Usually when we decide to pair and breed with our Bengalese providing the
birds are in full breeding condition and mature enough for the job, we can
say " they are an easy bird to breed".
But like every other species commonly kept and bred there can be times when
we wonder just how easy breeding them really is.
There are a few common problems that are encountered every year, egg
binding, infertile eggs, fertile eggs that fail to hatch, and youngsters not
fed.
Preparation of your breeding pairs can eliminate many potential problems
from the start, the Bengalese seems to be prepared to attempt breeding at
any time, even in the middle of a full moult.
But we should ensure maximum fitness of our pairs, if we anticipate full
nests of chicks reared to maturity, our birds can be in the breeding cage
for 6 months of the year if we take 3 rounds of chicks, so preparation is
important.
What should we be looking for when we pair our birds? .
Any bird that is not actually sick will sing, it's like an itch they must
scratch it, we are looking for cock birds that are not only singing but
displaying, fluffing up and bouncing around when singing and showing every
sign of wanting to breed. Our hens fit and active and carrying round
anything that looks like potential nest building material.
The most important criteria in your pair selection is age, many pairs fail
due to immaturity, Bengalese will show every sign of wanting to breed as
early as 3-4 months old, if they are your own youngsters you will know their
age and resist the temptation. This is where obtaining your birds from a
fancier who can also indicate their age is important, some young pairs will
breed and rear young without problems, most will not, avoid the temptation
of pairing these birds if you want fit and healthy youngsters who will
fulfil their full potential. Aim for a minimum of 9 months old and ideally
12 months old as the age to commence your birds breeding activities.
Even then these "novice" birds can present you with problems, most due to
inexperience in the breeding cage, but most of these can usually be
resolved.
I have found that one of the important aspects of preparing Bengalese for
breeding is foot care.
Ensure you check and reduce toenails on a regular basis, on most birds the
vein or quick can be seen running through the nail if held to the light. Cut
to avoid this, err on safety's side if you are unsure where this is, if you
still cut into this and it bleeds, I always strike a match blow it out and
immediately apply to the end of the nail, this stops bleeding 9 times out of
10.
Overgrown toenails present many problems, they could prevent cocks obtaining
correct grip and posture for successful mating, the birds cannot land
correctly on perches, causing them to become reluctant to fly, thus causing
loss of condition. Long nails entangle trapping birds on cage wires,
puncture eggs and, drag eggs and chicks accidentally from nest boxes. Feet
can become encrusted with excreta and this hardens causing toes to be lost,
the provision of daily baths will aid you in preventing this.
Having ensured your birds are prepared for breeding success it's
disheartening to find problems occurring, the first of which you might come
up against being an egg bound hen.
This often seems to occur in young hens, that are laying their first clutch,
the reason for this is simple, insufficient calcium.
The free calcium a hen requires to form eggs is held in the bones, calcium
is passed from the bones into the blood and vice versa, a hen requires a
good supply of calcium to produce a clutch. Any shortage when eggs are
being produced and the body takes the calcium it needs from the nerves and
muscles, this affects the muscles and nerves and they become unable to expel
the egg, leading to egg binding.
In the past and indeed now the answer was warmth, and holding the vent over
steam to relax the muscles, thus allowing the egg to be passed. Now I
administer a dose of liquid calcium supplement, keep the bird warm and
invariably within an hour the egg appears.
This need never happen in your bird room, ensure your birds are receiving a
calcium supplement, before breeding commences, increase it's frequency
during egg production, and you should have no problems with egg binding.
Never breed with a hen that has suffered from egg binding until at least 3
months after, give her time to regain strength and condition and rebuild her
calcium reserve.
Do not feed a calcium supplement every day of the week, 5 days a week when
eggs are being produced and youngsters are being reared, 2-3 days when they
are not. The bones need to "learn" how to release calcium when the body
calls for it, feed supplements 7 days a week and they "forget" leading to as
many problems as if you fed no supplement.
Infertile eggs: I definitely don't have all the answers here, and actual
infertile birds are not common.
Once again age comes into the reasons, immature birds will lay and incubate
but, cocks not old enough to produce sperm, inexperienced in mating and hens
over keen, spending all day in boxes thus not allowing mating, are often
found with birds of unknown age.
Bengalese will as mentioned before attempt to breed under most
circumstances, lack of condition can contribute to the failure to produce
fertile eggs, ensure tiptop breeding condition before pairing.
A recent problem is with large Buff Feathered exhibition birds, were
excessive feathering around the vents of the birds prevents correct contact
in mating. The answer seems to be to reduce by plucking the amount of vent
feathering, taking care to leave intact the guide feathers that are used in
mating.
Of course my old maxim applies. The main reasons beginners fail to breed
with their birds are, two Cocks, two Hens or too Young.
Fertile eggs that fail to hatch: the obvious reason here is inconsistent
incubation, this again is found in young immature birds, birds leaving the
nest due to disturbance, and possibly mites.
Make sure that night time disturbance is avoided, car headlights flashing
into the bird room, rodents gaining access and loud noises can all
contribute to birds leaving the nest at night, I have a small night light on
at all times, this enables birds disturbed to return to the nest.
Make your birds housing rodent free, they are not looking in the main to
make a meal of your birds but are attracted to the seed, their urine and
droppings spell disaster for your birds if left unchecked.
There are several commercially available anti mite powders/sprays use one on
a regular basis.
Birds can carry with no ill effects to the adults, bacterial infections that
are passed directly to the egg whilst in development, these bacteria build
up in the egg finally destroying the developing chick inside.
Treat your birds with one of the treatments available, as recommended by the
makers before you commence breeding, this problem being easily avoided.
You would be unfortunate indeed to encounter all these problems, but if you
breed from your stock they can usually be relied on to appear from time to
time. Usually given correct preparation of your birds and their housing for
the task ahead you will say " breeding Bengalese, no problem".
