My 2011 Breeding Journal

[splat 0]

Thank you Finnie, yes it has been very depressing, balled my eyes out a few times over it all.

At least didn't loose any adult birds, that would of being devastating , that would of destroyed me if I lost them.

 

I am still not out of the woods but things are much brighter. 20 little chicks, can't wait to see how they turn out.

 

My worse losses were from my yellow df spangle pairing because he is an 07 bird and father to my white boy, and I am desperate to get more from him but this year every chick of his has died, but the hen has more fertile eggs so I am praying.

 

The white boy he has only filled a few eggs and they hatched and only one has survived, a grey spangle cock bird and he has had a bad time too, I fostered him the and the rotten hen stopped feeding the chicks at 3 weeks and then I put him in another nest and that cow stopped feeding her chicks too, she a lutino hen and I could't work out why the were on the floor everyday and not even feathered up probably, well she just wasn't feed them so the grey spangle being 4 weeks old I put him with an adult cock who is looking after him and the lutino I put in another nest with smaller nest and she is doing great now.

I had a pied last round with a splayed led and I used the make up pad thing and all went well and I put her back in the nest and the rotten hen who sits tight squashed it again and put the hip out or something like that, any way I think it was going to be a mop or a cracker of a bird but I had to put it down because it could move any way because of it's hip. The swelling was just awfull, she would of being in a lot of pain.

Anyway the pied nest had 5 fertile eggs and only one hatched, disappointing but at least the the chick is a pied, so happy with that. Hope this one turns out good.

[renee 0]

oh Splat I do hope you have turned the corner and can now get on with the breeding season you deserve!

 

Best of Luck with the 07 cock bird !!! I have 2 I am hoping to get chickies out as well .... Fingers Crossed

[splat 0]

Thank you Renee, i hope I get some little crackers, need to breed something for the shields, I would of loved to have had something to the shield next year and it got picked for the Nationals but I just guess it wasn't meant to be.

Good luck with your 07 birds to Renee.

[splat 0]

I was out in the birdroom this avro and decided to through out all clear eggs and block off nest to the hens, will put them out in aviary in a couple of days. Tomorrow they will go into a holding cage for a little rest.

That has left me with quite a few breeding cages free.

So I have decided to put more pair down and this will be my final shot at breeding this year.

Will post photos of pairs once I decide.

 

Oh best news ever. My light green spangle which is one of my best birds and full brother to the white boy and sons of teh yellow Df spangle. well I put him with a sky blue cinnamon opaline hen, Geoff siad she is the best hen in my aviary and they are cousins. Well she hatched an egg today and chick is doing fine, I think from memory she only has 3 fertile eggs. But i am very happy about it any way.

So I now have 21 little chicks.

The chick that died the other day from yellow, well I am still waiting for the other eggs to hatch, still 5 fertile eggs to go, but I am getting worried they won't hatch.

[robyn 0]

Just caught up Splat, so glad you have finally got things back on track. You must have been on the right track when you thought it was seed causing problems.

It's food for thought though, even though I've only got pet types I usually buy seed 2 bags in advance from produce store. How do we know how long it's been stored at the silo's and then there, before we get it?

I suppose moist air etc could affect bagged seed until something sets things off. BIG NOTE TO SELF KEEP EYE ON SEED.

 

Anyway Splat hope it's all uphill from here and you get some spectacular birds to make up for all the heartache.

[splat 0]

Exactly right Robyn, I am not buying so much seed again.

 

Yes I always thought it was seed , lol us women should stick to are gut feeling, it is nearly always right don't you think.

 

Anyway all chicks are looking lovely and healthy, 22 little chickies now, I have about 4 nest that seems to have dead in the shell which I didn't have that before. But the eggs look good in colour but they should of hatched by now, so that is disappointing. But they still could hatch. maybe. But all up there are about 12 eggs over 4 nest that should of hatched. I hope I don't have a new problem. I will cry.

[splat 0]

I took some photos but the quality is poor, will have to go back to my SLR I think.

 

White Double Factor cock. my grand Champion bird and grey opaline hen

 

They had 2 fertile eggs earlier and only this one survive he is 5 weeks I am quite happy with this little chap so I put them down again today. This little fella was put in a foster nest and the hen stopped feeding him and my lutino hen when they were only 4 weeks old so I have been trying to save them, the lutino was excepted by another nest but the grey spangle was left to me to save, he is going okay but he has no weight on him at all. But he is coming along fine.

