my parakeets breeding

Question
hello sir.i have 2parakeets a male and a female.i have been having them for 7months now.i want them to have babies.i have been looking over the internet and they said my bird should be at least one year old to breed.i dont know their age.i asked the pet store and they said every bird they get are about 3months but i dont trust thjem because i dont want to hurt my birds.so is there any way i can know their age??i know the male is at least 8months because of the iris around his eyes(searched it form the internet)but5 the feamle,a recessive pied, their eyes are always black. so please help me!!!!plz be specific.thanks
alvin

Answer
Alvin - there is no way to know their age definitively unless you can contact the breeder where they were hatched.  If you got them from a chain pet store - it's likely that they were fairly young.  The only thing I might suggest is asking a parakeet breeder in your area to look at photos of your birds to see if they can tell you the approximate age.  Unfortunately, there's no way to tell for sure.

As far as breeding.  Make sure you know what you're getting into.  You need to ask yourself if you're really prepared for all the hard work and possible issues that come with breeding and babies.  Here are some things to think about.

Successful and healthy breeding takes many requirements - proper nestbox with proper nesting material, cuttle bone for calcium for the female, among many other things - are you prepared to give your birds everything they need to ensure safe and healthy breeding?

Have you read up on the all the things that can go wrong in the process?  Egg binding, egg peritonitis, DIS, incubation, temperatures, splayed legs, etc.?

Are you willing to have someone show you how to properly handfeed the babies in case mom and/or dad reject any of the chicks?  Are you prepared to handfeed these babies every 2 hours for the first 5 days?  Do you have the proper brooder (machine to put babies in to keep them at the right temperature before they get feathers) on hand to keep them in?  Handfeeding is an art form and if done improperly can cause severe issues and death.

Do you have suitable homes lined up for any babies or are you prepared to keep them yourself housed separately from siblings and mom/dad to prevent inbreeding?

Do you have a good avian vet on hand in case of any emergencies?  

In any case, I wish you good luck.