Matt G

It's all too hard.. I need a panadol.

Mauve for the win!

Neville, what is a bird is both violet and mauve? Is that equally as hard to tell from violet and grey?

What colour are the tail feathers? Dark blue or black?

What makes Possum Violet Grey and not Mauve? I would have thought Mauve? Just trying to learn the difference.

Sorry I don't have much constructive to add other than Elle is just gorgeous.. want!!

Aww, just a little picture, I don't want to impose on your thread. And yes, awesome forums those ones, I've been on there for a couple weeks now. Here's my little cottage.

I did this two months ago, I moved from Melbourne to rural Victoria (Charlton), and I love it. My house is 115 years old, full of character and history, and we are not allowed to make changes to the front of the house or cut down a tree in the front yard as it was the first ornamental tree planted in Charlton. You are going to love it Kaz, and your new house is gorgeous and FULL of character, charm and history. Like you, I also moved a mammoth amount of stuff 3.5 hours away, lots of back and forth drives was exhausting, and it took two weeks to fully move. Go for it girl! Best of luck for a nice smooth move. Matt

Put them all in together. Bonds are broken as fast as a male budgie winking at the girl budgies. Bonds are something pet breeders get tied up in knots over and show breeders know doesnt amount to much of anything at all Excellent, will do Kaz thanks for that. Makes life a little easier.

Hey Jimmy, I was thinking about keeping the Hens and Cocks separate, though not sure if this is good or bad. I guess I didn't want to have to worry about bonds forming and having to break them?

I just cheated Splat and logged onto homestyler.com (sorry if I can't post links, someone can edit it out), and they have a rather clunky floor plan online tool for houses you can use. I then just took a screen capture and edited text in via photoshop. Cheers Matt

Sweet, thanks for that splat. Heaps of useful info indeed, and I will keep those external flights fairly enclosed, but open enough to allow for some decent ventilation without being drafty or cold. I think height wise they will be around 6' 5" as the main shed is near enough that height also. Lots of work ahead, but the basis is there. Thanks for the tips Splat. Cheers Matt

Hey Splat. Thanks for the reply. I see what you mean about the side flights, it would definitely be better to have them run the length of the sides, I'll do that. Not sure where to incorporate an indoor flight though, I could run it along the length of the back wall as one flight 3 x 10, but like you said, I may want the extra space for more breeding cages. (Which I probably will once I get settled into the fancy.) I guess with the outside flights, if I have the roof of the flights totally covered, as well as the rear wall and a strip a few feet high along the sides and front I can house my birds outside and bring them in the bird room for breeding. I can just make the outdoor flights covered enough for bad weather so the birds can stay out of the rain/wind/drafts?? Based on that, here is an alternative design. Do people prefer this to the above one?

Hi Guys. I am starting to build my birdroom, and I need some feedback. I have to start from humble beginnings, there is a shed 10' x 7' already in place, though I need to clean/modify etc. Attached below is a floor plan. The interior will be insulated with either polystyrene or polyester batts and finished with hardboard and painted in non toxic washable eggshell paint. There's plenty of shady trees around the bird room, and it gets direct morning and midday sun, and partial afternoon sun. I have a couple of questions I need feedback on. Firstly design, does it look okay? The internal flights are 3' x 5' and about 6' 5" tall. The window when opened would allow access to the external flight. Should I keep these that tall, or should I divide them into 4 half height flights? Allowing the top two flights access to the external flights? So there would be 4 flights 3' x 5' x 3' 2.5" tall? Feedback would be great. I plan on having 12 breeding cages, is that location okay? I could have the flights running each side of the birdroom instead and put the breeding cages in the middle of the back wall? That would mean relocating the front door to the middle of the birdroom which would be a pain in the butt. Anyway, any feedback would be appreciated.

Congrats Dean, well done on your wins. I don't breed or show yet, I'm still setting up, but your post gives me butterflies. Good going and thanks for posting the pics. Matt

Hey Tash, Kaz posted a really informative post on cages here: http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=17858 According to that it's not a bad cage, length is more important than height, and you should probably set your perches from front to back and not from side to side as pictured. Good luck! Matt

Thanks Splat, next time I am talking to Marlene I will have to congratulate her. Thanks GB for the words of wisdom, I'll keep those in mind for sure. I love normals, so the varieties can wait. Greys and Blue series are bar far my favourite, and grey green if I have to go that way, but I wouldn't kick a lovely light green out of the shed if it had qualities that would help me improve my birds. Still learning about feather types, and directional feathers, getting there slowly. I think it will help having kept exhibition animals before to a high level, I know not to rush into things and do my homework. Hopefully I will be able to get a few pairs of birds to get me off to a good start. I am going to get stuck into my 10' x 7' bird room this weekend, I'll take pics and stuff as I go. It's a garden shed that is being converted. Got to cement and tile the floor, add flow through windows for ventilation, add an internal flight and set up my breeding cages. Line the walls and roof with ply and insulate with polystyrene and/or polyester batts. Will be a busy boy! 10' x 7' is quite modest compared to most, but I will build a bigger birdroom in a year or so when the backyard gets landscaped.

Thanks Splat. Yep I have touched base with Marlene, though only about club meetings at this stage, and Ross Loats, who lives out my way. I will likely want to source some decent foundation birds soon, normals and cinnamons mostly, but for varieties I love the dominant pieds, clearwings and lacewings.

Thanks Elly and Kaz. I'm looking forward to annoying everyone with endless questions no doubt Cheers! Matt

Hey Guys. I thought I should come out of the lurker closet after reading a lot of helpful information on the forums. I'm a 30 something (more something than 30) Registered Nurse living in country Victoria in the small friendly river town of Charlton. I love animals, and I have 3 very energetic and bouncy Boxers whom are my life. I have bred and shown small animals all my life. I have bred/shown and judged pedigree exhibiton cavies (guinea pigs) very successfully for over 25 years, but I have recently made the decision to move them on and return to budgies. I have kept budgies previously (about 15 years ago), in an outside flight and bred them in breeding cages. I never got around to showing them though, not that they were good enough anyway, but it was good experience to care for and breed them successfully with no major issues at the time. Now I have bought my own home and settled, I am in the process of making a new birdroom and starting again with budgies after 15 years without them, now I have time to devote to them with the cavies moved on after 25 years of showing them. I don't currently have any birds, though I have my all wire breeding cages ready, just need to finish the bird room and flights so I can do this properly. I will be joining the Bendigo Budgerigar Soc. in the new year and hopefully will be able to source a few decent pairs of birds to help get my foundation started. I'm looking forward to showing budgies, and hope the fancy is welcoming and helpful to new comers as the cavy fancy is. Cheers, Matt