Breeding Poicephalus

Abstract

T here are a few of the Poicephalus I do not breed so I will not address those. It all started about 15 years ago when my dream was to have three pairs of African Greys Psittacus erithacus erithacus and three pair of Senegals Poicephalus senegalus senegalus. Now, in 1998, my observations and success has led me to believe two things are most important for successful breeding. Whether it's your first pair or lOOth pair, aviculture basics always apply - a mature sexed pair, healthy birds, a good diet, and proper husbandry. The two most important things are compatibility and territory.

Preventative Medicine

One thing I firmly believe in and have been practicing for about eight years now, is preventive veterinary medicine. No one knows my flock as well as I do except for my vet. I have been using Margaret Wissman, DVM,

 

DABVP, Avian Practice, since I started FLOCK management eight years ago.

We annually go through the entire flock. Since doing this, I do not have a year of poor production, dead in shell, low fertility, and of course the infamous FIRES to put out. When deciding any treatment protocols for my birds all decisions are made taking into account seriousness of illness, ease of administration, efficacy of treatment, expense, and long term effects. We can only do this because of her indepth knowledge of my flock. Her knowledge is gained through blood work, any viral screening that is available, serology, hands-on physical examination, culturing, prophylactic deworming, and doing gross necropsies at no charge. At no charge, how could I not have a necropsy done? And I admire her for the fact she sees this as a way of monitoring my flock, as it should be. I feel my vet strives to know all she can about my flock, and helps carry some of the load in doing so.

Specializing

The advantages of specializing are tremendous. When you have 10 to 15 pairs of the same species, you have a good base for reference. The birds within the species are going to act basically the same.

1. You learn they're incompatible by body language and you have enough resources to switch pairs.

2. When a snake or a mouse is in the nest box or on the roof of a pair, that pair will be acting differently than the rest of the group.

3. You can have a very uniform bank of cages with which to work.

4. When a pair of birds is sitting fluffed up or has eaten very sparingly, you can look down the bank of cages and if all the birds are fluffed up, it's probably nap time. If all birds went sparse on their food, it's probably okay - maybe it was hot or they're all busy working the nest boxes. The reasons will all start to fall into place with time.

5. Specializing in a species gives you concentrated knowledge. What a bird teaches you will probably apply to all of your birds. What a macaw teaches you will probably not apply to your Senegals. When you do research,

 

that knowledge is applied to 100% of your flock. If you raise 10 different species, that article you read on Macaws applies to only part of your flock.

The Group

First and foremost, I would like to stress what makes a temperament in these hirds. I am sure some is in the genes, that is what makes Poicephalus basically the same. I do not believe there is a "substantial" difference in temperament between the species. Any differences I am pointing out is just fine tuning. Since we are working with a wild gene pool at this time in aviculture, those genes are set for survival.

As with many domesticated animals, their security, experience, and compatibility help play an important role in starting with a good foundation. The handfeeding and weaning stages also play an important part in helping develop steady birds going into the pet trade. Once a bird goes into a pet situation there should be continued nurturing and guidelines for responsible pet owners and their birds. I do not have a favorite Poicepbalus , each is a favorite for a different reason

Overall Temperament

The Poicephalus species as a whole have an endearing quality. They have the potential to be very good, well socialized pet birds. They are not noisy and raucous nor do they scream for attention. Most are able to talk and some extremely well; some with hundred word vocabularies. Their voice is somewhat computerized, yet very understandable. For the most part they are affectionate and enjoy being cuddled and scratched. They are active birds and need a variety of toys for entertainment. They do extremely well in a one-bird household and the need to find them a "buddy" is not necessary. Working people have had great success even if these birds are left alone for much of the day. Of course, they need interacting time with their keeper on a regular basis. A neglected bird can and will become cage bound and anti social. Most make good first birds and some are wonderful for young adults (IO years and up). Some

are very tolerant of small children, and even friendly and gentle around them.

 

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