Let the sex begin

The nest box has been put into place. The nest material has been put in the cage. All we need is a little birdie sex :) Actually, they've been busy doing that for the last few days so I think they got that covered.

Here is what the inside of the nest box looked like last night after we got it up. They were busy today though. Here is what I found when I got home from work:

Not a bad way to start the weekend.

These are the proud parents. The grey one is Chubber, the male. The yellow one is Kiko, the female. These babies will be interesting.

In the interest of full disclosure I must state my views on breeding. In general, I don't believe in it. All my dogs and cats are fixed as soon as possible. I once had bunnies that bred and I separated them so they couldn't do that anymore. I don't believe in allowing animals, read: pets, to breed indiscriminately. I believe part of responsible ownership is not adding to the overpopulation problem of the animals we keep as pets. Having said that, yes, I am letting my cockatiels breed. But I have a reason. Kiko is a chronic egg layer. When she turned 10 months she started laying eggs and I could not get her to stop. I tried everything I read and nothing really worked. The only thing left was a hormone shot that just might kill her. I didn't want to do that. Someone said maybe I should get a male to try and control her hormones. I got one and we've had much better luck controlling her chronic egg laying. She has actually gone the last 4 months and not laid one egg. But, it's spring and it's time. That is why I am allowing them to breed. I will be able to control the number of clutches she has. I can even control the number of eggs if I want to. So that's my story and my apparently contradictory stance.