Boy, this is really the hard part. Of course, this is my love: the pairing and the breeding. This is where the challenge lies. Birds have all been paired and in their breeding flights, and all partitions have been put in place. There is much vocalization in the flock, and a lot of flying and activity. hens spend a lot of time interacting with their males, on the far end of the flights, away from the nest boxes. This is where you really see them hanging upside down from the flight top sparring with the mate on the perch or they both hang and spar. Any hens I notice hanging back and not joining their mates become suspect. I watch that pair a little closer. I begin to notice the male keeps her at a distance, and that she is fearful of him. She stays in the box a lot. I try to fool myself into thinking she may be going to nest, but by season end there have been no eggs. Another pair acts about the same way, but this hen doesn’t allow the male to approach her, and she appears to be more dominant. By seasons end, there are eggs, but all have been infertile. These two pairs will have to be re-paired. All the other pairs went to nest at the end of October.

By the end of breeding season, a few pairs had only laid once and raised chicks, most went twice and some three times. I can usually expect some infertile eggs if any pairs go on to lay a fourth clutch. I think with the males guarding and feeding the hens, they become bored, and just peter out.

Memorial Day is here and all partitions come down. There is much activity and vocalizing in the aviary. You can just feel the excitement of all the birds seemingly rejoining the flock. The males spar between cages at the far end. The hens begin to take their places near the nest boxes and they aren’t allowed to join the males very often in the ritual of protecting their territory. Only in the early morning and late evening are the hens seen with the males. During much of the daytime, their station is near the nest box. This goes on most of the summer and by breeding season, the males are once again pumped up. Each has done his job protecting his hen. When the partitions go back up, the males almost seem to say “see, I drove them all away.”

Africans are not very demonstrative birds and you have to read a lot into what they do. For example, I had two hens together for treatment with medication. Anyone seeing them would have thought they were the most loving pair of birds you could ever want. They were constantly together, sleeping, preening and eating. These activities in no way are proof of a compatible pair. They would never raise chicks. It took well over a year for one of them to accept a male. She was a very dominant hen. She is now one of my best breeders, but it was a lot of work. I never made that mistake again. I never house two birds of the same gender together.

You must be able to observe your birds without them knowing.  The more pairs you have, the better the observations will be.  Imported birds that aviculturists now own should be breeding by this time. If you purchase non-proven imported birds, know ahead of time that they should be re-paired.  There is no such thing as a bonded imported pair now. If they are healthy, and not breeding, they are not compatible. If you have a pair of imported birds that haven’t  bred yet, go home and find them new mates. There is no reason to wait. All the years and prime health going to waste. Do it!  Don’t fool yourself. We have all heard the story of the pair of Hyacinth macaws breeding in the pet store. They loved each other so much they just couldn’t help themselves. 

If one’s imported and healthy birds are not breeding, a lot of folks may sell them as “bonded” pairs, but I tend to think of them as “bondage” pairs. In birds this can be a very stressful situation, having a dominant bird and a submissive bird being forced to live together.

                           Next