How to Become a Parakeet Breeder ( Expert Opinion)

Last Updated on June 24, 2022 by Ali Shahid

Breeding parakeets is a profitable business with a low startup cost. There are some tips you should follow if you want to be a parakeet breeder. This is helpful because parakeet breeding can be challenging. So, let us walk you through how to become a parakeet breeder.

 Domesticating parakeets for their beauty and curiosity dates back centuries. People who love parakeets don’t mind the effort they put into raising them. You can breed birds if you have a particular interest in parakeets or other domestic birds.

How to Become a Parakeet Breeder

The best trait for a breeder is love for these creatures. As a breeder, you are not always rewarded with monetary rewards. Often the success of a business depends on whether it breeds birds that sell at a higher price and of what kind.

There is no guarantee that the birds a breeder produces will bring a profit, no matter what he invests in cages, seeds, or medicine. However, don’t worry, since our experience in parakeet breeding will help you to manage your business successfully.

How Do Parakeets Mate?

The first step is to gain general knowledge about the business you are going to start. For that reason, you must understand what parakeets need and how they breed. Afterward, you can focus on the full setup requirements.

Always select only healthy birds without any deformities. Beyond that, there are some basic steps to follow when breeding parakeets.

Having True Pair Parakeet

In some situations, breeding pairs could simply be two females or two males if there is no other choice, in which case it may just be two parrots bonding.

The sexual dimorphism of these birds makes it easy to determine their sex based on their appearance.

Males:

Blue ceres are commonly seen on males, and they are the fleshy parts on the top of their beak which are located where the nostrils are. Each nostril has a blue hole.

Some fancier varieties such as lutinos, albinos, and pastel-colored birds may have a pinkish-lavender cere rather than blue, and some may have all lavender nostrils.

Females:

A female’s ceres may be a lighter shade of blue, but a ring surrounds each nostril hole that is absent on males. The cere becomes rough in texture and turns tannish brown as it ages.

As hens grow, albinos and lutinos may also have lavender-colored ceres, but they will also become rough and brown.

Parakeets Must Bond to Breed

It is essential for a true pair to bond before they can breed. Birds often pair up spontaneously in flocks, but you can select a male and female to breed to produce a specific color or pattern.

While it is ideal to pair juveniles and let them grow up together, adult birds can also be paired. Provide a roomy cage for the intended pair, and give them time to become accustomed to living together.

As soon as they bond, it is likely that they will stay together in the same place and follow one another everywhere they go.

As a result, the male will probably begin feeding the female after a short while. At this point, it is evident that the pair has truly become bonded.

Wait until the parakeet pair reaches maturity

Around the age of one year, parakeets are usually able to breed on their own. I recommend that you install the nesting boxes for your parakeets when you notice the hen’s cere has developed a brown crust.

Breeding single pairs versus breeding colonies of parakeets

To breed parakeets, there are two primary techniques, namely the colony breeding method and the breeding of individual pairs.

Breeding a Colony of Parakeet

A colony breeding program involves the breeding of several pairs of birds together. Wire spacing should not exceed one-half inch, with flights not exceeding six feet long by three feet wide by four feet tall.

To prevent fighting, there needs to be at least one extra nest box for every pair. The nest boxes need to be hung at the same height next to the top of the enclosure as well to prevent them from fighting.

Colony breeding has advantages, like having a single area to clean and ensuring your pair gets enough exercise, however, it also has disadvantages.

• There is no guarantee your pairs will remain together, or that any dominant male will only breed one female at a time.
• Even when a balanced number of males and females is present, things may still be tense.
• Parents may attack their babies or damage eggs that are not their own at times.
• When you let the parents wean the chicks, you may not be able to tell which chick belongs to which pair.

Breeding individual pairs

You have much less trouble controlling the situation if you give one pair of parakeets their own space to breed.

• There will never be any doubts about the parentage of any chick in your life.
• It is likely that there will be far fewer fights between the adults.
• It is rare for eggs to be damaged in any way.

Basic Requirements for Parakeet Breeding Setup

Hopefully, you have a basic understanding of how parakeets breed and how to get a proper pair of parakeets. The next step is to set up a commercial breeding setup for breeding parakeets. The following things are required to do this:

Parakeet Breeding Regulations and Licenses

If you are planning to start a considerable facility, you need to ask your local office for more information regarding the regulations related to breeding birds.

Having a bunch of birds can be a noise problem, plus the waste they produce can cause problems with neighbors. There are also certain licenses that breeders must obtain if they sell a certain number of birds per year.

 It is best to become a member of canary clubs and aviculture societies, such as the American Society of Aviculture and the American Federation of Aviculture, if one plans on working in the field in the future.

Breeding Cage

As a parakeet breeder with years of experience, I recommend about 24 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 16 inches high for two birds. Nest boxes should be attached to a separate door in the cage so that the birds can access them from inside.

As soon as the chicks are old enough to leave the nest box, a perch should be placed near the opening, so they can easily reach it.

As a means of providing the female with extra calcium for making eggshells, you can hang a mineral block and cuttlebone from the cage. Separate dishes should be used to place food and water.

Parakeet Nesting Boxes

There are many kinds of nest boxes, and they usually come in different sizes and designs, so you should choose one that is specifically designed for parakeets. For the birds to use as a doorway, I recommend that you use a nest box with a 1-1/2-inch opening.

