VMD 513: Pet animal Breeding, Management, Nutrition and Health Care (1+1)

BREEDING LOVEBIRDS

• Lovebirds can be successfully bred indoor
• Pairs are too amorous to wards each other, and may pluck feather from around their partner’s neck.
• This is the sign that they are keen to nest.
• Nest box should always available in the cage, since lovebirds invariably will roost inside it if give a preference.
• A nest box in the shape of a cube, with inner dimensions of about 23 cm is sufficient for all species of lovebird.
• Depending on the species of lovebird, the female will carry nesting material into the nest in various ways.
• Peach-face Lovebirds for example, tuck nesting material in their tail feathers while Green Masked Lovebirds carry nesting material back with their beaks.
• Once the lovebirds start constructing their nest, mating will follow.
• During this time, the lovebirds will mate repeatedly. Eggs follow 3–5 days later.
• The female will spend hours inside her nesting box before eggs are laid.
• Once the first egg is laid, a new egg will follow every other day until the clutch is complete, typically at four to six eggs.
• Without a nest, lovebirds will not produce eggs.
• The incubate for a period of 23 days and some pairs may produce two rounds of chicks in a season.