Kazoo

Hi Kaz: Thank you. The disc has been removed. I will try some ivermectin as you recommended. Is it common for there to be a bare area around the vent? And is the deep orangy salmon colour of the skin I have described sound normal? I tried to photograph it, but did not have the heart, as the iphone clearly terrified him.

Hi: I always consult this board when any of my budgies demonstrates signs of health concerns, and am very appreciative of the expertise and assistance provided me. Thank you to anyone in advance who might be able to respond to my query. I have a male budgie, Georgie, who has been itching around his vent area and attempting to scratch it with his beak. Just 10 minutes ago, I had the opportunity to view him high above me, bending over, and saw the following, which shocked me: a large area around his vent was clear of feathers - although at normal resting position this patch is hidden by surrounding feathers. The skin is a deep salmon colour, with white spots (urine?) around it. I don't know if this is normal? He has been itching at his feet as well. They are dry and scaly, although I suspect the latter is the result of a new furnace which is incredibly dry heat, as I have also suffered skin dryness from it. The only difference in the last couple of weeks has been the hanging of a circular disc to protect against harmful organisms: active ingredient paradichlorobenzine. He is an older bird, about 7 in our years. Thank you very much.

Thank you everyone, for the support through this experiences, the condolances, and the helpful information. I feel I have learned a great deal through this experience as a first-time breeder: Kaz, Renee, Robyn, and others who took the time to explain and guide, your advice through this was invaluable to me and much appreciated. I feel, at this point, surprised at how much grief I am experiencing, especially for the first chick, whom I held and named. I found all in all, that the nurturing and support involved in breeding these tiny, vulnerable little babies interests me and may consider it again. However, my sense after all of this is that, should I decide to get further involved, a nice placid, hand-reared mother around would be a definite must, since I agree with your comment, Renee, that this has probably left its mark on mom. Kaz, thank you for that information about the spooning of the eggs. I did interfere, and probably stressed her out more and contributed to this outcome. In fact I interfered all the way through because of my need to remove the eggs from the bottom of the cage, then place them in the nesting box. It was only the last egg she actually laid in the box. I sensed, by the end however, that things had gone hari-kari -- one of the eggs was pitched back out of the nesting box (a chick attempting to hatch) and the two remaining eggs had rolled right to the edge of the box with the food dish pulled over the nesting cup, and my sense was that she had abandoned them, and I observed yesterday that she stopped incubating. One of these two eggs was clearly pink and matched the infertile egg pictures I saw. Should I proceed further I will certainly turn to you all for your excellent support and advice. Thank you so much.

Hi Renee: Thanks for your response. I agree with you about the maturity in her being quite young, and also her temperament is not ideal. It was obvious she found the whole experience terrifying and stressful. The box has been removed, and I have given the cage a good cleaning. I hadn't planned on this breeding, it just sort of happened, so I tried my best to support it. Would a hen possibly have a different experience if this were to happen again? i.e. have a better mothering instinct? Or do they tend to be the same kind of moms from the get-go?

All 6 eggs/chicks have died. The second and third died while trying to get out of the shells, which I could see happening this morning, the fourth one died but all I could find was half the shell. The fifth egg wasn't fertile (pink) and the sixth egg was thrown out of the nest. The hen took the mason lid jar of food and pulled it over the nest - it could have been accidental, but she'd clearly had enough. :rip:

Thank you for the information and well-wishes with subsequent chicks. The first one looked extremely pink, active and peeping when born, however i may have missed something, given this is my first time also. The mom has quite a skitterishness about her, and I do wish I had a backup super foster mom, unfortunately, this is not an option.

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement, Robyn.

The chick has died. I found her in the corner of the nesting box far away from the nest. I read on here about possibly warming them back to life, so cupped her in my hands and blew warm breath onto her for about 20 minutes, but she was clearly dead. After checking last night and being convinced that mom had fed her, (I'm referring to 'it' as a 'her') I decided (given my anxious tendencies) that the best thing to do was trust them to do their job and give them their privacy. So I moved my computer out of the office and made sure they weren't disturbed at all for the day. When I went in at about 5:30 p.m. to check on them, I found the chick. I had bought everything necessary to feed her, but decided it wasn't necessary because mom had assumed the duties. I'm not sure what happened, but I am frequently having to spoon the eggs back into the nest, so I think she moves around alot in there, and thus the chick ended up at the far side of the box. Her skin was so translucent I'm not sure if she was injured, died of cold, or of starvation. I'm amazed at how much grief I feel, and remorse that I did not check earlier.

Good question: Mine only started sitting after the 5th one was laid, because I had to remove 4 eggs she laid at the bottom of the cage and put them back in after she laid the fifth (which I also had to place in the nest box) I didn't mark the eggs. There are now 6, with one hatched and a second one peeping as of last night, so I'm thinking another one is soon due to hatch. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I can answer your question. Cheers.

Thank you so much for posting this picture Hamish. I did see a yellow bulge that was much smaller than this, however it was definitely there. I think I was getting confused because the crop has been described on this board as being at the base of its throat, when in fact it seems to me more in the upper torso/lung area. I appreciate you taking the time to post this picture. And am now feeling really relieved, as I had purchased bird pablum, sterilized a glass eyedropper and bought a thermometer because it was born about 20 hours ago now, and I knew it needed some nutrition within the first 24 hours. So hooray! my first time mom has fed her chick, and this chick is very relieved....

Hi and thanks for your response: I took it out and it looks active and healthy but I'm not exactly sure what a "whiteish crop" looks like -- it is so tiny! Can anyone refer me to a picture of a newborn chick with a full crop for comparison?

Well you'd want it to be fed by first thing tomorrow morning. Sometimes a maiden hen takes her time in figuring out that she has to produce crop milk and feed it. Do you have a more experienced hen lined up to foster it to? I do not. I understand I can sterilize an eyedropper and mix up some baby rice pablum or some yogurt and run some around the outside of her tiny beak to give her a first feeding, which I plan to do in about 5 hours from now (about 12 hours after she hatched) I haven't been home to check and see if mom fed her or not. But is this right? Does anyone have any additional or better suggestions? Thanks in advance

Baby hatched last night during the night! I lined cage with some millet and clipped some above the nestbox entrance. It is moving its arms and legs, peeping quietly, and seems as though its head is too heavy to lift. Is that normal? These are first time parents. I am going to leave them alone for the day. When should baby be fed by? I read the post about possibly needing to feed. When should I check to see if gullet has food in it? Right on day one? I understood they need to be fed the first day or they will die. I am a first time budgie breeder, and this is my very first chick. Any advice on what to do next would be greatly appreciated. I have completely covered the front of the cage where the nesting box is, for privacy for them, and black door on access end of nesting box is in place.

Hi: My hen Kazoo and her six eggs saga continues. I have been spooning eggs that have rolled out of her nest occasionally. Just a minute ago, I picked up one, which had a huge brown spot on it, and it started peeping. A faint, high pitched, but definitely peeping sound. Other eggs have some brown spots on them, too. Is this a bad sign? They otherwise appear white. It doesn't look like bird poop. The eggs otherwise look fertile, except for one, which is pinkish. Is this the sound of a chick about to hatch? Or is something horribly wrong here? And in any case, what should I do, or is there anything I can do about these eggs? 18 days after the first one would have been the 30th of October. Thanks in advance

Beautiful babies Kaz, what a great breeder you are!