Peach faced lovebirds Breeding.

PEACH FACED LOVEBIRDS BREEDING.

Peach faced lovebirds are very easily breeding and a pair will breed and raise their babies in the home, right in front of the family. Peach-faced lovebirds are monomorphic (males and females cannot be distinguished visually). Peach faced lovebirds can breed when they are 1 year old. They can be bred in pair cages or in colony flight cages.

The breeding cage should be larger than a single pet cage. A good size is approximately 24 inches long, 20 inches tall and 24 inches wide. A small wooden box can be mounted at a top corner. The box should be approximately 6” x 6” x 8”. Nest boxes are usually available at the local pet store. Pine shavings can be used as nest material however Peach faced lovebirds also love to build a nest inside the box. Many breeders give them woody vines such as honeysuckle or pieces of palm fronds. The hen lays 4-8 eggs, 1-2 days apart and she usually starts to incubate with the second or third egg. This can result in quite a size difference between the oldest and youngest chicks in the clutch. For that reason some chicks may be lost if they are too small to compete with their siblings. Incubation lasts 21-23 days. Chicks weigh approximately 3 grams at hatching. Chicks fledge at 30-35 days but usually wean at 45-55 days.

Provide plenty of food for the pair to feed their young, especially eggs food and some fresh greens. Both parents share in caring for the young and they are ready to fledge (emerge from the box) when they are 6 weeks old. Babies are clumsy and should not be allowed to fly free initially as they can be easily injured in their clumsy flight attempts. Breeding pairs are often in a hurry to start another clutch of eggs and may abuse the chicks to force them from the nest. Chicks may be plucked or bitten. Such chicks may need to be removed for hand feeding. Hand feeding newly hatched Peach faced lovebirds, is very challenging due to their small size but if they are left in the nest until 2- 4 weeks old they are easily hand-fed and are delightful babies. A standard hand-rearing formula such as Pretty Bird 19/8 or 19/12 is a good formula. It can be fed with and eyedropper or 1 cc syringe. Always follow label instruction for preparation. If you have a gram scale, you can feed 10% of the body weight at each feeding, or fill the crop to the point where it looks and feels full but not overfilled.

Peach faced lovebirds will breed year-round if allowed to which will exhaust the hen. After 3 clutches in a year the nest box should be removed and the birds forced to rest. Reducing the photoperiod (reduce to around 10hours of light daily) will also help to shut them down.