To create a rectangular enclosure, the opening should be at one end of the enclosure and a circular recess should be at the other. A lid will either be on the top of the box or it will be on one of the sides so you can see if the eggs are hatching.

Nesting Material

Nesting material can be found in a variety of types, so you may need to test a few different types before you find the type that your pair prefers. You can find safe nesting materials like recycled newspaper and aspen shavings.

Newspaper shredded into small pieces is acceptable, but do not use cedar shavings since the fumes from cedar shavings can be toxic to some birds.

In some cases, you may discover that your pair of birds are actively pushing all the nesting material out of their nesting box. Parakeets are well known for preferring bare nesting boxes.

Incubators

After an egg is laid in a fertilized nest, either the mother bird can raise the egg itself, or it can be put in an incubator, where it will hatch. Involving the mother bird in the post-hatching care of chicks may be appropriate, depending on the species.

Birds without parents need incubators. It is possible to design an incubator that can hold a variety of eggs, control temperature, monitor the progress of each egg, and rotate slowly so that the heat is evenly distributed.

Brooders

When the egg has hatched after incubation, the chick is now ready to be moved to a brooder.

When chicks are very young and they are in that fragile phase of their lives, a brooder provides heat and humidity for them. Brooders can also be helpful in the case of an injured or sick pet bird.

Thermometers

In order for a fertilized egg to develop properly, constant warmth is needed. It’s important to maintain a steady temperature in an incubator or brooder, and a digital thermostat is the best way to do this.

In addition, a hygrometer is built into the heater, so you can keep an eye on the humidity levels.

Avian Scales

 To have a good idea of how fast a newly born bird is growing, it is useful to monitor how much it weighs. Having your birds sit still on normal scales is quite difficult since they find it hard to remain still.

It is good to know though that these days you can buy avian scales that already have perches built-in. This is going to make life a whole lot easier for you.

Lighting

Under normal conditions, parakeets are active for about 12 hours a day and rest for about 12 hours at night.

When they are breeding, the days tend to be longer, which is why adding full-spectrum lighting may allow them to enjoy longer daylight hours. It is also essential that females have access to light in order to synthesize vitamin D.

 Parakeet Breeder Diet

It is important to include variety and abundance in the diets of breeders. Breeders must be knowledgeable about the nutritional needs of parakeets. If you fail to properly feed your parrots, you will not have any babies later on.

The more nutritious food a pair of birds has, the more likely they are to go to the nest. It is particularly important to use soft foods when your birds are preparing for breeding, and it is especially important to use soft foods while the chicks are being raised as well.

Your pair will be more likely to eat the foods once the chicks hatch if you feed them before breeding. This diet should include:

• A mixture of parakeet pellets of high quality

Every pellet provides balanced nutrition for your parakeet. Make sure that they are available all the time.

• Fruits and Vegetables 

Some of the best vegetable choices for your parakeets are broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, cauliflower, and bell peppers.

A lot of nutrition can also be found in sprout mixes. These foods should be washed and chopped before serving.

• Eggs

The egg is a good source of protein and is food that digests quickly. Since eggs are a soft food, the male can feed the female, and the female can feed the chicks.

If you chop the eggs up with the others, the hen will get extra calcium from the shells, helping to prevent egg bind.

• Seed mix for parakeets

Seed is an important part of the parakeet’s diet, but not a staple since they simply choose foods that they like. Mix seeds and grains for a variety of nutrients or pick a hulled and omega-3-rich product.

• Abundant clean water

Having soiled water around can cause harmful bacteria to grow. During the day, you should at least change the water three or four times a day, or whenever it gets dirty.

Replace spoiled food with fresh food after two to three hours to discourage birds from eating it.

 Handfeeding Baby Parakeets

When chicks are 21 days old, they are removed from the nest box and hand-fed. Until the chicks have a complete set of feathers, either a commercial or homemade incubator will be needed to keep them warm.

After the chicks are 21 days of age, a special formula should be fed by pipette or small syringe every three or four hours as the chicks’ crop empties.

It is best to follow the directions on the package of commercial formulas, which show how to mix their formulas as well as how often to feed them. It is typical to feed the food between the temperatures of 102 and 106 degrees Fahrenheit.

At this temperature, the chicks won’t burn their crops, but their digestion will still be properly facilitated.

Tips for Ending Breeding

There are some pairs, however, they do not know when to stop producing clutches and will continue to produce clutches after clutches. Having to lay so many eggs and feed so many chicks is exhausting and can eventually cause the hen to die.

We recommend that you let the pair produce no more than two clutches before asking them to stop. This method can be used to breed a single pair or it can be adapted to develop breeding colonies.

Limit Daylight

The longer the days, the greater the amount of breeding activity that occurs, so limit their daylight hours for a few weeks. You can do this by draping a dark shade over the cage after it has been exposed to light for eight hours.

Remove the Nest

Box It is important to remove the nest box and any hanging toys such as coconut houses and similar items. When the hen does not have an ideal place to nest, she is less likely to lay eggs.

Separate the Pair

The hen should be moved to a separate cage if necessary. The loss of contact with her mate, in combination with the distraction of a new environment, would hopefully help her to shift out of breeding mode.

How much does it cost to start a parakeet breeding Business?

There has been an increase of 176 billion dollars in the market capitalization of parrot breeding. With a minimum of 18 thousand dollars, you can start your own Parakeet breeding business.