R&t's Breeding Journal

[Finnie 0]

An operation?! I hope it is not serious, and that you have a speedy recovery.

 

 

And that your husband can manage the birds well, without you.

 

 

Best wishes Renee.

[Pride 0]

Best wishes renee hope you get back to 100% health soon

Edited October 21, 2011 by Pride

[renee 0]

Thank you for your kind wishes All is good and thanks to the fantastic surgeons and nurses I have made a very fast recovery and am back at home already. Can't do much myself - But at least I can supervise!

 

 

Well in my absence my Mum (severely hung over from jet lag), my hubby and my friend Trish have done a wonderful job looking after the budgies. I am sure Kaz will understand when I say I panic at the mere thought of leaving my budgies in anybody else's care and partly because of this I was imagining that all my birds were getting sick last week in anticipation of my hospital stay. In all fairness they did get knocked about by last Sunday's heat wave but happily there have been no fatalities or fluffed up birds.

 

 

Any way, there have been 2 new hatchings to the Cobalt Dommie Pied nest yesterday and today, I think that makes them 4th and 5th and there looks like another egg to go.

 

There is maybe another viable egg in the Violet boy's nest but I am not holding my breath as there have been a DIS there.

 

And then I am waiting on a whole clutch of fertile eggs from one more nest and that is it for the season.

[**KAZ** 0]

I am so glad you are back and well..............dont be too tempted to do too much once you are home. Allow yourself to be looked after and indulged for awhile

[Pride 0]

Very good to hear you are back and well. i know how you feel about leaving them, i was in america for two weeks and got back just over a week ago and my grandad was looking after my budgies while i was away and i was very anxious to see how they were but they were just fine.

[renee 0]

Thank you Pride Just being home is good enough.

 

 

 

No real news today. I have discovered that in an endeavor to "tidy up" my Mum managed to dispose of 28 of my rings but this is a small matter, I did order a set of 50 extra so it is not as though I am running short!

 

 

However, what I have noticed is that in my absence the nest of 3 DF Yellow chicks have fledged and the little mutant toed one is missing some neck feathers, as if they have been plucked out. I couldn't get a really good photo - this is the best I could do:

 

 

I am thinking that the mother plucked it in the nest in order to get rid of it?

[**KAZ** 0]

Check vacuum cleaner bag for those rings

[renee 0]

Check vacuum cleaner bag for those rings

 

If ONLY No, they are somewhere in here -

 

... and I an't going to start rummaging through to find them

 

 

 

Another little chickie arrived to the Cobalt Dommie Pied nest this morning, that makes it the 6th to this nest so far. I think the 3 eldest have been fostered (in fact I know 2 have) which leaves 3 with the mother hen I will have to wait for them to feather up before I am certain about chickie number 3 which may be with the DF Maiden Albino nest.

 

 

The John Kobilanski Cobalt hen down to the Violet boy chucked out 3 eggs today so I have pulled them out of the Breeding Cabinet and put them into a cage with no access to a nest box for a few days. I just want to keep them under observation till I am happy they can return to the aviary.

 

This pair has been a bit of a disappointment really. On both occasions the cock bird filled eggs but the first round got addled and in the second round only one hatched with 2 more DIS. The hen did not feed the chick well (too much air in the crop) and then when I swapped in an albino chick she did very well filling up its crop with food but within a few days it was starting to go pale in colour so I ended up swapping it back.

 

It's a real shame in fact 'cause I was hoping she could be a back up foster for in case I have any issues with the one fertile nest to hatch or and feather plucking issues.

Edited October 25, 2011 by renee

[renee 0]

Well today the first chick of the last fertile nest hatched today to Normal Cobalt and Normal Green split Blue hen!

 

It is the second chick to this pair as they had one chick hatch out about a month ago and then the hen was squashing it so I transferred it to the DF Recessive Pied nest where it made a remarkable recovery and is just getting ready to fledge. For some reason I did not pull this pair straight away, she was still on some eggs, and they ended up going straight down again with better results - well I say better but I do not know for sure, it looks like there are at least another 3 eggs to hatch.

 

I will have to keep a very strict eye on her in case she squashes any more chicks.

 

 

No more news really but here is a photo of the Cobalt Dommie Pied nest of little chickies that hatched out this week -

 

[Ratemymate 0]

Haha Renee my boy not 2 yet has twice lost my rings. First time in the shed and 2nd time the whole backyard and in the house! We have a big yard too. Found most tho, lucky my daughter has good eyes!

