It's the start of a new breeding season and we should be looking to pair our birds up for the coming season. The pairs that we have bred with over the past years should not need any encouragement, but what about first timers? If you are lucky, there won't be any problems but, realistically, there is usually at least one pair that just will not get on together. Don't give up. Try a few things first, like taking the nestbox out for a few days then putting it back, or splitting the birds up for a few days then putting them back together again, which usually does the trick. Another way is to put a good breeding pair in the next aviary, this might spur them on a bit.

OK, you have them sitting on a few eggs.... Now is the time to prepare for the chicks hatching. You will need to start putting extra food in every day, seed alone is not enough; you will need to supplement their diet at this stage. Firstly, fresh greens (e.g. spinach, celery) and sprouted seed is a must if you want to have big nests of 5 or 6 chicks. The parents need to fill up quickly when the chicks start arriving. We always use sprouted wheat and mung beans, with a vitamin supplement powder (Avian Vitalizer) sprinkled on top. Multi-grain bread is a good standby food, too. We find this extra food to the parents gives our newborns a good start in life.

Chicks So far so good, and 99% of the time there will be no problems from here on in. However, there is always the chance that first-time parents will be a little slow off the mark. If they don't seem to be feeding the chicks properly (you can check this by seeing if their crops are as full as they should be), you may have to make a quick decision to hand feed them, so be prepared to have some hand-rearing food ready. If you have to take the chicks out and find that they are cold, always warm them up first before you attempt to feed them.

Another thing to look for is in the larger nests, is that the last chick is getting fed properly and that the bigger chicks aren't getting his share. You may have to top this chick up with a little food once or twice a day. Or, if you have other birds breeding with chicks the same size, you may be able to swap them around or just foster them out.

When the chicks have fledged and you have some beautiful birds, well done! But they will not be ready to leave their parents until they are 7 or 8 weeks old. The parents will usually go straight back to nest and the whole process starts over again.