# Breeding Tiels for the First Time



## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

So my husband was whistling back to the male and he says out of the blue, "Why dont you breed them?" After I was able to pick my mouth up off the floor (this is a guy who was reluctant to even have these two) I said, "These are not bonded... they just hang out" I got to thinking... maybe I COULD breed others.

I went to Craigslist and found a couple who have 18 and have hatched over 22 clutches in their years of breeding. They have two bonded/mated tiels that have pure white babies. They want to get out of the Tiel business and breed African Greys (more money I guess) and so they are giving me the two that have all white babies, a large cage with breeding box for 125.00

Question is....

Is there a way to prepare yourself to breed birds?
Am I being too capricious because I am excited about breeding birds even though I never have?
If I SHOULD go for it... is that a good deal? (I'm thinking it is)
If I SHOULD NOT... how can I get ready to one day breed?

I was told by the guy who is selling the set that he and his wife just started doing it but when they had 5 clutches at once, they realized they could not hand feed them all and slowed down. 

So what do you guys think???:wf lutino:


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## tweetsandsarah (Mar 27, 2014)

I have NO experience in this department, but I wanted to offer some support for you. If you have the time and the money then I say go for it! How will you be dealing with the babies? Hand raised? This is so exciting! I wish I could see a baby cockatiel.


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

Hand raised/fed for sure. I have an Uber cool boss who would let me come home and feed them after four hours so I can do that. I have two girls who take great care of my birds now and of course I would not let them breed before an anticipated vacation but just feeding and cleaning up, the girls can do that. I appreciate the support. I really want to do this


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

Or make sure to not plan a vacation during breeding season. We do most of our vacationing in the fall and winter anyway.


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## tweetsandsarah (Mar 27, 2014)

Have you done hand feeding before? The word is that the best way to do it is have a breeder show you how.


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

I have not fed a bird but I fed a baby squirrel.
I will ask the breeder I am buying from if he will show me when my first clutch hatches. He said he will answer any questions and assist as often as needed.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I would definitely take it slow...let the birds get used to the environment first. Five clutches is a lot in one year, so if that was in this year alone, its recommended to wait til next year to breed as the hen needs a break. Finding a breeder to mentor you is a big thing. It sounds like a good deal to me but I would go meet the birds first just to be sure.


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

That was 5 clutches at one time. They have 9 mated pairs. 
I'm not sure about taking it slow. I don't plan on taking on more than one breeding pair for a while. The ones I am getting are for breeding. I have been told by my vet and this guy I'm talking to, that rarely can breeding cocks/hens be pets. Always exceptions but the rule is either breed or pet.


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## blueybluesky (Jul 9, 2013)

I started breeding mine and got all the equipment such as feeding utensils, made my own brooder etc, they do take up a lot of time even if not hand feeding them, I loved it but have recently given up I've had four clutches in total over a couple of years with around 12 babies and only two lived which I have kept (Bear and Snuggles) the loses were to hard for me. I know in the future I'll probably have more clutches since it will be hard to avoid with an aviary of tiels. 

To start with I would suggest maybe letting the parents raise the chicks and you handle them just to get the hang of it first, Bear can't stay away from me when I go out to see them and he was parent raised but handled  also heaps of research including assist hatches (Bear was one) 
I've had Randy since he was 2 years old and Swinger 1 year old and have had them both for a couple of years now, just recently they have been trusting me more and perching on my arm sometimes so I don't really believe in the either breed or pet thing, it just takes time and patience.

Good Luck, hope it all goes well for you 

EDIT: and it sounds like a good deal to me to


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

Thanks Bluey...

I have heard to take them away from parents when they hatch to make them "sweet" towards humans. I am so sad to hear that you had some die. What happened?

Leaving them with their parents... will the parents be upset that I am handling them? Do the parents feed them? Is there special food I need to provide for the parents to feed them properly?

Now I am a bit confused. I thought you took them away as soon as they hatch and hand feed every 4 hours. Is that wrong?


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

Roxy...

I actually have a meeting with Louisville's biggest cockatiel breeder. She sells to most of the pet stores around here and even Feeder Supply sells her babies.

She has already given me tons of advice. I plan on having tea with her one day and learning more!


