Hi All,

 

I am very new to budgie breeding!

 

I started with two pairs in a communial avairy. Sadly, one of my hens died - i think of old age because she was given to me by a friend and looked quite old. My other three birds I purchased from local bird breeders. I purchased my cocks and hens from different breeders to make sure they weren't from the same parents. I am going to find a new hen for my lonely male soon.

 

The other pair however, didn't waste anytime. She laid 6 eggs, 4 of which hatched. One of the babies did not last very long, so now I have three heathly babies. The babies are about 3 weeks old now.

 

This is Mummy

 

This is Daddy...isn't he handsome

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd187/mugmole/daddy.jpg

 

I don't know what their parents looked like. So it will be interesting to see the colour of the babies. Already I can see all three babies have yellow on them, none of them seem to have red eyes like their Mum. Somebody may have an idea????

 

As you can see, I am very new to budgie breeding and I need to learn all the different terms for describing them!

 

Unfortunately I can't get close enough to the breeding box with the camera to take photos of the babies, but when they venture out in a few weeks time I will post pictures of them.

 

 

Photo changed to link as it exceeded the forum maximum size of 450 x 450 pixels. Feathers.

Edited November 6, 200717 yr by Bea

Your hen is a Lutino & I think your cock is a Yellow Faced Blue type 2. You wont get any birds that look like Mum unless the father is carrying the Lutino factor in what is called the split form [one of his parents were Lutinos].

 

You will mostly likely get birds that look marked in the same way as the father, which is called Normal, but unless the mother is split for Blue they will all be Green birds.

Thanks Norm,

 

I will definately put some pics up when they come out of the box.

 

At this stage, the three babies do all look a little different, so it will be interesting to see!

Hi Lucy, its important to be checking on baby budgies daily in the nestbox. There is an article in our FAQ section that may help you

 

Care of baby Budgies In the Nestbox

 

Cheers karen

Hi Karen,

 

Thank you. Yes, I can see into the nest box and I check on the bubs all the time. It's just difficult to get into the aviary with the camera.

 

Everything is going smoothly and the babies are getting their different colouring.

 

It's interesting, Norm suggested that if the father is carry a lutino gene, one of the babies could be a lutino. Fingers crossed...I think one might be, because it looks a different colour to the other two.

Edited November 6, 200717 yr by lucy

Ooops..I accidentally removed the photos with the links in my first post. So I will put them in this post.....with pics of the BABIES!!

 

I had to take them out to clean their feet up so I took a baby snap of them all whilst I had them out.

 

First, Mum & Dad again

 

 

This is Baby 1, I think he/she is going to be a lot like their Daddy

 

 

This is Baby 2, similar to Baby 1, but has more Yellow on its wings

 

 

And finally, Baby 3...much paler shade of Yellow and appears to have very little black...could he/she be like their Mum?

 

 

Is it normal that the older the babies get the less time the Mother spends in the nesting box? She seems to go in to feed them, but spends more time out of the box than in. The babies appear healthy though, so I'm very happy. :-)

Interesting result. Second baby looks like a Dominant pied but for that parent has to be one. Im not as well versed in genentics as some on here, but maybe Lutino can hide Dominant pied ? I could be wrong. First baby is coming along a bit like Dad. The third baby...does it have red eyes ?

And yes...as babies get older the Mum spends less time in the box, as they have each other to keep them warm and Mum isnt needed as much.

Hey Lucy,

 

they are looking absolutely fantastic. Well done

 

 

Feathers.

At this stage, Baby 3 eyes do not look red. I assume, if they were red it would be quite obvious like the Mums.

 

It will be very interesting to see how they come along!!

Mummy budgie cannot be a lutino. She has cinnamon wing markings and green on the front of her body, according to these photos.

 

Wing markings

 

Green on body

Well spotted, I've never noticed the slight green tinge to her belly!!

 

So, I assume its possible for a non-lutino budgie to have red eyes?

 

What would you call the Mum in this case?

 

This is all so interesting, I can see why so many people enjoy breeding budgies!

I had a strange budgie once that was just like yours. It had some cinnamon markings on the wings, green on the body and red eyes. It was a real mystery for awhile until a show budgie breeder checked it out and said it was a light green spangle fallow. The reason the markings were so unusual was that there was spangle and recessive pied in the genes. The funny part of that is...when I looked at one of your chicks it has the tiny spot on the back of its head that often comes with "split to" recessive pied babies. And you have one that looks dominant pied but could be recessive pied. Or dominant pied ? Also your yellow chick has slightly muddy looking markings which may indicate cinnamon coming through.

