breeding parakeets

Question

-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----i can send you a picture of my white on to your address from my phone so if you get something from a nextel phone that is me sending a picture of the white bird.so i am better off then getting another male for my yellow keet i just looked at my white one and it kinda looks pink but on the sides it looks purple. so i hope you can make out something with my white one because i have no ideal. can you send me your email address again so i can send you the pictures

-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
yes i have one more thing i would like to ask it is in regards to the other pair of keets . now the other female is green with yellow and she is showing signs but the other bird i have in the cage with her is a white with light blue on it and the ceres on its noise it like a pink color . i don't have the money to do a DNA test on it and for the last year i thought it was a girl . last year my white one and the pastel male where in the same cage and i thought he tried breeding to the white one and the next day i found the white one in its feeding cup and that was the last time i ever saw that . that was just a little past history but now before the breeding pair start to breed the yellow female was ready and she only bent down for the white one . the only thing i saw from the white one was it got on her back just alittle bit and then got off but the white one sure did try to fight with my male everytime he would follow the mama bird around so that is why i had to take out the other two birds so my breeding pair could be alone i just wish i could tell if my white one is a male or female . all i know is the yellow one as gotten close to the white one. and if it is a female can i use my yellow keets to breed with my male after the other female is done raising her young can you do that with them or do they only breed with one mate for life ps now i have to baby birds and they are doing good it is every two days that they hatch apart from each other right i still have a lot to learn from this she is not the only first time mom when it comes to birds and thank you for you help
-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up
thank you for your help inregards to the female keet that laid the eggs she is the only one in the cage with the male so should i get another breeding box and put it in another cage for the other female to take care of or would she kill them and yes she laid eight eggs i was surprised that she laid that many so i hope she will be ok and if i have to feed them or help the mom feed them then what do i feed them or what should i do i am new at this but i wasn't expecting her to lay that many eggs and she is a year old and this is her first time mom and just let you know as of last night when i went to check on the eggs i found a live baby i was so happy    

-----Answer-----
Hi again, Kim.

Congratulations!  Keep the pairs in separate cages.  If you want to put up a nesting box for the other pair of birds, that's your decision.  However, don't move any eggs or babies to the other female.  All 8 eggs may not hatch...just leave everything the way you have it right now.  

My website has all the information you need for what to use to handfeed the babies, when to pull them, etc., etc.  However, if you've never handfeed birds before, this is something that will be hard to learn just by reading.  It would help if you could find a parrot breeder or the like that has handfeeding experience who could show you the proper way to do this.

Come back with any additional questions.

Chrys
-----Answer-----
Hi again, Kim.

Most birds mate for life...you can't switch males/females back and forth between other males/females.  The only way you can do this is if you break the bond between a pair of birds and repair them with others (but then this pairing would also have to be for life).  

I can't help much with sexing your other 2 birds without seeing a color photo of their ceres and their body colorations.  A pink cere most likely means a female, but this isn't 100% accurate.  Is this pair over a year old?  

The eggs should be hatching every other day, not every 2 days, UNLESS there is an infertile egg between other eggs.

I'm going to go to your other post now!

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Kim.

My E-Mail addy is:  chrys.meatyard@wpafb.af.mil

I don't know if you should get another male.  This decision is totally up to you.  I think I said I would wait until you know for sure the sex of the ones you currently have.  If the cere of the white is pinkish purple, the sex of this bird could go either way.  If you've seen this bird trying to mate with a female (standing on top of a female trying to mate) and s/he's fighting other males, then it could be a male.

Let me look at the pic and we can go from there.

Chrys