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

Elishiva said:


> Thanks Bluey...
> 
> I have heard to take them away from parents when they hatch to make them "sweet" towards humans. I am so sad to hear that you had some die. What happened?
> 
> ...


I've never bred, but people here seem to be very skilled in strategies for letting the babies remain with their parents while giving them adequate time to get used to humans in the process -- hand-tamed but letting the parents do most of the feeding. I personally do not believe in taking baby animals away from their parents except in extreme circumstances; I do some volunteer work with orphaned kittens and it's heartbreaking how badly they want a mother cat.

Being handraised/handfed is not a guarantee that a bird will be "sweet," and plenty of parent-raised tiels seem to go on to develop wonderful personalities and bonds to humans themselves. I think you can find the blend that is right for your birds 

Oh and... having babies die is unfortunately something that happens and sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. My BF's tiels bred and the one we have now, Georgia, was the only survivor out of multiple hatches from multiple clutches. We had a whole litter of 5-day-old kittens die last year and my friend who runs the rescue operation said that unfortunately losing babies is something that anyone who works with any kind of baby animals is going to have to learn to stomach.


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## tweetsandsarah (Mar 27, 2014)

From what I understand, there are 4 methods used for breeding birds.

1. When they are born the humans take them and raise them away from the parents.

2. The humans use co-parenting in which the parents feed as well as the humans feed. From what I have read, the parents don't seem to mind or the babies are removed while the people interact with them. I'm not too sure on which.

3. Humans handle the babies on a regular basis, but leave the feeding and whatnot up to the parents. I am not sure if they are handled while the parents are present or not. If a breeding pair spends time outside of the cage this may be an opportune time to handle the babies without moving them.

4. Parents do all of the raising and there is no human handling (like at bird mills).

I hope that gives you a little better picture. I'm just basing this off of what I've read online. I think some of the advice you've been given is good. Just because a human raises a chick doesn't mean it will be totally human bonded. I would think that those types of methods do increase the likelihood though. Perhaps handling without feeding will still be just fine. Good luck!


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

I really like the idea of letting the parents feed and raise most of the time and just letting the babies get to know the human hand. I think that is half the battle. I feel like if you take them away from their parents as soon as they hatch, then they tend to be alienated from other birds just as if you do not handle them, then they are not use to humans. Thank you all. I look forward to this.

On a funny note... my husband just walked in on our two breeders 'gettin busy'. The vet told me they are very sexual animals. I just thought they bred to have babies. 

Lesson learned!


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

Handfed babies are generally pulled from their parents between 2 and 3.5 weeks. A newly hatched baby is incredibly hard to take care of; we have large clumsy hands and they're so delicate at that age. Once they're bigger and sturdier is when people take them for handfeeding. Handfeeding is a rewarding experience, one that I'd highly recommend if you have the time, knowledge, and resources. I personally think that handfeeding helps to make what would be timid babies (their timidity a part of their personality) more accustomed to humans and thus less timid. It's also much easier to place a handfed baby into a loving pet home, in my opinion.

I'd also like to point out that handfeeding isn't what necessarily makes a baby tame. It's the amount of human interaction it receives. When you only handle your babies to feed them (as many large breeders do simply because they don't have the time) then they're not receiving the socialization they need. You can have hand fed babies that are only semi-tame. Although handfeeding does help the birds become more accustomed to people, it's the socialization that really makes a bird a loving, pet bird

But, I would say to test the waters. Let the parents raise the first clutch, so you can get a feel for how things work with them and how the whole breeding thing works.

Also, having a mentor is definitely a huge plus. There's a large learning curve when it's comes to these things


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## urchin_grey (Jun 23, 2014)

Hi! We just started breeding and raising babies too.  We're down in Bowling Green so not too far!


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

Update... momma Lulu laid 7 eggs and two hatched (is that a normal ratio)? The two babies are healthy and I'm letting the parents do all of the feeding. I just hold them for a few minutes now and then and speak soft and slow. The older of the two has most of his pin feathers. The newest is just starting to get that light fuzz. What a rewarding experience.


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

The oldest baby.
I've named him Franklin


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## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

This is the youngest and I call him Peepers


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