breeding

gaz · New Member Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 3

i,m relativly new to kakarikis i have a breeding pair they have young at the moment would you just have pairs or will one male service more than one female ??? how many would he service ??? will males fight if they are kept in the same aviary ???

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Parrots are not like hens/quail....they pair, often for life.
Kakariki pair, thu the bond is strong, not for life
Run a search for " intimidate " search button above or the quick seach box to the left for the info...re mixed breeding , breeding in colonies.
Generally, in most cases kakariki need to be 1 pair/flight...
Breeding in a flock, the flock has to be established for at least 1yr, in the same flight...even this depends on the personality of the pair.

The latter is against everything u will find in books and other media, it is something we have experimented with quite intensely over the last few yrs.

Steps

southy · Member Joined: May 12, 2007 Posts: 6

We're no experts in this field, but from our experience, you should only keep one male with one female, as when they breed, the male feeds the mother who in turn feeds the mother, then the mother may go to nest again and the father continues to feed the babies - this is a full time job for the male, and having to do it for two 'families' would be virtually impossible. Sure, one male will mate and successfully fertilise a number of hens, but the actual rearing process is another matter.