 

This pair light green spangle cock / sky blue cinn opaline, they have 3 fertile eggs and one chick hatched yesterday and going fine. sorry crappy picture

 

This pair.. clearbody cock and grey opaline hen.

 

This pair.. violet green cock / sky blue spangle

 

This is their chick from earlier round and he was the only that survived.

 

I have eggs and chicks from the violet green with a dark green hen , No pics of the pair . but she laid 6 eggs and I put them under another hen and she continued to lay another seven and most look fertile.

 

and here are some chicks

[GenericBlue 0]

wow that last pairing you mentioned sounds promising splat violet green x dark green great pairing

[splat 0]

Thanks Gb just hope it works out, the have the background you were after, the old violet hen, so you never no I could crack one. but I am worried they might be smaller putting 2 dark factors together.

I am just hoping the white boy starts to fill eggs more.

The violet green is actually a sex maniac.

every hen I have put him with he is at it straight away and he doesn't care if they are not interested he will just take them anyway. lol love him because he is filling everything. And plus he himself is a stunner.

[GenericBlue 0]

lol ill send some hens your way for him to serves then hee hee been after a violet dark green for ever

maybe i could get one via your boy lol

that size things a mith if you ask me

glad things getting better

grey chick looks great

[splat 0]

Thanks Gb, the grey chick is a bit slumpy looking but he is young , just wouldn't sit probably, but the poor little thing along with the lutino hen have both had a bad run, I just hope their grow isn't stunted from when they were not getting fed probably.

He the violet green keeps going like this, yes I am sure there will be some to spare next year.

The violet green is the son of my violet I won the shield with and on his mums side,, dark green spangle hen and her father the yellow DF spangle..... so his mother is half sister to the white boy.

So as you see I have the spangle coming into this and I think that is why the violet green is so good.

GB I thinking of putting him with a violet hen too. That will be interesting.

Edited August 24, 2011 by splat

[Pride 0]

Im sorry about the dead in shell issues splat but 22 chicks so far is better than none and hopefully more to come.

[splat 0]

24 chicks now.

I broke a couple of eggs today and the chicks died very early on.

 

I put more pairs down today but didn't take any photos, sorry.

 

pairs

yellow Df spangle cock / cobalt spangle

light green dom pied / sky blue cinn hen

lutino cock / lutino hen

grey green cock / grey opaline spangle hen

light green cock / green green cinn hen.

 

there is another pair I put down but just can't remember what. But i still have

my dark green opaline yellow face spangle to pair up yet but can't find a hen for him

he is the one in my siggy , he is on the right hand side.

[Taylor 0]

Hey, haven't been here in a few days, but just wanted to ask how you get a violet green? One of my budgies looks very similar to your violet green.

[splat 0]

Well the mum is a .....dark green spangle her parents, Violet hen and yellow Df spangle

Dad is a ..... violet

You can see he has violet on both sides , he actually looks more like a dark grey green, he is probably olive actually.

he has the dark factor on both sides.

But I call him my violet green.

Some one can explain it heaps better than as I am not really into the genetics. it does my head in.

[Taylor 0]

Yipee! LOL, I've got a violet green.

[splat 0]

This is closer to his true colour and his son, a chip off the block i think.

 

I have 25 chicks now and very pleased things are going better.

Edited August 26, 2011 by splat

[Taylor 0]

okay maybe I got to carried away. My one looks more like the son.

 

25 chicks, wow.

[splat 0]

The son is really darker than that to Taylor, it's the dumb camera, washes the colour out. I took one of my grey green a couple of weeks ago and it came out looking more like a grey yellow face instead of grey green.

[splat 0]

I had a bit of a set back today, I hope it is isolated to the one bird.

 

To start with one of the nest hatched a chick and it was dead this morning yellow belly, the same nest as last week with yellow belly. I did treat them with moxi T.

But my worse shock was in the baby aviary, my grey green hen was dean on the floor, have no idea why, she looked perfectly healthy yesterday, and when I found her, her bum was normal, she hadn't lost weight. I have no idea why she died. Anyway I just hope no more die or I will be off to the vet for an autopsy.

It is annoying because first I lost my little chicks and now my older chicks. This chick is one of the first I bred. Well she survived or the deaths but who knows maybe their system is poisoned.

[robyn 0]

Fingers crossed it's only a one off Splat. I suppose you learn to roll with the punches after a while.