Very interesting.

 

I will look for the photos of the bird I had that was a bit like yours.

Edited November 6, 200717 yr by KAZ

I could be wrong But not very often.But I think the nest box is in the avairy,any bird could be the

parents.The picture looks like a lut ,with a heavy subfusion.Its very hard to tell from photos.

But there is a deffinent dom pie chick in that lot of photos.

I could be wrong But not very often.But I think the nest box is in the avairy,any bird could be the

parents.The picture looks like a lut ,with a heavy subfusion.Its very hard to tell from photos.

But there is a deffinent dom pie chick in that lot of photos.

I forgot about that.....surprises happen in aviaries.

Your right, it is in an aviary, but the other cock in the aviary was preoccupied with his hen (who died after these babies were born), so I would be very, very surprised if he was a father. The two pairs seemed to keep to themselves.

 

What does 'heavy subfusion' mean? Which baby is definately a dominant pied?

 

Is this situation a little strange? It wouldn't surprise me because I always seem to end up with animals which are a little 'different' :-)

I could be wrong But not very often.:

 

[kneels down and bows down to Macka, hands outstretched]

 

This is what I LOVE about you, Macka. Straight down the line, no surprises Next time I'm in Melbourne I'd love to catch up over a counter meal or coffee

 

 

Feathers.

This baby

is a dominant pied.

What other boys were in the aviary at the time ?

 

PS Budgies are up before we are and having budgie sex with any other budgie they fancy in an aviary with nest boxes in it

This is a photo of the other male in the aviary (with the hen that died).

 

 

Does this explain anything? Or are you going to tell me that this hen might have laid an egg in the other hen's nestbox....:-) The plot thickens!!

The plot does thicken

Its a laugh a minite on this forum.Most times I cant be bothered,replying.

Because you need the crystal ball for the answers.

 

Feathers,Let me know the next time you are over here & I will try & catch

up with you. :feedbirds:

I think Lucy said that the hen has red eyes Kaz, so I think what you are saying about the marks on the wing, are just ruffled feathers, not Cinnamon markings [but I could be wrong]. And Lutinos certainly can have Green suffusion. Lucy like Kaz says that first chick certainly looks like it’s carrying Recessive Pied & looks like it will be a Green Normal & the second chick looks like a Dominant Pied. Like Kaz said to have a Dominant Pied one parent has to be Dominant, so Mum must be masking Dominant Pied under her Lutino…genetically she must be Dominant Pied but the lack of pigment in a Lutino is covering that up. The third chick is also Pied & like Kaz says there are signs that it could be Cinnamon, a bit more time will prove it. So that means Mum is Lutino, but also Dominant Pied, both Mum & Dad must be split for Recessive Pied & if that chick is Cinnamon, it means Dad is split for Cinnamon & the chick will be female. As others have said, don’t trust the fidelity of hens in an aviary…that’s one of the problems with colony breeding…hen are not opposed to a bit on the side to mix the genetics…

Its a laugh a minite on this forum.Most times I cant be bothered,replying.Because you need the crystal ball for the answers. Feathers,Let me know the next time you are over here & I will try & catchup with you. :feedbirds:

I know what you mean Macka...but be kind...(Laughing out loud).

Thanks Norm! :-)

Thanks Norm! :-)

 

No problems.

I have some more recent piccies...all the bubs are happy and healthy!!

 

Baby 1...he/she not only looks like their Dad, but holds their head up tall and proud like he does too.... in other words...a little cocky ;-)

 

 

 

Baby 2...my little Dominant Pied ;-) Cute! The yellow on its wings is so bright.

 

 

Baby 3...is my favourite (ssshh, don't tell the others) The blue on its back is a lovely colour...problem is, it likes to bite! I think it might be a girl!!!

 

 

Does anybody have any idea what sex these chicks are?

They are looking good Lucy, I still can’t tell for sure if that third chick is Cinnamon, the markings on it’s head look that way, but there are not much markings on it because of the Pied, to be sure, if those markings on it’s head are Brown [Cinnamon] as I said before it surely will be a female & if it bites more than the others that’s another sign. Kaz seems to like to guess them at that young age, she might help you later. The other two look a bit like males but hard to be sure.