Breeding Quaker Parrots | Step by Step Guide

Breeding quaker parrots is a popular aspect among the people who own a parrot from this lovely breed. But generally, Breeding for parrots can get very hard, especially if it was under the custody of a breeder or any average owner who wants to try to learn new things about their pet.

Without experience, the right information could be hard to find and mistakes are probably going to happen, leading to the failure of the breeding attempt, or possibly causing your parrot to suffer from serious health problems related to breeding while feeding on an insufficient diet system.

Not to mention the conditions that you should provide to your couple, making them think they are in their breeding season, just like what happens in the wild.

These conditions are all kind of hard to imitate for your pair. But if you are talking about breeding quaker parrots, then you should know that it is a lot easier, and in this article, you will learn everything you need to succeed in breeding quaker parrots.

breeding quaker parrot, couple of quaker cuddling

How To Breed Quaker Parrots

To breed quaker parrots, there are multiple things you should consider before getting your pair in the same cage thinking that you are all good. The process starts with the selection phase, this phase where you need to find healthy, mature, and opposite-sex individuals.

Tamed Quaker parrots are preferable, as they will make the breeding process easier, and they won’t demand a lot of privacy and safety. Finding a healthy Quaker to breed could be difficult for beginners, but if you found a highly active quaker with a robust appetite, full and healthy feather set, and outgoing and playful personality, then you probably got yourself a healthy bird.

Maturity is a simple thing if you just knew how old the bird you are about to get, and for quaker parrots, 2 years and older is the optimum age to attempt breeding.

So, when you are looking for a quaker, look for the birds that have a leg ring. In the ring, you may find the hatching date of the bird, and if you find the bird is older than 2 years, take it.

And the most important thing before getting any bird is to know what is the gender of the candidate parrot, and for quaker is hard to identify the male from the female.

As male and female Quakers are always monomorphic, there is no difference between male and female quaker. Size, color, and behavior are all going to be the same, with no notable differences. The only way to find out is to do a DNA test for your pair.

You can collect the samples on your own, either by gathering drops of blood or by plucking one or two feathers and sending them to the lab.

Wait 5 business days for the results, and the lab will send you the certification in your mailbox.

Prepare a Private Place

Preparing a private place for breeding quaker parrots is essential to succeed. All breeds of parrots need a private and safe place for them to practice their breeding behaviors with no interruptions.

Not like African greys, who require the ultimate levels of privacy. Quaker parrots need relatively low levels of privacy to breed, and the most important thing in breeding quaker parrots is safety. No parrot will breed without safety.

You need a dedicated room in your house and make only for your pair; you don’t want another pet in the house going and playing around the breeding cage. This will make your Quakers nervous and will distract them from focusing on breeding.

If you can’t find a dedicated room in your house, it’s ok to put the breeding cage in a quiet area of the house, the place should get the light in the day and darkness in the night.

The tamed the pair, the better the chance to succeed in breeding quaker parrots, as the feral quaker will need at least a dedicated room for them, and they won’t feel safe easily.

And you should be careful when you refill supplies for your pair, as the male could be territorial and show some aggression when you get your hand inside the cage.

you can use one of these cages that allow you to refill the supplies from an external vent.

If your parrots are new to breeding and have never bred before, then I suggest you provide them with the maximum privacy levels.

Depending on your situation and the place you live, it’s up to you to figure out something that could work with your quaker parrots.

there are no specific requirements regarding the breeding place unless you have a big place like an aviary, then it’s going to be much easier.

All you have to do is to put the pair in there and supply them with food and water, and wait.

Cage & Nesting Box

breeding cage

If you intend to breed quaker parrots in a big space like an aviary, then all you need is to prepare the place with sawdust, straws, leaves, and wooden sticks.

These nesting materials will come in handy when your quaker pair decide to breed, as Quakers are the only breed that uses such materials to build their nesting places, they actually do it as large flocks, they will build a huge nesting place, this behavior is harmful if they did in fragile buildings and churches.

In confined places, quaker can use the nesting box to lay eggs and care for newborn chicks. But the most important thing is to provide the right size for both the cager and the nesting box.

The Quaker parrot breeding cage size should be at least 18 inches in width, 28 inches in Hight, and 18 inches in depth. the bigger the better. With these measures, the cage will suffice to succeed in breeding quaker parrots.

The nesting box should at least be, 12*12*12, with a door diameter of 3 inches. Attach the nesting box at the top of one side of the cage. If you can bring an L-shaped nesting box, it would be great, because it’s going to be safer for the eggs and the new chicks after they hatch.

