The Complete Guide to Breeding Conures
Conures are among the most popular parrots to breed, combining manageable size with vibrant personalities and stunning color mutations. This guide covers everything from green cheek and sun conure breeding to mutation genetics, pair bonding, and chick rearing.
Track Your Conure Breeding with BirdTracksBefore You Start Breeding Conures
Conures make excellent breeding birds for both beginners and experienced aviculturists. They are hardy, relatively prolific, and produce chicks that are in high demand as pets. However, conure breeding still requires proper planning, appropriate housing, and a commitment to the health and welfare of both parent birds and offspring.
The most commonly bred conure species include the green cheek conure (Pyrrhura molinae), sun conure (Aratinga solstitialis), jenday conure (Aratinga jandaya), and nanday conure (Aratinga nenday). Green cheek conures are particularly popular due to their quiet nature (by conure standards), manageable size, and the extraordinary range of color mutations available. Sun conures are prized for their brilliant yellow and orange plumage but are significantly louder.
Before starting, ensure you have reliable homes for the babies. A productive pair of green cheek conures can produce 3 to 4 clutches per year, with 4 to 6 chicks per clutch. That is potentially 20 or more babies from a single pair annually. While conure babies sell readily, you should have a plan for placing them responsibly. Limiting pairs to 2 to 3 clutches per year is better for the health of your breeding birds.
Popular Conure Species for Breeding
Each conure species has its own personality, breeding characteristics, and market demand. Understanding the differences helps you choose the right species for your program.
Green Cheek Conures
Green cheek conures (Pyrrhura molinae) are the most popular conure species in aviculture today. They are relatively quiet, affectionate, and playful, making them ideal pets. For breeders, green cheeks offer an incredible variety of color mutations — normal, cinnamon, yellowside, pineapple, turquoise, mint, suncheek, and many more. Understanding mutation genetics is essential for green cheek breeders, as the right pairings can produce highly sought-after visual mutations. Green cheeks reach breeding age at around 1 year, though waiting until 18 months is recommended for the hen's health. They typically lay 4 to 6 eggs per clutch with a 22 to 25 day incubation period.
Sun Conures
Sun conures (Aratinga solstitialis) are among the most visually striking parrots in the world, with brilliant yellow, orange, and red plumage that develops as they mature. Juvenile sun conures are mostly green, gradually acquiring their adult coloration over the first 1 to 2 years. Sun conures are moderately difficult to breed — they can be selective about mates and may take longer to settle into breeding than green cheeks. They typically lay 3 to 5 eggs per clutch with 23 to 26 days of incubation. Sun conures are listed as endangered in the wild, making captive breeding programs important for species conservation. They are significantly louder than green cheeks, which is an important consideration for your neighbors and your own sanity.
Jenday Conures
Jenday conures (Aratinga jandaya) are closely related to sun conures and share many breeding characteristics. They are slightly easier to breed than sun conures and mature a bit faster. Jendays produce clutches of 3 to 5 eggs with 23 to 26 days of incubation. They make excellent parents and often raise their chicks without intervention. Jenday babies are popular pets due to their playful personalities. Note that sun conures and jenday conures can hybridize — commonly called "Sunday conures" or "jendun conures" — so keep these species completely separated if you are breeding for species purity.
Pineapple Conures (Green Cheek Mutation)
The "pineapple" conure is not a separate species but a popular color mutation of the green cheek conure, combining the cinnamon and yellowside mutations. Pineapple conures display warm yellow and red chest coloring with a lighter, tan-toned head — a striking combination that makes them one of the most popular pet birds available. Breeding pineapples requires understanding recessive and sex-linked genetics. Both the cinnamon and yellowside mutations must be present in the same bird. Pairing two visual pineapples together will produce 100% pineapple offspring, but crossing with other mutations creates interesting split combinations that experienced breeders can work with to produce new visual varieties.
Pair Bonding & Selection
Successful conure breeding starts with well-bonded pairs. While conures are generally more adaptable than larger parrots, pair compatibility still matters enormously.
Bonding Process
Place potential pairs in adjacent cages first so they can see and hear each other without physical contact. Watch for signs of interest — calling to each other, sitting close to the shared cage wall, and displaying. After 1 to 2 weeks, if both birds seem receptive, introduce them in a neutral cage (not either bird's established territory). Some pairs bond almost immediately, while others need several weeks. Signs of a bonded pair include mutual preening, feeding each other, roosting side by side, and the male guarding the hen.
Health & Age Requirements
Both birds should be in excellent health before breeding. Have an avian vet perform a pre-breeding exam including blood work and disease testing (at minimum, test for PBFD, polyoma, and chlamydia). Conures should be at least 12 to 18 months old before breeding, with 18 months being the recommended minimum for hens. Birds that are underweight, molting heavily, or recovering from illness should not be bred. Conures remain productive breeders until 10 to 15 years of age, though some pairs continue well beyond that.
