I breed approximately 30 pairs of Lesson’s Parrotlets (green – blue – pastel - lutino – American yellow), 2 pairs of Yellowfaced Parrotlets and 6 pairs of Mountain Parakeets.

I have been breeding Lesson’s since 1995, when I started with 1,1 fallow. This has since generate into quite a big collection of birds in different mutations, of which the Blue pastel is my absolute favourite. I am a just starting out with the Yellowfaced Parrotlets and have no breeding results in the 2002 sea- son, however it is said that they will not be ready for breeding until they are 2 years old, so I cross my fingers in anticipation of the breeding season of 2003.
I have been breeding the Mountain Parakeets for 2 seasons and my results in 2002 have been good. The breeding has resulted in 22 young- sters by 3 pairs in 2 broods so this is quite satisfying.

The birds and I go on “summer holiday” from the beginning of May till the end of September, when the birds go in flocks in aviaries. The Mountain Parakeets in pairs while the Lessons Parrotlets are separa- ted into males and females.

Around the 20th of September I take the males into the breeding room, where they are placed in small flocks of 2-4 birds in smaller cages, and the breeding mood is kindled by 14-16 hours in intense light which is in- creased to 18 hours after a few days, free access to egg fodder – wheat-germ oil in dry seeds - sprouting sunflower seeds, and after about a week where I check out the males thoroughly and take notes, I separate the males and place each of them in a cage alone. After a few days I proceed with the females. I place them in little flocks in smaller cages with the same fodder as the males and after 3-4 days of evaluating the quality and possible breeding combinations the females are paired with the males and since the males are by now in an exceeded breeding capacity they are eagerly feeding their assigned females and the bird room is bussing with courtship on all levels.

A week after the birds have been put together I put the nesting boxes up and then its just a matter of getting down to business!!!

About 6 – 7 days after the nesting boxes has been put up the first eggs are lain and normally 80-90% of the couples will have begun laying eggs within 14 days after the boxes has been put up. However, Some pairs wait for up to 3 weeks before starting the egg laying.
As soon as they have started the egg laying I stop adding wheat-germ oil in the dry seeds and I also stop give them sprouting sunflower seed. Otherwise the males become completely crazy and agressive. For the same reason I reduce the quantity of this fodder for the delayed couples.

Around November 1st the first egg hatches and in a good season about 3 youngsters per brood reach maturity.

My experiences with Lesson’s Parrotlets is that the breeding combination between old and young birds gives the best results with regard to the percentage of fertility (around 80%) and it also strengthens the feeding instinct with the young females that on occasion can fail in the first brood.

A few days before the youngsters are about to hatch I begin adding sprouting sunflower seed as an important part of the chick fodder and when the chicks are about 3 weeks old I take the males away and place them in small flocks (they argue intensely the first few days) on water and bread i.e. dry seeds, otherwise there is a risk that the males will kill the male youngsters, and it also has the advantage that the males calm down and in turn this creates the opportunity for breeding them again. The second breeding of the season is not always a success and it requires an in-depth knowledge of the individual bird’s behaviour, however 80% of the attempts are successful especially if the males are not too excited.

When the chicks are about 4½ weeks old I remove the nesting box, and after yet another week they are independent and are taken from the female and placed in larger flocks (12-14) and are fed dry seed – egg fodder – sprouting sunflower seed.

About a day after the youngsters have been moved the male and female are placed together again and are given a nesting box and then it begins all over however without the wheat-germ oil and sprouting sunflower seed.

Without having much experience with Mountain Parakeets I can say that I remove the males when the youngsters are about 4 weeks old but I do not breed them a second time as I believe that they are more attached to each other in a life long relationship or at least for the duration of a season. The Mountain Parakeets are independent in an age of 40 – 45 days.

It is important to be aware that the Lesson’s Parrotlets have a cycle of approximately 10 weeks from the 1st egg in the 1st brood to the first egg in the second brood. The cycle of the Mountain Parakeets is approxima- tely 12 weeks. Otherwise you will have problems starting up the next brood, when they apparently seem to have stopped “breeding” but in reality the cycle has been exceeded and in that case you will have to wait for a new egg laying for up to 10 weeks.

I inspect the nests every day from the day I put up the nest box till the first brood till the end of the season and I think it is of vital importance for the good breeding results as well as for making the birds calm both parent birds and youngsters. I simply cannot resist fiddling the nest boxes!!!!!

I could tell much more of my bird keeping hobby and the positive as well as negative experiences it gives me throughout the year but I think it is better if we talk on the phone/fax/e-mail, when we want to discuss something more concrete and I also wish to make clear that it is not necessary to have as many birds as I to experience the joy of breeding these wonderful birds. It can easily be done in a small flat on the 4th floor.

Finally a little information about where I live and who I am
We i.e. my wife, 18 year old son and I live in Haderslev, Denmark approximately 55 km north of the Danish/German boarder. We have a small villa with an additional car port including a tool shed (bird room) and 7 smaller bird cages on the terrace and in the car port And naturally we hope to come in contact with bird keepers in Denmark as well as abroad for the cultivation of our common interest.