# what age to breed for the birds and for me??



## carusoe13 (Feb 16, 2010)

hello i am curious on a few terms i have a ten year old white faced male i beliee and a pearl feamle and i am curious if i could breed the ten year old whith a soon to be 1 1/2 year old to 2 yeard old so could i when my younger tiel turns 2 breed the ten year old whith her??
and is there a certain age for us tiel owners to breed tiels or can you breed whenever??


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

Males tend to remain fertile a lot longer than females so you would most likely get babies from this pairing. Do you know if your birds have any splits?
I have a 10 year old male nesting with an 8 year old female and they have fertile eggs. 
Two years old is old enough for a female to breed as well.

BUT, for us tiel owners, the older you are the better (usually). That is because breeding is a lot of responsibility. It could cause complications which can be extremely expensive to deal with. The expenses include extra cages if necessary, veterinary care, hand feeding supplies, scale, food, etc. Also, if an emergency arises and you need to handfeed the babies, you should be able to do that. This means you could have to feed every few hours! YES, that means NO sleep. Many people here wouldn't recommend a child or teenager to do this simply because they have strict school hours, limited money, and tend to not be as responsible as many adults (this isn't always true, but its more common then not). Raising babies can put a huge emotional toll on you as well if one happens to die under your watch. 
Its a huge responsibility and an amazing experience.


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

I agree with everything Cheryl said. If you want an idea of what can go wrong with breeding- check out my thread. In short, my 11 year old male and 2 year old female had a clutch of 4 babies. All eventually got sick with crop problems and 3 of them died in spite of 2 vet visits, LOTS of care, and several hundred dollars of expenses. The youngest chick survived thankfully but was hand raised from 2 weeks old. The parents then had 2 more chicks who are also very ill with the same crop problems and are somehow still alive at 3 weeks of age even though they're the size of normal 5 or 6 day old chicks. What happened with my babies is not typical thankfully, but you never know what is going to happen so you have to be prepared for the worst. I would not have allowed my birds to have babies if I'd known what would happen because watching the babies I love suffer and die in spite of everything I do is simply heartbreaking.

I certainly won't fault you for going ahead with breeding, you just need to be aware of what can happen.


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## Berdnerd (May 20, 2010)

Oops, sorry, double posted somehow!


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## carusoe13 (Feb 16, 2010)

thanks so much!! i was really just wondering and i mean like i said my younger bird somehow i just wasn't sure if they should be in closer range of age i mean my eldest one and my only other cockatiel is like ten years older !
and so i should wait until i'm older ??? but it's still ok for me to breed ??
i was wondering tho if i had to have like a breeders license or something?? but thanx i think i'll wait until i'm like 16 or 17 to breed and i think i'll maybe get a breeding pair but thanks so much for your advice!!! it was super helpful!! and i thought i'd just point out that i'm also homeschooled so i have like tons of spare time including since a dance class i normally take is now cancelled and the teacher is moving away so i was curious if i could maybe breed them come spring! but i guess i'll wait!!


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## carusoe13 (Feb 16, 2010)

and here i'll post pics cause i don't know if my tiels have any splits or not
the white face is carusoe my male 
and the pearl is my female mocha


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

Looks like you have a whiteface split to pied and a female pearl pied. If there are no other splits you would only get normal greys and pieds.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

_*i was wondering tho if i had to have like a breeders license or something??*_
*--------------------------------------------------------------*
Yes...many states require you to have a class III licence. You can check with your states Fish and Wildlife Commision (FWC) to see what is needed. If in Florida, this posting on Craigslist may be of interest: http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/pet/1895754440.html I recently learned that many FWC are now monitoring the classified sites and responding as a buyer to find people without a license, and the fines can be as much as $80 a bird and/or siezure of the birds and additional fines.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Is your male a mocha color or grey? If mocha he is a Cinnamon WF split to pied. Your hen looked a cinnamon pearl pied....if the darker colors are more of a tan.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

My children are also homeschooled, and there are few things I wouldn't trust them with. My daughter is 12 and she has her own birds she is breeding. They count as her science, and animal husbandry. I would not be discouraged because of my age, if your parents support it, I'd say go for it. I would, however start with some easier birds like ringneck doves. I started breeding doves when I was 13. I just recently got my cockatiels to breed.

I would recommend going into 4-H or something similar and find a local breeder who might take you under their wing and show you the ins and out. Tell them you want the 'tiels to be your project. You might get lucky. That is what I did when I started breeding animals. 

I also went to the library, ordered every book I could from the library. Library exchange for minors is usually free. I also found breeders who would help me through my journey, I had national champion show stock all because I took the time to get to know the local breeders and had an interest in what they were doing with their animals. I also had people to call when things went wrong, most breeders and 4-H leaders can help you with any thing that might come up without the cost of a vet.


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## carusoe13 (Feb 16, 2010)

thanks so much you guys and here are my answers!!
ok 
mentha thanks so much and it's nice to know that you know where i'm at right now and i'e been thinking about 4-h but i'm thinking i'll focus more on school right now just to keep myself ahead.

ok and SRTIELS my male carusoe is a grey and my hen is the coffee color.

cheryl thanks so much and you know i actually was dissapointed when i found out that i was getting a grey and white faced tiel i had been hoping for a normal grey i dont know why but i love them as much as any color but i favor that one color mutation more!!

also srtiels do you know if there might be aan age requirement is there where you live??


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## carusoe13 (Feb 16, 2010)

sorry about another question but what about budgies i'm curious would they be easier to breed??? because i can easily find a good female and quarantine then fully tame her and see if she falls for one of my males??? in time fo spring and if not i would still love her all the same so are they easier or more complicated sorry for so many questions but i really need to know the answers cause' i don't wanna miss anything.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

You haven't told us your age, I assume you're over 13 because law says you have to be that old in order to belong to a forum. However, I know a lot of bird breeders who will not sell any birds to people who's primary caretaker will be a child under 15. This is to insure that the birds will be taken care of and their safety, you're wanting to add babies to the mix. Do not breed your birds unless you know you can find homes for them and you are willing to feed every 2 hours around the clock if the parents refuse them. 

For this reason, but not to discourage you, I would not recommend starting with any type of parrots. Start with pigeons, doves, quail, or something like zebra finch, then work your way up to cockatiels. Start with birds that you can watch the breeding process without having to step in and hand feed. When you're a little older go with parrots. This will give you experience. Hand feeding takes a lot of time and devotion, you would do so much better at rearing baby parrots if you could watch how parent birds do it first. You're 'tiels are young enough that once you have an idea of how the breeding process works, they will still be fertile come time for you to experience breeding parrots.


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