DNA Sexing
Most conure species are monomorphic, meaning males and females look identical. DNA sexing is essential to confirm you actually have a male-female pair. Many frustrated breeders have spent months wondering why their "pair" will not breed, only to discover they have two birds of the same sex. DNA sexing is inexpensive (typically $15 to $25 per bird) and can be done from a blood sample or plucked feather. Always DNA sex birds before attempting to pair them — it saves enormous time and frustration.
Nesting Boxes & Cage Setup
Proper housing and nesting setup is critical for encouraging conure pairs to breed and for the health of both parents and chicks.
Breeding Cage
- Minimum 30" x 18" x 18" for green cheek conures
- Larger species (sun, jenday) need 36" x 24" x 24" minimum
- Bar spacing of 5/8" to 3/4" for Pyrrhura species
- Quiet location away from household traffic
- 12 to 14 hours of consistent light per day
- Stable temperature between 68-80°F (20-27°C)
Nest Box
- L-shaped or boot-style preferred (protects eggs from falls)
- Dimensions: approximately 12" x 10" x 10"
- Entry hole: 2.5" to 3" diameter
- Pine or aspen shavings 2 inches deep
- Mounted high on the outside of the cage
- Inspection door on the side or top for checking eggs
Breeding Diet for Conures
Start the breeding diet 2 to 3 weeks before introducing the nest box. Supplement the regular pellet and seed diet with egg food (hard-boiled egg mixed with vegetables or commercial egg food), calcium sources (cuttlebone, mineral block, or liquid calcium supplement), fresh vegetables (broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, leafy greens), and sprouted seeds for extra protein and vitamins. Fresh fruits can be offered in moderation. The enhanced diet should continue throughout incubation and chick rearing, as parents expend enormous energy feeding a clutch of growing chicks.
The Conure Egg & Incubation Timeline
Understanding the egg timeline helps you anticipate hatching, identify problems early, and plan for chick care.
Egg Laying (Days 0-10)
After mating, the first egg typically appears 8 to 10 days later. Conure hens lay one egg every 2 days until the clutch is complete. Green cheek conures usually lay 4 to 6 eggs per clutch, while sun and jenday conures tend toward 3 to 5 eggs. First-time hens may lay smaller clutches. The hen begins consistent incubation after the first or second egg, meaning chicks will hatch in a staggered pattern. Log each egg's lay date in BirdTracks to track individual expected hatch dates.
Candling (Days 7-10)
After 7 to 10 days of incubation, candle the eggs to check for fertility. A fertile conure egg will show a web of red blood vessels and a small dark embryo. Infertile eggs will appear clear or show an undeveloped yolk. Remove clearly infertile eggs after confirming on a second candling a few days later. This gives fertile eggs more room and heat. Keep nest inspections brief — most conure hens tolerate inspections well, but prolonged disturbance can cause nest abandonment in nervous birds.
Incubation (22-26 Days)
Conure eggs incubate for 22 to 26 days, depending on the species. Green cheek conures are typically on the shorter end (22 to 24 days), while sun and jenday conures tend toward 23 to 26 days. The hen does most of the incubation, though the male may sit on the eggs briefly while she eats. Maintain stable room temperature and avoid moving the cage during incubation. Sudden temperature drops or disturbances can cause the hen to abandon the eggs or result in dead-in-shell embryos.
Hatching & Early Chick Care
Conure chicks pip their eggs and usually complete hatching within 12 to 24 hours. Newly hatched conure chicks are tiny, blind, and covered in sparse white down. They depend entirely on their parents for warmth and feeding. Check chick crops daily to ensure parents are feeding — a healthy chick's crop should be full and rounded after feeding. If a chick is not being fed, you may need to supplement with hand feeding formula or foster the chick to another pair. In large clutches, the youngest (smallest) chicks are most at risk of being underfed.
Conure Color Mutations & Genetics
Color mutation breeding is one of the most exciting aspects of conure aviculture, particularly with green cheek conures. Understanding basic genetics allows you to predict offspring colors and plan pairings that produce the mutations you want.
Green cheek conure mutations fall into several genetic categories. Sex-linked recessive mutations include cinnamon (which lightens the overall coloring and produces a tan head) and yellowside (which produces bright yellow and red chest coloring). Autosomal recessive mutations include turquoise (which replaces green with a blue-teal color). Combining mutations produces new visual varieties — pineapple is cinnamon plus yellowside, suncheek is yellowside plus a dilute factor, and mint is turquoise plus cinnamon.
