(melopsittacus undulatus)

This article was written on 12/3/2004

Experience level needed in this species in there keeping and breeding:
Novice - Intermediate - Experienced

Things to take into account if you're just starting out with Budgerigars
To me the budgie is the perfect beginners bird, very hardy, modest needs and relatively simple to breed.
When breeding budgies in my experience, budgies are best kept with their own kind, as they can sometimes be a menace to other breeding species.
They insist on pulling nesting materials from finch nest or simply entering other parakeets nest boxes and in general just becoming a pest to others, however if kept with their own species i.e. other budgies then they are a very sociable species with very little in the way of problems.

Size:
In the wild budgies are around 5 ½” long, and in captivity the size varies from 6” to 8” the larger being show quality birds and smaller types being the pet type birds.

The very popular 50/50 blend of millets and canary seed

Feeding:
Budgies are one of the simplest bird species to cater for in today’s bird keeping.
A simple seed mix containing all of the various millets INC. USA White, Australian Panicum, Hungarian Red, Australian Jap type millets, are used for the basic diet.
Many companies now sell ready mixed millets designed specifically for budgies.

On the run up to the breeding season, this is around 2 months prior to pairing my birds up.
I feed all on a Very good quality Continental type seed mix that Consists of best canary seed with a blend of white, yellow and red millet, plus additions of hemp, Groats and Niger seed, in order to give the birds a boost.
When my birds are starting to nest and have young, I use a simple mixed millet seed mix so to cut down the high energy seed such as hemp, as this can make the birds very hyper active, which can lead to some birds abandoning or throwing their young or eggs from the nest in favour of re-nesting.
Also prior to breeding, I also feed the birds a good quality egg rearing food, which also helps to get them in to condition.
I always have plenty of millet sprays, iodine pecks, and cuttlebone mixed grit and oyster shell and multi vitamins available all of the time.
My birds also enjoy fresh cut grass, chickweed and various green leaves from cabbage, sprouts, and broccoli.

Sexing:
Budgies are one of the easiest parakeets to sex, this in most cases is simply the cock birds have a blue cere and the hen bird having a brown cere.
The cere on a budgie is the nostril area above the beak.
On some of the lighter mutations such as the Lutino (yellow and red eyed) and Albino (pure white and red eyed), the cere on the males tends to be less blue but rather a very light purpled colour, with the females being a very light tan brown colour.

Cock cere

Hen cere

Mutations & Colours:
The Budgerigar has come along way in relation to the various colours and mutations available today in comparison to the wild type budgie, which is green and yellow with grayish black bard feathering.
Some of the various colors now available INC. Lutino (yellow and red eyed), Albino (pure white and red eyed), and sky blue,
Grey green, Cinnamon green, Violet (purple like), Dark blues and various colored pieds and many more.

Housing:
I have bred the budgie in flights and cages, however unless I want to guarantee a certain pair breed together I usually flight breed.
(Please note in this situation I only have the birds that I want to pair in this flight, so not to in-breed).
A typical flight size I use is 4 feet by 6 feet long for four pairs maximum, which are also used for non-breeding birds out of the breeding season, which usually house more birds.

The cages I use for breeding and sometimes for offspring, are a traditional budgie double breeder box type cage 3 feet by 12” deep by 18” tall, which are only used when the birds are breeding, with outside flights used to keep the birds fit out of season.
If breeding budgies in flights it’s recommended to place almost double the quantity of nest boxes in the flight in relation to the quantity of pairs being bred so to reduce squabbling amongst them selves.

Once they have chosen their box you can then remove any excess boxes so to maximize the flight space.
It’s good practice to have some kind of draft and rain proof shelter for the cock birds to roost in at night, however as budgies are very hardy birds you will find many roosting in the outside flight.

When cage breeding I use fountain type water feeders and the large deep oval shaped dishes for seed mixes normally associated with hamsters.
For soft rearing foods, I use small round ceramic hamster bowls, which are fairly shallow for newly fledged young and also very sturdy and easy to clean.

In the flights, I use 5inch round stainless steel feeding bowls for seed and soft food, for drinkers I use water bottles used for hamsters,
which keeps the water cleaner & fresher for longer.
All the roofs on the flights are covered with plastic corrugated sheeting, this is done to prevent heavy rain soaking the nest boxes and to protect the birds from unnecessary contamination from wild birds droppings.
Another thing I always include in the flights is a peace of plywood fitted inside the flight roof at the back, 2 feet by the width of the flight, in summertime this acts as a summer shade for the birds.

The perches I use in the breeding cages are simple hardwood round beach dowel ½-inch diameter, however in the flights, I use a mixture of dowel and natural branch perches in various thicknesses ½ inch to 1-inch diameter.
The floor covering in the cages is bird sand covering, which is a mix of sand and grits.
The flights are paved for easy cleaning, which only requires a scrape and wash down once a week.

