Parrot care breeding season: Awesome Advice
Parrot care at the start of the breeding season
At Loro Parque Fundación the first chicks of the year do not wait for the actual start of spring. Many pairs, whose species are native to Oceania, start laying their first eggs at this time. They respond to their biological instinct independently of environmental stimuli. This means that keepers must provide them with all the resources to allow them to develop their biological cycle in a natural way.
The optimal conditions for parrot care at the start of the breeding season
The optimal conditions in our facilities allow small and delicate species to start breeding at this time of year. However, it is a good idea to prepare the specimens before encouraging them to breed in times of frequent temperature fluctuations. This rule applies to all species. If the breeder sees parrots showing interest in breeding earlier than expected, they should be prepared for this time but not brought forward because the results will not be as expected.
Giving access to the nests and renewing their internal substrate, when the females are not yet ready for breeding, will cause the males to become quickly stimulated and out of sync with their mates. In these circumstances, we can expect episodes of aggression and many infertile eggs.
Reinforce the preparatory diets for breeding and Parrot care
As we do not want this to happen, it is important to reinforce the preparatory diets for breeding and to increase the renewal of environmental enrichment. Parrots should be working on their musculature and improving their physical condition at all levels at this time of year. Fresh twigs and wood in various forms will keep them active and improve their metabolic activity. The breeder’s thinking should be oriented to the concept that in nature birds spend a preparatory season before breeding, in which they change their habitat and work on various nesting options. They also change their diet during this pre-breeding period. This phase cannot be missed in controlled environments and doing so significantly improves the welfare of the animals.
Check if the birds have been dewormed
Another very important detail at this time before the first clutches are laid is to check if the birds have been dewormed. If this is not the case, there is still time to do so, anticipating a more complex period in which, for reasons of providing peace of mind to the couples, direct interventions with the animals will be reduced. Should an infection of both external and internal parasites be triggered during incubation and breeding, the consequences could be fatal.
Check for attacks and rodent infestations
It is also the ideal time to think about how to avoid possible attacks or disturbance by predators, raptors, felines, or reptiles. All the resources should be applied beforehand, as well as having a plan to deal with insect and rodent infestations, which can cause unexpected but frequent damage, such as egg abandonment, aggression towards chicks, undesirable behavior in the parents, etc…
Parrot care breeding season – work with separators
One of the options to be considered at this time of year is to work with separators. Observation is the most important tool during these months. However, the possibility of dedicating many hours to each pair is difficult even with cameras. Sometimes the signs of incompatibility or lack of synchronization between individuals are very subtle.
For this reason, for many species, especially smaller ones, the use of separators, which allow visual contact, act as a very useful tool for the pair to synchronize and, if the keeper receives the right signals from each specimen, he can remove the separation at the right moment. This system gives very good results as it allows males and females to feed separately, get used to each other, and show the right period where compatibility to start the breeding process is evident.
Adjustments to management protocol
In the breeding facilities of Loro Parque Fundación this is a busy season because as well as forming new pairs and observing how the previous years’ pairs are working, it is also necessary to close the cycle for some pairs that are still in their last days of reproduction. Such is the case of the Australian black cockatoos. At this moment our curator Marcia Weinzettl and her team are keeping three yellow-tailed cockatoo chicks and a beautiful, fast-growing palm cockatoo. These cockatoo species often give frequent problems throughout their development and require careful care with adjustments to management protocol. The accumulated experience is allowing the growth curves to improve significantly.
By: Rafael Zamora Padrón – Scientific Director – Loro Parque Fundación
To learn more about the amazing work at Loro Parque Fundación, you can visit their website:
https://www.loroparque-fundacion.org/en/
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