Understanding "split" birds is key to mutation breeding. A bird that is "split" to a mutation carries the gene without showing it visually. For example, a normal green cheek that is split cinnamon looks like a normal bird but carries one copy of the cinnamon gene and can produce visual cinnamon offspring when paired appropriately. BirdTracks helps you track each bird's known splits and predict offspring probabilities for planned pairings.
Track Mutations with BirdTracks
Record each bird's visual mutation and known splits in BirdTracks. When planning pairings, use this information to predict what percentage of offspring will be visual mutations versus splits. Over multiple clutches, you can verify split status based on offspring results — if a normal-looking male paired with a cinnamon female produces any cinnamon males, he must be split cinnamon. Building accurate genetic records over time is what separates serious breeders from casual ones.
Weaning Conure Chicks
Conure chicks wean at approximately 8 to 10 weeks of age, depending on the species and individual development. Green cheek conures tend to wean slightly faster than sun and jenday conures. The weaning process is gradual and should never be rushed — a chick that is forced off formula before it is ready can lose weight rapidly and become critically ill.
If you are hand feeding, begin the weaning process when the chick is fully feathered and starting to show interest in solid foods (usually around 6 to 7 weeks). Offer warm soft foods like cooked sweet potato, mashed banana, soaked pellets, and small seeds at the bottom of the weaning cage. Continue offering formula feedings but allow the chick to skip feedings it refuses — this is the chick naturally reducing its formula intake as it eats more solid food.
Weigh the chick daily during the weaning process. A gradual weight loss of 5 to 10 percent during weaning is normal as the chick trades baby fat for flight muscle. However, weight loss exceeding 10 percent, or a chick that refuses all food, requires immediate intervention — resume formula feeding and consult an avian veterinarian if the chick does not improve.
Parent-raised conure chicks typically wean on their own at 7 to 9 weeks. The parents gradually reduce feeding as the chicks begin eating independently. Watch for parents becoming aggressive toward fledglings, which is a sign the adults are ready for the young to leave — move the weaned chicks to their own cage at this point.
Common Conure Breeding Problems & Solutions
Even with good setup and healthy birds, problems can arise. Here are the most common issues conure breeders encounter and how to handle them.
Chronic Egg Laying Without Hatching
If your pair consistently lays eggs that never hatch, first confirm you have a true male-female pair (DNA sex both birds). If sexing is confirmed, check that the male is actually mating — watch for mating behavior. Ensure perches are stable and positioned to allow successful mating. If the pair has been together less than 6 months, give them more time to fully bond. Some pairs need a full year before they produce fertile eggs.
Egg Binding
Conure hens can become egg-bound, especially young or calcium-deficient birds. Signs include straining on the cage floor, fluffed feathers, lethargy, and a swollen abdomen. This is a medical emergency. Provide heat and humidity immediately, and administer liquid calcium if available. If the egg does not pass within a few hours, rush the bird to an avian veterinarian. Prevention is the best approach: always provide cuttlebone, mineral blocks, and calcium-rich foods, and do not breed hens younger than 12 months.
Feather Plucking of Chicks
Some conure parents pluck feathers from their growing chicks. This is more common when the parents are ready to start a new clutch while still feeding the current one. If you notice significant feather plucking, remove the chicks for hand feeding if they are old enough (at least 2 to 3 weeks). Remove the nest box temporarily after pulling the chicks to give the parents a rest before the next breeding cycle. Track which pairs exhibit this behavior so you can pull chicks earlier in future clutches.
Runt Chicks
In large clutches with staggered hatching, the last-hatched chicks can be significantly smaller than their older siblings. These runts may not compete effectively for food and can fail to thrive. Monitor crop fullness of all chicks daily. If a runt is consistently not being fed, supplement with hand feeding formula 2 to 3 times daily while keeping it in the nest with its siblings. Alternatively, foster it to another pair with a smaller, more evenly aged clutch.
Tracking Your Conure Breeding Program with Software
Conure breeding generates a lot of data — especially when you are tracking color mutations across multiple pairs and generations. Here is how BirdTracks keeps everything organized.
Bird Profiles with Mutations
Store each conure’s species, visual mutation, known splits, band number, DNA sex results, and complete pedigree in one profile.
Pair Production Records
Track each pair’s clutch history, fertility rate, hatch rate, and chick outcomes. Identify your top-producing pairs at a glance.
Automated Hatch Tracking
Log egg lay dates and BirdTracks calculates expected hatch dates for the 22-26 day conure incubation period automatically.
Mutation & Split Tracking
Record visual mutations and split information for every bird. Plan pairings with full knowledge of the genetic potential.
COI Calculator
Check the coefficient of inbreeding before pairing any two conures. Essential for maintaining genetic health in mutation breeding programs.
Breeding Season Overview
See all active pairs, current clutches, upcoming hatch dates, and weaning status on one dashboard. Manage multiple pairs efficiently.