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We have been asked by beginning bird breeders what is the best type of bird breed?

Normally, that depends on their experience and how much they can invest. Being a hobbyist bird breeder can be expensive, and does take a tremendous commitment of time. No matter what type of birds you plan to raise, the time commitment is going to be the same.

Expense wise, Cockatiels are probably the most inexpensive and easiest birds to breed and hand feed.

But if you want a easy to breed bird that will bring back a good investment, we suggest Jendays. They breed fairly easily, and are known to breed year round. They lay three to four eggs per clutch, and generally are very good parents.

Breeder pairs are readily available. You can usually pick up a proven pair for $400-$500. Baby Jendays sell for about the price of medium priced Conures, in the $300-$500 range. Pet stores will usually buy these birds from hobbyist breeders, but don’t expect to make a lot of money this way… they expect wholesale prices. You are much better selling at bird shows or even advertising in the newspaper. Your customers will come to you!

A hand raised baby Jenday is (in my opinion) one of the most friendly and playful birds available. This is why they are in such demand.

GETTING STARTED

Jendays are a very prolific breeder. They will breed at any time, but the conditions must be right. They do not like it too warm. Baby Jendays do poorly when the temperature is above 90 degrees, so the parents tend to stop breeding in hot weather. They can breed up to four times a year. To promote this, you must pull the babies from them after a few weeks and begin handfeeding. Fortunately, this is fairly easy, as Jendays are easy to hand feed (with proper training). It usually takes 10 weeks to wean a Jenday baby. If you let the parents do most of the care, you can reduce this to 7 weeks. During this time you try and handle to bird as often as possible, to get the babies used to human interaction. But this will reduce the number of clutches per year.

Jendays are a little difficult to sex. It is recommended that a DNA text be performed to ensure you have a pair. Also make sure that you do not get a hybrid conure. Hybrids are those that were bred between a Jenday and Sun Conure, producing a Sunday conure. They will not breed well with a pure Jenday.

CAGE

As with any breeding pair of birds, the larger the cage the better. It is recommended that they have a flight cage 4 feet long, but many people can not offer this much space unless they are raising them in an outdoor flight cage. A 24”x24”x36” will do fine. There are some very good cages that are heavy enough to allow a breeding box to be attached to the side.

The breeder box is a square box about 12”x16”. Jendays have a tendency of tossing the bedding out of their boxes, so we lined the inside of the box with wire mesh. This seems to help prevent it.

Once you have everything set up…just sit back and let nature do it’s work.

CARE

Be sure that you are feeding your breeders a good diet. Calcium is important if you plan on letting them breed year round. Ensure a lot of fruits and vegi’s are available. Once they babies arrive, they will be eating a lot more! So make sure you keep a adequate supply of food. We highly recommend pellets, as this will ensure your bird is getting all of the vitamins and nutrients they need.

Do not attempt to hand feed your babies unless you have done your research. Just reading about it isn’t enough. Hand-on experience is recommended, and you can get this by visiting another breeder, or an avian vet. This is where your local bird clubs come in handy. Their members will be more then willing to take you “under their wing” and train you on hand feeding. We have done this many times ourselves.

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