# Considering Breeding Cockatiels For The First Time.



## Karolina.S (Jan 27, 2011)

Hello there.

It has taken a very long time but I finally have been able to buy a stunning tame male cockatiel by the name of Carlos... or Charlie.

He is a eight months old normal gray pied.


The reason I am so happy is because my first cockatiel, Sammy, has lately been trying to get me to mate with her. 
Me being a human, it’s kind of hard for me to help her so I thought that getting a male would. And plus I have wanted to breed cockatiels for awhile.

Sammy is a four year old lutino pied.

So here comes the questions.
Would it be good to breed the two cockatiels? Not now of course because Charlie is still young and i have yet to get everything set up.
I haven’t bred cockatiels before.... Will that be okay?

I really want to try and breed my Cockatiels; 
I have done a lot reading about it, because I’m not one to jump into something without any knowledge of what I am doing.
Made a list of things I need to purchase before i start.
And I am going to make appointments with a vet, to make sure they are healthy and are able to be bred.


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## amue155 (Oct 13, 2010)

Well how exciting for you to take an interest in breeding.
A few things that you should ask yourself is if your planning to handfeed the babies, and if you will have enough time to feed them in your day. Also if you have someone to show you how to properly handfeed, if not done right it can be fatal to the chick. Another thing is how will you find good homes for the babies. And also things can always go wrong when breeding so since these are your pet birds, that may be something to think about too.

yes, a lutino and a pied is a smart match. 
The Lutinos can have bald spots and short crests, while pieds usually have full crests and great feather quality. If you bred them the outcome for babies would look like this...


Mother:Lutino
Fatheried

male offspring:
100% Grey Split To Pied {X2: Lutino}

female offspring:
100% Grey Split To Pied

So the male babies will be split to Lutino. 

Its smart that you've made your list and such and are doing research, good for you. It will be great to see what happenes when your male gets breeding age. 
Good Luck!


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I had posted in your other thread and beleive, by looking at his molt, that Charlie is older than 8 months.

OK, why do you call Sammy a lutino pied? You can tell if she is a lutino or lutino pied by looking at the wing flights. ALL lutinos will have a red eye, as they mature this red is hard to see because the eye darkens, so a flashlight has to be used to see the red pupol and iris.

BUT a lutino pied will have solid buttery yellow wing flights with NO dots/spots on the underside of the flight feathers. A lutino will have yellow dots to the flight feathers.

Knowing the exact mutations of the birds makes it easier to know what to expect in the nestbox. If the hen is a lutino, and carrying no pied genes, you will revert back to normal grey male chicks, and pearl females in the nest. If she is a lutino pied, you will get pied males and pearl pied female chicks in the nest. If there are any colors that are different than either parent, such as cinnamon, you will know the male is also carrying these genes.


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## Karolina.S (Jan 27, 2011)

The person I got my other female, Oskie, from, well he has been breeding handreared cockatiels for awhile. So I believe if I ask nicely he will tell me how to handfeed them properly.

I have done a lot of reading about all the problems that can arise from breeding pet birds. And if something does happen I will be sure to contact my avian vet.

I also have another female, Oskie, who is a whiteface cinnamon pearl. So I’m not sure which would be better to pair with Charlie.

Oh about calling Sammy a lutino pied... that was a typing mistake, I should have read over it before posting it. 
No she is definitely a lutino.

Thank you again for the help, much appreciated.
On my, to do list is.
Contact a few breeders to show me and tell me about breeding cockatiels
And more research.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Sammy and Charlie would probably be a better match because Oski and Charlie are both pearls its not recommended to breed like to like (the same) mutations to each other.


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## Karolina.S (Jan 27, 2011)

I thought that was only in some mutations.

Thank you again.

Looks like I'm going to have to find another male for Oskie. She can wait, she still young.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Its just generally not recommended for any mutation, it can create smaller babies, high mortality rate in the nest (I know this part from experience), and in some mutations like lutino and pearl it can create bald spots. But with Sammy and Charlie, because he's a pied, his mutation would strengthen her's. Its actually recommended to breed lutinos to pieds to improve their crest.


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## Karolina.S (Jan 27, 2011)

I knew about lutino and that its not recommended to breed them, but now of course i know its for all mutations.

I'm glad that i know this now. I'm thankful that Sammy and Charlie have different mutations, cause otherwise i would have had to purchase another male, which my father would not be happy with. =P


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Plus it saves you some heartache in the end...there are always exceptions to every rule, like both my Snowball and Hershey are whitefaced but they're a bonded pair and separating them would've done more harm than good I think. Plus they hatched and raised five healthy, big babies so sometimes its ok, but for starting out its good to try different mutations.


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## Karolina.S (Jan 27, 2011)

Thank you so much for you help.

I'm happy to say i have learn a lot in a short period of time.


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