He is actually a SHE

[Danny425]

So this has been on my mind for a long while. My youngest, Chico, has been displaying many female behaviors and traits.

1. He has always been a bit bigger than his oldest brother Kiwi. I didn't think much of this, I just figured hey animals are like people we're all different shapes and sizes.

2. Chico has always been more aggressive and cage territorial, even to kiwi.

3. Kiwi is always trying to regurgitate and give food to Chico.

4. I've noticed on a few occasions that Chico would just spread his wings out. That was pretty odd for me since it was the first time I have ever seen him do that, and only Chico has done that not Kiwi.

5. When they were under the care of my sister, she told me that Kiwi was "sitting" on Chico back while Chico had his wings spread out. This REALLY made me suspicious.

And to take the cake, today I saw exactly what my sister described. Chico started spreading his wings out (or should I say she started to spreads her wings out) and Kiwi got on top.

This is definitely breeding behavior, correct?

They tried to do this twice today and both times I stopped them. I really don't want them to breed, especially since they're from the same clutch and I have little experience with raising chicks.

I suspected this a long while ago, that is why I took their breeding box out that they used to sleep in when they were younger. However, they do have a coconut in their cage i don't know if I should take that out too.

Any other tips to discourage breeding?

 

[Mizzely]

I mean, technically same sex partners can display mating behaviors. I would get them DNA tested to be sure, and keep them separate for now.

 

[Danny425]

Yea I hope i'm just jumping the gun here. I really don't want to deal with babies. They're probably just coming of age and trying to show dominance over one another. If I eventually see eggs then I know i'm right. Only time will tell. Hopefully no eggs!

 

[Mizzely]

Are you prepared to boil the eggs if they produce any?

 

[Danny425]

Yea i'm sure I would be able to do it if it comes down to it. We'll see how it goes

 

[nu2birds]

Or replace them with dummy eggs, but Shawna is correct, my two boys display mating behaviors.......they feed/regurgitate to each other and bob and dance around, but they have never done the wing spreading and then climbing on the back. They will half heartedly shred paper and carry it around in their mouth, but they eventually drop it and have never made a nest.

 

[Lady Jane]

You can do a DNA feather test at home. Just request a test kit that is usually free from the lab you choose. They like several fresh plucked feathers for a lovebird.

 

[Serin]

Please don't be one of those owners which separates a mated pair of birds and interrupts their activities and just generally is way too intrusive because "I don't want babies."
Let them have a life. If they're related, just don't hatch any eggs. Remove the coco hut but do not separate the birds.
It's just cruel.

 

[DoubleTake]

Are males generally smaller than female lovebirds?

 

[Norm Ustitz]

You can do a DNA feather test at home. Just request a test kit that is usually free from the lab you choose. They like several fresh plucked feathers for a lovebird.

Lady Jane---can you guide me in doing this? How do I find a lab to request the kit?

 

[Anfsurfer]

Search AvianBiotech online. They will have a link on their site to request a kit.

 

[DoubleTake]

Search AvianBiotech online. They will have a link on their site to request a kit.

Avianbiotech now calls themselves Animal Genetics
Animal Genetics | Genetic Testing Services is their US site.