Mesh:
The mesh I use is ½ inch by 1 inch 16gage; however, 19gage would be no problem with budgies and other smaller parakeets such as grass parakeets.
A good tip to help you to be able to view your birds better in flights and cages, is to buy a litre of satin black paint and a small gloss roller. Paint the mesh inside and out and you will see the mesh almost disappear against a dark background.

Painting the mesh of the flights will help when viewing your birds

Breeding:
When breeding budgies in my experience, their best kept with their own kind, as they can sometimes be a menace to other species breeding.
They insist on pulling nesting materials from finch nest or simply entering other parakeets nest boxes and in general a just becoming a pest to others, however if kept with their own species i.e. other budgies then they are a very sociable species.

Many breeders make the mistake of letting their birds just get on with the business of breeding with no intervention by the owner, and allowing up to four rounds of young in some cases.
This type of breeding just contributes to over breeding, which usually means poor quality birds, being under size poor feathering and generally substantially less healthy birds.

I usually only breed a small amount of young in a season, with 2 rounds being the norm, however on rare occasions the birds have had 3 rounds, however this should not be encouraged.
The pairs in my flights are usually introduced boxes in early spring (mid to end of March in southern UK).
The birds usually start to inspect the boxes almost immediately, however some non-breeders or first year birds may not take up the offer of a box at first, and may not even figure out the basics of how to impress the opposite sex until the following year, however most do though.

The cock birds will bob up and down chattering to a potential hen and if accepted by the hen will start feeding her small amounts of food.
Once your birds start using the nest box you can usually expect the first egg within 2 weeks or so.
One oval white egg is laid every other day and the usual clutch size is 4 to 6 eggs sometimes more sometimes less.
After the last egg is laid you should start to see the first egg getting a more matt finish and somewhat darker, this will usually indicate that the egg is fertile, do not take this as gospel as some hens do not start sitting until the third or fourth egg has been laid.

Once the last egg laid is around 4 days old you should see the change, and once you gain a little more knowledge on how to handle eggs you will be able to take them out one by one holding them up to a pencil torch light. If the eggs are fertile, you will see the contents of the eggs getting darker and the general weight of the egg somewhat heavier.
If the eggs are not fertile by 2 weeks then they will never be.

You can tell infertile eggs, as the contents still look very clear and the egg being lighter.
The eggs if fertile should hatch in around 18 to 20 days with one hatching every other day in order of being laid.
The hen generally does the sitting with the cock bird sitting watching guard on the perch, which is connected to the box most of the time.
The hen will come to the entrance hole for the first few days of having young and the male will feed her.
Once the last egg has hatched I then start to feed egg rearing food, and plenty of it, budgies just love the stuff.
You must also ensure there is plenty of cuttlebone available as this is also fed to the young birds.
You can also offer sprouted seed, which is usually readily taken.
Once the babies are a week or so old and start becoming more demanding, the hen will then venture out of the box and both parents will feed the young.
The young will leave the comfort of the nest at around four weeks old; however, they will still require feeding from the parents for up to another 2 to 3 weeks until fully weaned.
Once the young are fully weaned they then must be placed in a nursery cage or flight preferably with other offspring so to show them the ropes so to speak, as to were the food pots are and such.
If you do not have any other young birds available, you could try placing a spare hen in with them, as hens are less likely to attack them.
The parents if not already will start their second round off eggs.

What the species use as nest also materials used:
The nest box type I use are fairly traditional, 12inch long by 6inch by 6inch and constructed with ¼ inch plywood.
An entrance hole at one end around 1 ½ inches and around 2 inches from the top.
Directly below the entrance I place a perch around 4 inches long.
The nest is constructed with a peace of timber the same size dimensions of the overall internal floor space of the nest box, and around 1 inch thick.
The timber nest has a concave on one end around 2½ inches wide and ½ inch deep and placed at the opposite end to the entrance.
On cage breeding nest boxes I favour boxes with a slide up door at the back for access, this allows checking of the eggs and general cleaning duties.
On flight nest boxes I favour ones with a hinged back, which also includes a small latch to keep the door locked.
When my budgies have young around 2 weeks old, I usually check the condition of the nest and box, as budgies can be somewhat messy.
If the nest box is in a mess, this is almost guaranteed,
I make sure the parents are out of the box and then block the entrance hole so I can clean the box,
sometimes it is also necessary to bath the young birds feet in look warm water, as they can become caked in their droppings and needs to be cleaned off so the birds don’t develop deformed feet. If you do this please be swift as the parents will be trying there best to protect their young.
Once you place the baby’s back in the nest and clear the entrance hole, this can be a critical time for the young as sometimes the mother can attack the young; this is probably due to the young smelling different.
On the rare occasions this has happened I have simply opened the door on the box and the hen usually forgets this in favour of protecting her young, I have found that most will settle down almost immediately after closing the door.

My after thoughts on the Budgie:
To me the budgie is the perfect beginner’s bird, very hardy, modest needs and relatively simple to breed.
The budgie was the very first bird I ever bred some 20 years or so ago and I still get the same joys I did back then every time I have an egg hatch.
A truly superb sociable species.
Karl