can be 7-8 inches high, 7-8 inches wide and about 10 inches long. These measurements of course are mere approximations. The bigger the nest box and the cage the better it is for your birds; also, there is better air circulation, which is quite important for the clutch. The nest hollow of the box should not be directly Breeding cage/nest box. Budgie Breeding If you decide to help several pairs of budgies breed, then the nest boxes must be hung inside the aviary below the entry hole, but a little to the side. |