sterile bird

[SillyFids]

Hi (again, lol)! I was told that because my birds are a mix between a peachface lovey and a black masked that my birds are sterile. Now if I have a female does that mean that there wont be any hormonal stages or egg laying? or does it just mean no babies are possible?

I'm just a little fuzzy on the sterile concept.

[kimsbirds]

You'll get lots of hormones....lots of eggies....lots of mating....lots of pretty much all the pre-baby stuff...but you'll never see a fertile eggie.
Pretty confusing if you're a birdie, yo'ure doing everything you're supposed to do, listenin to your body, makin a nest, yadda yadda...and ....No babies:(

Try to discourage your hen from any possible mating/nesting/babyraising scenario.
Not only are hormones confusing, so are species-mixed behaviours!! Double whammy!!

Hope this helps:)

[SillyFids]

thanks that was very helpful! I am only down to one bird now - the other went to a friend and it will be her only bird so no mating for either of us. At the moment Im waiting for sexing results of my baby - crossing my fingers for a boy! = )

[LovelySydney]

I've never heard of this either! I gotta catch up on my bird knowledge!!

So is it bad if you cross-breed? I never plan on breeding but I'm wondering about the overall health of the birds.

[Eliza]

So is it bad if you cross-breed? I never plan on breeding but I'm wondering about the overall health of the birds.


It's really not a good idea, for a multitude of reason.

One reason to consider NOT hybridizing between species is to consider their natural ranges, which generally do not overlap in Africa & Madacasgar.

Another reason is nesting habits. Peachies tuck nesting materials in their rumps, masked & Fischer's carry it with their beaks. Hybrid offspring between the two often don't quite know how to do one or the other.

In the case of the pet and hobbyist trade, you want to keep species pure. Lovebirds aren't imported from Africa anymore. What we have in the US is what we've got. Peachies, masked and Fischer's are more plentiful than black-cheeked, Nyasa and Abyssinians. Hybridizing, even amongst the eye-rings (which can produce fertile young) just muddies up the waters, so to speak.

[Tango's_Mom]

Ditto to what eliza and others have said, i have a hybrid, bought before I understood that differences in the species, I had researched care but not genetics, and he's an awesome happy healthy little bird, but it's a practice i don't support for the above reasons, also, really only experienced owners should try and breed, because there's a whole boat load of other responsibilities and problems that come along with that. I actually asked this exact same question when it was pointed out to me that mine was a hybrid, luckily we're about 90% sure that i have a male, which I'm very glad of, the last thing i want is a moody hormonal hen and eggies lol.

[thebubbleking]

My female hen boo is a hybrid and has no problems makeing a nest etc, she has yet to lay an egg, now for me as a flock member a hybrid is fine, but not if your going to breed etc as it is best to keep the species bloodline strong.