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Kakariki, Care, Breeding, Ecology, and Conservation :: View topic - Marital Problems!
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Marital Problems!

 
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battybirdie
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Joined: Nov 03, 2005
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 12:38 pm    Post subject: Marital Problems!

Hi Guys

This might sound like a really daft question - but my Kakarikis currently seem to be having a few marital problems!

They have just successfully reared 6 beautiful chicks who are now between 5 & 6 weeks old, and things have been going brilliantly until yesterday.

Kiri (my female) was racing around the bottom of the cage with Kenny (male) in hot pursuit, and not in a friendly way. Any time he got her in a corner he appeared to have a go at her, and she was getting very tired and stressed. I have a small emergency cage at home, and quickly removed Kiri for the night, which seemed to settle Kenny down. I did try reintroducing her to the main cage again this afternoon, but after about 30 minutes the aggression stared up again & I have had to remove her again. Kenny is very proactive with feeding the chicks, and all bar one are already feeding themselves quite well, so I'm not too worried on that score. I'm keeping a close eye on the youngest chick just to make sure that she is getting enough food.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what may have brought on this sudden behavioural change? Kiri and Kenny have been together for a year now, and this is their second lot of chicks. Kenny did have an episode like this just after Kiri started laying her first batch of eggs, and I had to remove him from the cage for 4 days. Since then he has been fine however & I put that first episode down to youth and inexperience. He is usually so attentive to Kiri & they snuggle up together at night. There hasn't been any change in their routine or their feed, with the obvious exception of the chicks fledging.

At the moment Kiri is in a seperate cage alongside the main cage, and while I know this isn't ideal in the circumstances, I thought it better than having her chased to the point of exhaustion and possibly having the chicks injured in the fallout. Dad seems happy enough taking care of babies, although they do keep gazing at each other through the bars!

Sorry to ramble on (I do that!! :oops: ) Any ideas??
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Steptoe
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 4:12 pm    Post subject:

Do u have only 1 nesting box in that flight?
How big is the flight?
The chicks, @ 5/6 weeks will be showing adult feathers.
It is at the stage, where adult feathers start showing, Mum. heads off to the 2nd nesting box, leaving Dad to feed the chicks and her in the 2nd box.

Dad could very well be 'protecting' HIS brood (espec if they are leaving the nest)...from ALL comers who are not meant to be there.

Kakariki should leave the nest just as the yellow patch 9on the back of the head is covered...Preventing them doing so before this using deeper nesting boxes.
If they are coming out early, this would also make Dad far more protective.

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Kaka-riki
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:03 pm    Post subject:

My suggestion would be to remove the cock bird and leave the hen in with the babies. As Steptoe said in his post the cock birds are the ones that become aggressive and by removing the hen you have strengthened his belief that his actions are warranted.

We use apolicy with all our breeding pairs that if the cock bird shows any aggression he does some time on his own to calm down. If on the other hand the chicks are getting plucked in the box it is the hen who gets removed and the cock bird is left to feed the babies. This has been very successful over the years and why I suggest the cock bird be removed.
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Peter
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:59 am    Post subject:

I never use 2 nestboxes. When the chicks are 3 weeks old, I remove them from the nestbox and put them on the bottom of the cage. At this stage the female usually wants to start another laying round. In the meanwhile, both the cock and the hen continue with feeding the chicks. Up to now, the only thing I have experienced is a small aggression from the male to the younger cocks at the 5/6 week. But that is then the moment when I remove the chicks from the parrents.

I aggree with Steptoe and Kaka-riki to remove the cock bird instead of the female. Cocks have a strong sexual appetite. I believe when the hen is not in the mood he can become aggressive towards the female.


Kaka-riki wrote:

If on the other hand the chicks are getting plucked in the box it is the hen who gets removed and the cock bird is left to feed the babies.

At which stage do you remove the female?
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Kaka-riki
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:43 am    Post subject:

Peter,

When we find the chicks are being plucked they are normally at the advanced stage of feathering. As soon as we notice feathers in the box or bald spots appearing on the chicks we remove the hen and place the box on the floor of the aviary for a few hours with the lid open. This gives Dad time to work out that the chicks need to be fed and that the hen is missing. Once the cock bird commences feeding we place the box back on the wall and he feeds from then on. We have done this several times and find it can also help in stopping the hen plucking future clutches.
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Steptoe
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:47 am    Post subject:

Quote:
When the chicks are 3 weeks old, I remove them from the nestbox and put them on the bottom of the cage. At this stage the female usually wants to start another laying round.


So the orginal nesting box is now vacant?
Thats a different approach...
Just in a cnr?
Dont they start to run around the floor without some sort of wall?
any beding material?

Im asking cause I may have a go at this in the new season

Yes occassionaly we have had a male that gets 'over enthusisatic' even with 2 nesting boxes...We also remove the male...

If the female is plucking the babies..it is often because she wants to lay in the same nesting box....we move the babiies to the 2nd box...leaving the lid open and Dad watches what we are doing....sorts the problem out.

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Peter
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:08 am    Post subject:

Steptoe wrote:


So the orginal nesting box is now vacant?
Thats a different approach...
Just in a cnr?
Dont they start to run around the floor without some sort of wall?
any beding material?


The bottom of the cage is wired. Mesh is about 10mmx10mm. I have experimented with a small piece of board underneath the chicks but I have found this becomes unhygienic.
They keep each other warm in the corner. The older chicks on the outside. When they have a walk, it is rather for begging food. But mainly they stay in the corner.
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MyGully
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Joined: Jun 22, 2006
Posts: 91

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:10 pm    Post subject: aggressive behaviour

Just my thoughts, so please take this with a grain of salt. I get the feeling that your male is wanting to mate with the hen sooner than he should and she isn't ready. Your days will be getting slightly shorter? maybe? What happened this time last year (if you had the same birds)? I keep a diary so that I can compare their behaviours and their eggs production- usually it will give you clues of what is happening now and reminds you what to expect.

I would remove him too, as suggested, because whatever is the cause it is definitely putting more stress on the hen. Also I would supplement their food with egg and bisquit mix.
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kimmyC
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Joined: Mar 02, 2010
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:21 am    Post subject: male plucking chick

Hi, I'm new here. I have a breeding pair (harvey and midori) we are on the fourth batch of chicks which began hatching at christmas. we have 3, 2 female 1 male. The youngest chick left the nest 2/3 days ago, We noticed that the male had decided to pluck the head feathers from the chick. He has always been good with the chicks so i'm quite concerned as the poor little thing looks like a monk!
Any Advice?
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Steptoe
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 1:16 pm    Post subject:

I assume that it is a reasonbly large flight and the chickes from the other batches have been moved out.

If you have another flight with a 1 or 2 single mature males, you cam move chicks a couple days after emerging from the nest in with them...they will carry on wearning the chicks of.

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