[splat 0]

Thanks Robyn all young birds looked okay today, NO deaths thank god.

Hatched 2 more chicks, I think that makes 30 now, but just before I was checking a nest

parents to the young one that died yesterday, she has 4 fertile eggs, well there was a hole in one

and I couldn't here any chipping or chirps so I chipped away at it because the membrane was broken anyway

it was dead. It still had a bit yolk stuck to it's tummy.

I put the other 3 fertile eggs under another hen who has the same cock with here, the cock is in with this hen.

They are 2 light greens, the hen where the chick died is grey.

So I am hoping that if the chicks hatch they will be grey green, and the other hen will be light green even sky.

Anyway I prefer to have the chicks and not no the parents than have no chick at all.

Why I took the eggs off the hen is because she looks like she is going out of condition, her cere is turning blueish and I don't want to loose here.

Plus that gives me another breeding cage too.

[splat 0]

Latest update....

 

My breeding hasn't been to bad, but the nest with the yellow, well the first one survived but the last 4 eggs hatched and died from yellow belly, I did give the parents moxi T to try and save the chicks but to no avail.

Another nest which is a light green cock and light hen plus he is running with a grey hen, both hens had 4 fertile eggs each. The light hen hatched 2 chicks and all good but still waiting for her to hatch the other, I have a feeling they won't hatch, the grey hen yesterday I found an egg with a hole in it and I broke it open dead chick, I put the other 3 eggs under the light green hen after I let them chill a bit and the next morning the hen had chipped away at 3 of them. There was a dark dead in shell chick, being dead for a while and in another egg a chick that looked to be due to hatch in a day or two but dead and the third egg, I really wished I had of let it alone but it had chips all the around around it and it got the better of me by the end of the day I had to chip away with it and I couldn't believe it because was alive but nowhere near ready to hatch, SO I KILLED IT. sad.

In another nest I have a white DF spangle son of Kaz's white boy with a yellow DF spangle hen and I have high hopes for this nest, anyway the have 4 fertile eggs I think ( there are a couple of foster eggs in there too) well she hatch a chick 3 days ago and all was going great but it was dead this morning it had full crop. Still waiting for the other eggs to hatch.???

On the good side I have some healthy little chicks are some photos sorry they are blurry but this camera is driving me nuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nest where I have babies

nest 3....the parents are white df spangle cock x grey cinnamon spangle hen

3 chicks I grey cin spangle I think. and 2 white Df spangle.

 

nest 5... violet cock x grey hen. they have 5 chicks.

 

nest 7.. White Df spangle cock x yellow Df spangle hen.. chick just died

 

nest 9.. dk green dom pied cock x light green cinn hen... 6 fertile eggs and only 1 chick hatched, a grey green cinn pied

 

nest 10... light green cock x light green hen. 2 chicks so far.

 

nest 11.. cobalt spangle x grey green pied.. 6 fertile eggs and 5 have hatched and I am happy to say I have 2 blue pieds, excited about this nest, they are probably spangle pieds But I don't care.

 

nest nest 22... light green spangle x sky cinn oplaine.. 4 fertile eggs 2 hatched. I have high hopes for these chicks

nest 26... Cobalt spangle x sky hen..1 chick

nest 29 .. violet green cock x dark green hen... 7 chicks have hatched about another 7 to go. I died yesterday though.

nest 30 .. grey cock x violet hen.. yellow belly nest, one chick

I have eggs in other nest and new pairs down too.

[renee 0]

How many Breeder Cabinets do you have on the go?

 

Yellow belly in hatchlings... isn't that Chlamydia in the parents?

[splat 0]

How many Breeder Cabinets do you have on the go?

 

Yellow belly in hatchlings... isn't that Chlamydia in the parents?

 

I don't know Renee, I am guessing it is from the seed, Their first round of 4 I think were all fine and the first chick from this nest hatch and then every other egg expect one is yellow belly, every other nest is fine.

I treated them with moxi t for 5 days but the eggs took longer than that to hatch, I thunk that is why I saved the first one not sure.

This cage is the cage that ate most of the jap millet , the other cages hardly touched it, so I am putting down to that, a build up in their bodies of poison seed when fertile and laying eggs.

Rob Marshall says is an infection of the yolk sac and that Strep infection is the most common bacteria associated with budgies.

Any suggestions.

Edited September 1, 2011 by splat