You can put leaves inside the breeding cage, sawdust is a good idea also, straws, twigs, and wooden sticks. They are all going to induce the nesting behavior of your Quakers and, therefore, breeding.

Remember, these measures are only for a pair of Quakers. If you want to breed quaker parrots in multiple pairs, you should expand the breeding cage and provide an extra nesting box.

Breeding Quaker parrots in flocks can work as they do it in the wild, and the dominant pair in the flock will take care of the new babies.

Sticking with breeding only one pair is the right choice, especially if you don’t have enough space to build a dedicated aviary.

Another thing is the perching stick. It’s the place where the mating will occur, and for that, you have to find the perfect stick for your pair to hold tight in it. Not very thick, and not very thin, just something in between.

This is actually crucial. When mating, the female should stay still. Otherwise, the male will feel his mate is so weak that she can not mate, lay eggs, and care for the babies.

Humidity & Temperature

here is the most important thing regarding breeding parrots in captivity, and the most common mistake the owners commit when they attempt breeding quaker parrots.

This part is where you need to provide the perfect temperature and humidity for the pair to breed, you need to make them think that it’s breeding season.

Almost every breed of parrots is native to an area characterized by high humidity and temperature, including the quaker parrots.

So, the perfect temperature for breeding quaker parrots is 77f to 88f.

Humidity should be between 45% to 55% before laying eggs, and after the female lays a clutch of eggs, raise it to at least 65% to prevent the eggs from getting dehydrated.

You also want to imitate the natural lighting day and night, so if you could provide 16 hours of light, then you are doing good, and it’s unnecessary as the humidity and temperature but it’s very helpful.


Are Quaker Parrots Easy to Breed?

Yes, Quaker Parrots are easy to breed, and for owners and new breeders, the quaker breed could be the best choice to start a breeding career. These little parrots are highly active breeders. They can breed all year round if they found the perfect conditions for them.

Usually, they mature sexually at the age of 2 years old. Some breeders have successfully bred quaker parrots as young as 14 months, but to make sure about everything, 2 years old and older is the best age to start breeding.

Actually, these parrots could breed even when the owner is not attempting this at all. They could lay eggs under unsuitable conditions and even without mating.

For most parrots to mate and lay an egg, there must be a certain level of safety and privacy. But with quaker parrot, the breeding behavior could start without privacy.

If the couple felt safe with their owner, they could breed and lay eggs seasonally, not taking on their mind any other requirement.

So, yes Breeding Quaker Parrots is the easiest among a lot of other breeds. Lovebirds, cockatiels, and budgies are also relatively easy, just like Quakers.

How to Tell if a Quaker Parrot is Male or Female?

There are no differences between male and female quaker, you will need to perform a DNA test to determine the gender of your parrot.

Although sometimes the female quaker could look a little bigger than the male, the behavior could be an indicator. Male Quakers could be extremely aggressive at the breeding time.

But, you can’t just depend on that if you will attempt to breed Quaker parrots. You need a DNA test.

What is Quaker Parrots Breeding Season?

The breeding season for Quakers starts usually from the end of the winter until the end of the spring. This is the perfect time to breed quaker parrots. But there is no guarantee this is right. What I mean is that quaker could breed all year round if they found the perfect weather. Breeding from the ending of winter to the ending of spring is only for their wild habitat.

In captivity, and in the cities, there is a big difference. In some cities, there could no breeding season for quaker, but if you look at Florida, the breeding season is almost all year round, with no stops, no pauses, no anything. So, with breeding parrots in captivity, it’s not wise to ask about the breeding season, as long as you are going to provide and imitate this season in captivity, by providing the perfect humidity, temperature, and lighting.

Conclusion

In conclusion, breeding quaker parrots is really easy. This article has shown you what you need to do, the technical information, and the requirements that your pair of Quakers need. And when you succeed in providing these demands for your quaker, you should expect clutches of 4 to 12 eggs, you can induce the breeding more and more, only by taking care of the eggs and putting them in an incubator.

The pair will feel the need for more breeding and laying eggs, as the conditions are still like they are in the breeding season. You can expect an incubation period of 23-28 days. after that the new chicks will hatch, and it’s better to hand-feeding them yourself.

To allow them to grow well-socialized, which means higher prices in case you wanted to sell the newborns. Yes, that’s about it. You will find everything technical and related to breeding Quaker parrots on this page. I highly recommend reading Breeding Parrots, as you will understand how parrots think when it’s about breeding.

As I said in that post, if you understood why parrots need this thing or that, you might be able to provide them with what they want in a unique way that suits and suits your place and your surroundings. So, yes, it is a must-read post.