Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mailrus!ames!elroy!usc!hacgate!ladcgw!nemesys!carl
From: carl@nemesys.UUCP (Carl Eichert)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Question on Killer Budgies
Keywords: budgies breeding parakeet
Message-ID: <631@nemesys.UUCP>
Date: 8 Jun 89 05:07:55 GMT
References: <3633@ihlpm.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: carl@nemesys.UUCP (Carl Eichert)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Unorthodox But Usable, Torrance, CA
Lines: 39

In article <3633@ihlpm.ATT.COM> jsl@ihlpm.UUCP (Levy,J.) writes:
>I have some females who are particularly
>aggressive towards their offspring when the fledgling is about
>4 weeks of age and the mother is about to lay a new clutch.
>These females go so far as to savage and kill a chick and so
>have to be removed from the breeding cage.

I have a couple of references for you.  While they are not specific to 
English Budgies, both make claims about the intolerance of the hen toward
the chicks when she wants to start a new clutch.

For example (from "Budgerigars" by George A. Radtke):
	Some hens that have started a new clutch after their young
	leave the nest become very aggressive against their young,
	biting and injuring them dangerously.  This is why it is 
	advisible to separate the young birds from their parents
	within two to three days and put them into a small cage with
	a feeding cup directly in front of them.  Most of the birds
	will adapt easily and the younger ones are often fed by 
	their older brothers and sisters.  One might also put older,
	unattached males with them in the same cagem and they will
	take over the feeding.  This way you can eliminate a lot of
	losses.
Essentially the same thing is said in "The New Parakeet Handbook" by
Immanuel Birmelin and Annette Wolter.

My personal feeling is that the hens simply don't "understand" why they 
can breed so often and go a bit crazy.  In the wild, the hens breed much
more infrequently based on availability of food, etc.

Carl J. Eichert
uunet!ladcgw!nemesys!carl


-- 
Carl Eichert  ...!uunet!ladcgw!nemesys!carl
	      carl@ladc.bull.com
              Carl-Eichert%l66a@ladc.bull.com
              Phone:  (213) 530-1092