Breeding
Breeding Kakariki is relatively easy compared to some breeds they are very good breeders the problem being trying to stop them, rather than trying to get them to breed. We have approximately 16 Kakariki in our outside aviary. Our Kakariki pairs are all bonded, Kakariki will pair for life with a partner and we tend to let our birds do this, others like swapping their birds round so they have different partners. You should ensure the pairs are in tip top condition not moulting and free from any illness.
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For a number of weeks prior to breeding it's advisable to add cod-liver oil to the food which helps to prevent egg binding and also ensure the hen has plenty of calcium as Kakariki don't pay much attention to cuttlefish I would advise you use a water supplement Zolcal-D or similar calcium additive.
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Breeding normally takes place in the UK between March and October during our spring/ summer months, they will breed all year round but it's advisable during winter months to provide a little heat to any aviary room as chicks from around 2 weeks old are often left for periods by mum and cold spells could prove to be disastrous.
All our birds when we are not breeding have access to large open flights where all the birds live relatively happy together, they tend to stick together in their pairs, where one bird goes the other will follow or not be very far away from its partner. There are plenty of feeding and water bowls around to minimise any fighting that may occur, with so many birds living together. Our feeding bowls contain seed, sunflower hearts (when there are babies) Hemp, EMP egg food. When fruit and veg is supplied for them there is usually 3 or 4 bowls spread around the flight for them all to enjoy, they are all happy to share.
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When selecting your birds for breeding, Remember hen's in particular should not be breed prior to 12 months of age although they can lay eggs from 4-6 months of age, they are not mentally or physically mature enough for breeding, breeding at this age could lead to infertile eggs, the hen not sitting the eggs properly or not at all and even plucking of the chicks (fluff and feathers as they come through) Cock's you do have a little more flexibility with as their bodies do not need to produce eggs but bred too early and you could have many infertile eggs so 8-12 months tends to be the norm for cock's.
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Some thought and research should be done prior to breeding especially those that keep their Kakariki as pets in a cage in the house, your first consideration needs to be, is my cage flight big enough to breed? Kakariki like to have two boxes as around 4-6 weeks mum will leave the chicks for dad to rear and start laying again (please see section on cage and flights)
When you come to put nest boxes up for breeding they need to be at least 12" x 8" (300 mm x 200 mm) Kakariki can lay up to 13 eggs, more usual 6-9 but even with that number nest boxes can become pretty crowded you should fill the box about 2-3 inches 60-80mm with Easi bed (or saw dust) and Peat mixed together for nesting material some hen's will remove what they don't want, then prepare it for laying her eggs in.
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When the hen lays her eggs she normally will lay every other day not sitting tight on her eggs until the 3rd egg is laid, some hen's don't stay in the box at all between these 3 eggs, others may sit in the box. Egg incubation is 21 days so when calculating when your eggs are due to hatch you count from the 3rd egg, 21 days, this means that the 1st and 2nd will hatch on the same day and 3rd later that day or the day after, all other eggs will hatch 21 days from when they were laid. She will stay with the chicks for the first 2 weeks hardly moving from them, at 2 weeks she will start to leave them for small periods of time, by 4 weeks dad has started to do most of the feeding and mum will be getting ready to nest again in the second box provided. between 5.5 weeks and 7 weeks chicks will begin to leave the box and dad will continue to take care of them until around 8 -10 weeks when fully weaned. At this point new homes may be sought or moved on to the main flights, or spare cage if house birds have bred.
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Over the past 5 years when breeding season comes round we have tried to colony breed, this is where you put lots of nest boxes in the flight and hopefully get them to all breed in the same flight, unfortunately all the attempts we have made have ended in failure as the fighting has got out of control, Kakariki are very territorial and we have found it impossible to achieve colony breeding, however we have heard others have managed a small colony breeding program but do be aware this may not work and therefore you should bear this in mind and have room to split pairs if the need arises . The design of our aviary is such that we can close parts of it off to have smaller separate flights for each pair. We also have 3 flights in a shed, so at any one time we can put up to 5 pairs down to breed, and rotate the pairs once they have had 2 clutches of chicks. We also have 2 pairs of birds in the house with large cages that we can add nest boxes to and breed in them as well.