Budgerigar nest: features of choice and manufacturing rules

Budgerigars are brightly colored birds with a friendly disposition, so they are often chosen as pets. To make the parrots feel comfortable and productively mated, they must be provided with a nesting house. This design can be either purchased ready-made or made independently from improvised materials.

In the wild, budgerigars live in packs and choose hollows in trees as nests. They love a spacious and protected space, therefore, equipping their house, carefully clean the bottom of the nests from dust.

As for the keeping of birds at home, then store shelves or a hollow made with their own hands are quite suitable for them.

The house for the reproduction of budgies is installed in a cage, the design of which should be provided with two doors. In the first zone of the cage, the house itself is usually placed, and in the second, feeders and drinking bowls are installed. The main requirement for the nesting house is the availability of free space, which in the future will ensure the successful breeding of offspring and facilitate the process of leaving not only a couple of parrots, but also their chicks. In some cases, the nest is attached to the outside of the cage, saving space for a small structure.

The budgerigar nest looks different and is made from various materials. Most often it is made of wood, preferring species such as birch, spruce and pine. The lid in it should be easy to open, since there periodically you will have to pour sawdust and disinfect.

Details of the nesting house have a standard thickness. In the event that it is made independently from improvised materials, the floor thickness should be at least 4 cm, walls and roof - 2 cm.

With such a thickness of the walls and floor, a constant temperature regime will be created in the house, it will always be warm, and humidity will be maintained at the same level.

It is undesirable to purchase or make houses from chipboard, cardboard and plywood. They are very cold and will negatively affect the successful breeding of chicks. In addition, materials impregnated with glue and chemical composition will have a detrimental effect on the health of chicks and parent parrots.

It is placed below the entrance to the house so that the female can easily enter and exit. Otherwise, the bird will have to make considerable efforts when moving, and they will need them for breeding and incubation. Therefore, the owners of budgies should during their mating season simplify the life of birds as much as possible, which will increase the likelihood of obtaining healthy offspring.

Thanks to this, the nest will be accessible from any point, which, in turn, will greatly facilitate the process of disinfection and cleaning of the house.

In addition, when arranging a home hollow, it is important to take into account some nuances.

• Availability of access to fresh air. For this, it is necessary that the design has several holes with a diameter of 0.8 to 1 cm. They can be drilled independently in the lower part of the house.

• Convenience in cleaning. Before starting use and with the subsequent maintenance of birds, the house should be thoroughly washed, so its design should have free access to cleaning.

• Quality flooring. Sawdust is best placed on the floor, as it absorbs moisture well.

• Cell sizes. These indicators depend on the age, size and number of parrots that are planned to be kept. As a rule, budgies are placed one at a time or in pairs. In order for a feathered pet to feel comfortable, at least 7% of the total space of the cage should be in one individual.

No additional lighting is needed. For its normal level there will be enough light that penetrates through the inlets.

Today, there are several types of nests for budgies, each of which differs in its features.

It has the following dimensions: width 25X20 and height 15 cm. A notch in a similar design is located at a small distance from the top and side wall. The main advantage of the horizontal design is its convenient location. Due to the sufficient width of the notch, the female can freely enter and leave the house without damaging the masonry.

Structures measuring 35X35X20 cm are also found on sale, their entrance is located at a distance of 4 cm from the side wall and upper edge. Additionally, there is a window with a diameter of 5 cm, but in order to facilitate the penetration of birds into the nest, it is necessary to attach a small step under the entrance window.

This type of nesting house is considered the most popular because it is compact in size, takes up little space and is convenient for parrots. Unlike the horizontal model, the chicks in this design are protected from access to the exit. This is due to the fact that the letok is located high (at a distance of 3 cm from the upper edge). The dimensions of the vertical houses are 20X20 cm wide and 25 cm high.

This model is classified as ideal, since it combines the best characteristics of vertical and horizontal houses. In addition, this type of design is easy to assemble. Its dimensions are 20 cm in height and 25X20 cm in width. There is enough free space for the female to comfortably move around the nest. At the same time, chicks have limited access to early departure.

The main advantage of a compromise house is the sufficient width of the nest. It allows birds to move freely in the structure and completely eliminates the possibility of masonry damage. Due to the large area in the house, proper conditions are created for keeping the kids.

Many owners of budgies prefer to make their own nesting houses for them. The process of creating such a design is simple, but you need to know certain rules on how to equip a house for the female and future chicks, and what material to choose for this. It is not recommended to use chipboard for the construction of houses, since this material includes adhesives and various resins, which can cause harm to newborns.

To do this, choose a lining or boards that have not been treated with paint, varnish and foam foam. It is advisable to give preference to hardwood. Well suited for the construction of beech, birch and linden boards up to 50 mm thick (this material will make the house warm).

In the event that the nesting house is planned to be purchased in finished form, then you can choose plastic products. They are inexpensive, but uncomfortable for birds.

Regardless of the material from which the house is made, the nest must also be equipped with bunches of dry grass, branches of bushes and trees. They are pre-poured with boiling water.

Before you start building a house with your own hands, you need to create his project and draw sketches, having previously decided on the choice of construction type and size. Drawings should include all the basic details of the house. After this, the preparation of the building material is carried out, the boards of which are an array of unprocessed chemical compounds that are ideally suited. You can also buy to assemble the walls of the workpiece of a certain thickness, they are sold in each pet store.

After choosing the type of house, you can get to work.

• First of all, parts are prepared for the assembly of the roof, bottom and walls. To do this, pre-make sketches on paper, they are cut out and carefully transferred to the board. Then sawing the parts is carried out with a hacksaw. At the same time, in the front wall, an additional hole should be cut for the notch, and in the side walls, make 3-4 holes with a diameter of not more than 1 cm for ventilation.

• The next step will be the installation of parts using small screws, glue or nails. At the bottom of the entrance you need to attach a small threshold, and place a perch at the entrance. It will also be necessary to install a step inside to protect the eggs from falling out (in order for the masonry to always be in one place, you need to make a depression 2 cm in diameter in the bottom). The bottom of the house is filled with small chips or sawdust.

• The assembly of the house ends with the installation of the roof. It is attached in such a way that it is easily removed during the cleaning of the nest.

Before you put the parrots in the manufactured birdhouse, all the details of its design must be disinfected by pouring boiling water over it. After this, the structure is washed again with cold water and dried thoroughly. In addition, it is important to check all the edges of the house: nails should not protrude on them and there should be unprocessed surfaces.

After quality control, the nesting house is fixed inside or outside to one of the cell walls. You can fix the structure with both special hooks and brackets. The preparation of the nesting house will be completed with its arrangement, during which it must be remembered that adult budgies in this design will live only during nesting.

A nesting house can be made from a plywood box, but it should not be painted with varnish or paint. A good place for the reproduction of budgies is also a bird house. Its design is much simpler compared to nesting drawers from boards.

Since the diameter of such a dwelling should not be less than 22 cm, and the height - not more than 40 cm, markings are made in the middle of the log and make a hole with a chisel of the appropriate size. The hollow inside should be round and have a wall thickness of 2 cm. The roof in this case is simply laid on top or fixed with a rope. It is advisable to install the resulting house outside the cage, after which it is pre-coated with sawdust. After the cubs hatch and grow up, the nesting house is removed and hides for storage.

The technology for manufacturing nesting houses for budgies can be found in the next video.