Male grey wants to breed but not female?!?!

Hello Allo,

I have a rather weird situation with my african grey couple. I have almost ideal conditions for mating. The male always wants to mate, trying to mount on the female but he is always unsuccesful. Either the female gets away or he just can't totally get on. First I would like to know if the male has to be on top of the female for copulation or is it done only sideways. I would also like to know why is it not happening, this behaviour has been ongoing for over 6 months on and off, but nothing. Could it be because the female is too young to bear eggs. I've had her for 2 years now, but i'm not sure of her age. I also suppose she was a wild bird because she is still cautious and terrified of humans.

Could someone please help and guid me!!!!

Thanks in advance

Hi Hameda,

First of all, welcome to the forum...

I must admit that I have very little knowledge about AG, so my opinion might not totally correct (and it will be based generally as per some other species)..

In my opinion, the copulation should not be done sideways, because the the male have less chance to 'fertile' the female if it is in that position. It seem like the female is somehow not ready or she is 'too nervous' about the environment.

btw, do you mind to share with us how many pair that you have nearby and the photo of your avairies

__________________
Best regards,
Tanin Eh Boon
Malaysia Bird Community

Hi,

Did you DNA or surgically sex your AG pair? It could be two males! or the female could be much younger. If your birds are more than 2 years old you can identify the females by the a grey fringe on the vent-feathers (the smaller feathers under the larger and firmer tail-feathers). In good examples it appears like barrings! I sent a dozen AGs for DNA-sexing and got it 100% correct!

Although Greys can breed when they are as young as 3-4 years old, it often takes longer for them to be mentally mature and to master the technique. It also helps to have a firm perch that they can stand on when mating. Some pairs are very nervous and they get too tense when people are around. Try to cover their cage or use a larger nest-box so that they can mate inside.

Regards

Rupert

Hello all,

Thank you very much for your prompt responses. Here is a the detailed information about my cags. First of all, i am not breeding the birds to actually sell them and get money out of them. I mainly do it for the pleasure of seeing these chiks hatch and ofcourse because i want to have 2 baby pet AGs that i will be able to hand feed myself since the begining of their life. In ofther words this is my only couple. I also have a small buggie around tha hardly ever makes any noise.

The male is about 12 years old, i know this for a fact because he has a ring and a dna sexing surtificate. I was told he was imported from Holland from a breeding hous that bread ag to sale for reproduction. I bought him about 2 years ago from someone.


As for the female, I was really in a desprate mood to get the female so the male wouldn't be alone and pluck himself. So I went to a pet shop known to sell birds for reproduction.....and i shouldn't have. I asked for a female, they tell me they have one, but they need to dna sex her and make the certificate. 3 weeks later i get her.....no certificate, only a fax message that from a sexing lab that says it's a female and the sexing was magde only 1 day before. so i wondered why it took so long to get her. The guy gave me answers that are not convincing. All of that to say that the pet store was very shady and it was a mistake.

The female was in a pretty bad shape, skinny, extreamly terrified. I would thing she was wild and she was cought and imported. It took about a year to get her into shape. I always thought she might not be a female. But all the visual tests indicate that she is.

The photos I included show the cage, the nesting house and shows how I had 2 perchs put side by side for stability durring mating. Do not mind the tv in the background as it's only decorational, there is no one that sits there and the section is closed curtains. But on the other side of the curtain there is a family room. we are there about 3 hours a day. The noise doesn't go up much. There are neon lights that are controlled (open at 9am close at 10:30 pm). We pass the curains mainly to put food and to clean the cage. but even after almost 2 years, the female is scared (less than before) of humans and doesn't talk or whistle. The male is confortable and actually says some words and whisles all the time.

Finally, I will try to post a video (I have a spy camera installed) of the incomplete mating retual that takes place almost every day these days.


Sorry for the lenghy message, just wanted to put all the details. And thank you for your answers.


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Hi Hameda,

You seem to have the correct arrangements. However, I can't see too well from the pictures but a perch nearer the entrance to the next box will be helpful. Greys prefer the nestbox bottom to be dark so pay attention to this.

How long have they been in this set-up? Reportedly, one trick to get Greys to breed, is to put them a smaller cage about 2 feet and bring them for a few hours drive and then put them back or just move the cage to different location. The stress triggers breeding in a few weeks.

Regards

Hello,

This exact same set up has been adopted one approximatly one year ago. Before that (one full year) the set up was very similar, but there was no double perch for stability while mating and the cage was placed elsewhere. So in other word the last time the cage was moved was one year ago. I will try tomorrow to install an extra perch close to te interance to the nest and i will change the wooden plate ton the face of the nest with one that has a smaller hole. This one is pretty chewed by the birds andlets lots of light in.

I was also wondering if this delay (2 years) in breeding is normal or longer than the norme. Could it mean that this couple will not breed or is it a matter of time and patience.


Thank you very much!