Re: splayed legs lutino lovebirds

Question
Hello again, Checking on the inrternet there legs arent as bad as some, each has one leg that goes out, one bird is worse then the other its foot is turned out but both birds can step onto my hands easily and climb the cage well and they are as we speak perched on the back of my shoulder, I set down a measuring tape yesterday and from foot to foot in each lutino is 3 inches the worser one is 3 1/2 inches foot to foot tip as the one hs the foot turned a out. Both can stand well on perches and on flat surfaces and as I said climb very well indeed so from this do you belieave they can have chicks in a years time be then hens or cocks?(when they reach the approate age to be bred). Also as an update my normal peach faced male doesnt seem to mind the hens now and doesnt bother there feet half as much...they are only together when they are out of there cage which is normal when there on a play stand or me lol....they eat together and the chicks try get him to feed them but he doesnt bite there feet...maybe attempt it once per day then thats it. I tryed to email with how bad there legs were yesterday but you weren't able to accept more questions, I apprecate your help with this as there really isnt anyone else I can ask about this paticular thing. Oh I know the lutinos arent twins....I just call them the twins sometimes as they are so much alike I can hardly tell them apart...the only way is the one dislikes being picked up much more then the other and will nibble your fingers.  

Answer
Hi again, Tara.

Lovebirds should be 18-24 months before you allow them to breed.

I do not believe they will be able to breed with their legs out like you describe.  A male has to be able to balance itself on top of a female bird in order to mate, and a female bird has to be able to stand so the male can scoot his tail under the female.  Now, when it comes to mating, I've seen things happen I would never had suspected would happen with parrots, so I'm not going to tell you that positively they won't ever be able to mate, but I believe it's highly unlikely.  In addition, with a leg stretched out like they are, a female might not be able to properly incubate her eggs and/or keep her babies warm enough.  I would also think just laying an egg would be a problem.  In honesty, I've never had a badly splay legged parrot live very long...maybe a year or two at the most.  A minor splay leg usually isn't a problem, but when one leg is completely out to the side like you describe, it causes problems for the bird in many areas.

I'm sorry you couldn't reach me yesterday.  I get many questions every day and get maxed out!

Chrys