How to Breed Budgie Parakeets

Choose healthy birds. Healthy budgies are active and noisy. Their feathers are bright and healthy. Cocks will have a bright blue cere and hens will have either a white, tan or brown one. A healthy bird will have bright even feathers with no eye or nasal discharge.

Buy the budgies in pairs of male and female. Budgies are social creatures and will breed better if they have a flock. Two to three pairs are a good place to start. Do not have a lone hen in the cage without a mate, it will become aggressive and try to steal another's mate, and they will fight to defend breeding territory. Cocks are less aggressive and can do fine if they are on their own in a flock.

Set up the budgies housing. Decide if you want one large cage with separate breeding boxes for each pair of birds or completely separate cages. A large cage allows the birds to have plenty of room to fly around and allows them to socialize. If you are trying to breed for specific color or quality, you should keep the pairs in separate cages. Even though budgies pair up, it is not uncommon for a cock to mate with a different hen, which makes it impossible to tell which is the father bird for certainty.

Provide each cage with the necessities for budgie health. The cage should have several natural wood perches. Place several water tubes and food containers in the cage. Use pine shavings to layer inside each nesting box. Have a cuttlebone and mineral block attached to the cage. Attach soft chewing blocks for the female to gnaw on to get in the mood to breed. Keep the room temperature between 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Use full spectrum lighting in the room during the day so the birds will get vitamin D.

Feed the budgies a good diet while breeding to ensure healthy chicks. Feed them normal enriched parakeet seed. Add powdered vitamin supplements to the their food. Provide an organic green vegetables each day such as carrot tops and dandelion leaves.

Interfere as little as possible in the budgie cage. Only open the cage once per day to clean the cage and replace the food and water. Birds will be more likely to breed when undisturbed.

Watch the budgies for signs of mating. The cock approaches the hen that is chattering and tapping her beak on the perch. The cock will move his beak up and down in rhythm with hers. The hen will raise its tail and lower its head to facilitate the male mating. Birds will mate several times. The hen should lay eggs in 10 to 12 days. Egg incubation lasts approximately 18 days.