Mrsspells1
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I have an 18 year old sun conure that just recently started laying eggs. We were thinking about getting her a mate. What are your thoughts?
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18 year old sun conure.
- Thread starter Mrsspells1
- Start date
Do you want to breed??
Pets don't make good breeders, plus she doesn't need a male. Female birds lay eggs like chickens, its hormonal season.
Reduce fattening food, mushy food, nest sites, nest materials, any dark areas, reduce to 12 hour light cycle minimum but you can do 10. Just leave the eggs if she is interested and if she isn't remove them, though make sure she isn't interested in them. You've just gotta ride the hormones out.
Pets don't make good breeders, plus she doesn't need a male. Female birds lay eggs like chickens, its hormonal season.
Reduce fattening food, mushy food, nest sites, nest materials, any dark areas, reduce to 12 hour light cycle minimum but you can do 10. Just leave the eggs if she is interested and if she isn't remove them, though make sure she isn't interested in them. You've just gotta ride the hormones out.
JLcribber
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You guys want open a huge can of worms wrought with stress and complications. If you do not have a lot of experience, knowledge and resources where breeding is concerned it will end up in heartache and regret.
There's nothing wrong with having a friend. But for an 18 year old bird this is also a complicated thing.
How long have you had this bird?
There's nothing wrong with having a friend. But for an 18 year old bird this is also a complicated thing.
How long have you had this bird?
Good question.
webchirp
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Agree, 18 is considered geriatric. If she likes the other bird that is okay. But I would not encourage breeding at this stage in their life. Just because they lay eggs, doesn't mean they need to have babies. I just paid $228 to have an egg passed-second visit. Plus the next follow-up visits. I'd imagine it may be close to $500 before we are over the hurdle. Are you prepared for that type of situation?
Do you know by heart xray or ultrasound if this bird has any heart conditions? That's something I wouldn't be surprised to see at that age. Add breeding on top of a heart issue and she'll really struggle.
And while sources say conures can live 30 years, it is rare to see advanced age. My friend recently lost her conure at 23 to old age.
Mrsspells1
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I do want to breed her but if it’s not the best idea being she is 18 then we won’t.
Mrsspells1
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I have had her for 18 years.
JLcribber
@cockatoojohn
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If she just started to lay eggs now after 18 years that is a health concern. Not a good time in life to start such things
What has changed in her environment/situation that would trigger this?
tka
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Yeah, starting to lay eggs as an elderly bird makes me wonder if there's something going on physically, perhaps with her pituitary gland. She is absolutely not a candidate for breeding.
Monica
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Not discussed.... you've had her for 18 years. She does not have a mate. Even if she *IS* healthy enough for breeding, there's no guarantee that she would accept a male bird. You could easily end up with two birds that have no interest in each other, or perhaps one bird who is but the other isn't.
As mentioned, pets don't make good breeders (generally speaking). Birds raised to be pets are typically raised differently than birds raised to be breeders. Laying eggs and raising chicks can take a lot out of a hen... and she lacks experience raising chicks, so this means that if she were to accept a mate, you need to have the knowledge and experience to raise these chicks if she can't do it/you want to. This means it's best to have a mentor on hand who can help guide you through the process. Chicks that are parent raised are usually more timid and scared of humans than those who are hand raised by them.
On the flip side of things.... breeders don't make good pets. (generally speaking) *IF* she were successful at becoming a breeding hen, she may no longer be your pet. She may become aggressive and defensive and want nothing to do with you.
This isn't even going into the complications of breeding. Thing such as egg binding, egg peritonitis, dead in shell, chicks that fail to thrive, parents that underfeed/overfeed, trample chicks, etc. You need to be prepared for the worst outcomes so you can best handle any situation that arises.
My cockatiel, Casey, is 18 years old this year. (2 months exactly to this day!) She's also an occasional egg layer. Even when she was younger, she had *NO* interest in male cockatiels. I'm not interested in breeding, so this works for me. She accepts other birds, even cockatiels, as her flock mates, but she never got the "birds and the bees" talk. (even when it was happening right in front of her....) She was 100% raised by humans from the day she hatched (from my information). She understands that once she lays eggs she's supposed to sit on them, however for the life of her, she can't figure out how to get them all under her, then simply gives up and walks off to go do something else. She's a great bird, but she'd fail miserably as a mother!!!!
As mentioned, pets don't make good breeders (generally speaking). Birds raised to be pets are typically raised differently than birds raised to be breeders. Laying eggs and raising chicks can take a lot out of a hen... and she lacks experience raising chicks, so this means that if she were to accept a mate, you need to have the knowledge and experience to raise these chicks if she can't do it/you want to. This means it's best to have a mentor on hand who can help guide you through the process. Chicks that are parent raised are usually more timid and scared of humans than those who are hand raised by them.
On the flip side of things.... breeders don't make good pets. (generally speaking) *IF* she were successful at becoming a breeding hen, she may no longer be your pet. She may become aggressive and defensive and want nothing to do with you.
This isn't even going into the complications of breeding. Thing such as egg binding, egg peritonitis, dead in shell, chicks that fail to thrive, parents that underfeed/overfeed, trample chicks, etc. You need to be prepared for the worst outcomes so you can best handle any situation that arises.
My cockatiel, Casey, is 18 years old this year. (2 months exactly to this day!) She's also an occasional egg layer. Even when she was younger, she had *NO* interest in male cockatiels. I'm not interested in breeding, so this works for me. She accepts other birds, even cockatiels, as her flock mates, but she never got the "birds and the bees" talk. (even when it was happening right in front of her....) She was 100% raised by humans from the day she hatched (from my information). She understands that once she lays eggs she's supposed to sit on them, however for the life of her, she can't figure out how to get them all under her, then simply gives up and walks off to go do something else. She's a great bird, but she'd fail miserably as a mother!!!!
Farlie
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Not sure that this was even discussed but there is no guarantee that a male bird will even take toward your bird let alone bread with it. They may never even like each other.