[renee 0]

Haha Renee my boy not 2 yet has twice lost my rings. First time in the shed and 2nd time the whole backyard and in the house! We have a big yard too. Found most tho, lucky my daughter has good eyes!

 

Luckily it is not that big a deal ....

 

Somewhere earlier in this thread I was talking up my plans to ring my chicks in chronological order - well that didn't happen and recent events have only compounded matters

[renee 0]

Well I think it is too early to worry about an outbreak of French Moult however, in the past couple of days 3 chickies that had fledged to the bottom of the Breeder Cabinets have lost feathers from their flights and tails.

 

My lovely Normal Cobalt from the Grey Spangle nest and 2 of my DF Yellow chicks looking a bit raggedy

 

 

 

 

They came out early just before I went into hospital a week ago and 'cause I knew I wouldn't be around to pop them back into the nest box several times a day I decided to close up the nest box and let them be with the parents. Not all chicks are affected, the Normal Grey sibling to the Normal Cobalt is fine and the eldest DF Yellow Spangle is unaffected.

 

This is the block of Breeder Cabinets they are in - 3rd Right & 2nd Left

 

Now last week I emptied some Breeder Cabinets of birds on infertile nests and popped these pairs into empty Breeder Cabinets above these. I mention this 'cause of course we have all been told that French Moult is carried on falling Feather Dust and of course in my absence there has been little but none hoovering of the cabinets. And I am thinking that if there has been an outbreak I should be able to pin point who the affected/carrier adults are.

 

Now there is another explanation for these chicks to lose their feathers: it is not uncommon for newly fledged chicks to become dehydrated and lose feathers. And that is what I am hoping.

 

But in the meantime all chicks are on a course of Doxy. A couple of years ago I did have an outbreak of French Moult with newly fledged chicks losing flights and tails and someone whose opinion I respect and trust recommended the Doxy treatment for instances like this and so I am going to repeat it now.

 

 

Oh and I am sick and tired of all the panting that is going on and not fixing itself so now I am a bit more mobile I have put all adults on a 5 day course of Moxi T and if that doesn't fix it they will get a break before going onto Doxy. Trying to explain how to medicate the birds to my trusted but clueless helpers has meant that I have had to postpone any action required till I could get up and point!

[renee 0]

Another little chickie arrived to the Normal Cobalt nest this morning, the second, and I am happy to report that so far the mother hen shows no signs of squashing the little ones.

 

 

But I have had to bring inside Medusa's son. He was moping around on the floor of the aviary and when I caught him up he is light and not a happy chappy at all. I have crop fed him 2mls of Triple C (I do that with any bird as a first measure) and I will check on him in an hour or so. If he shows no signs of improvement I'll pop him into the warm hospital cage.

 

 

Funnily enough it is the breeder birds that are looking worse for wear. The birds that went into the Cabinets and did nothing but produce clear eggs are showing no signs of ill health at all.

[renee 0]

Well Medusa's son is up on the perch now and looking a bit more perky so that's good.

 

But I have had to bring another Green split Blue boy in as he was sitting on the seed dish looking a bit sulky - and yes he was underweight too and he was panting.

 

I have just done the daily water change and I am hoping that the affected birds start drinking the water medicated with Moxi T soon.

 

If I don't see any improvement in a couple of days I will give it to them via the crop .... birds that are under the weather tend to stop eating and drinking so it is sometimes debatable whether they are getting the treatment.

[renee 0]

I was really hoping I would not end this horrible breeding season with more woe but I now simply cannot deny that the nest of DF Yellow chicks have French Moult.

 

You may remember this little fellow from earlier photos, he is chickie number 3 to my award winning DF Yellow and the GreyGreen Spangle. He has lost his flights and more concerning some of his body feather as well -

 

 

 

 

I don't know when he became infected, there has been a lot of panting going on and I am wondering whether there is a relationship ... I first became worried last Monday about my breeder birds - particularly the LightGreen Spangle boy who was in a cabinet above the DF Yellow chicks and by Tuesday I did notice that the Grey Spangle cock bird was also breathing rapidly.

 

 

Fortunately all chickies in the Kindie Cage are unaffected but I still have 25 chicks in nest boxes which are vulnerable.

[Dave_McMinn 0]

Are your birds panting due to heat?

 

Hot weather leads to an increase in French Moult. What about air circulation in the bird room to keep the heat down?

[renee 0]

Are your birds panting due to heat?

 

Hot weather leads to an increase in French Moult. What about air circulation in the bird room to keep the heat down?

 

Well that was what I was advised last week, remember? "Renee you're stressing about nothing - it is warm in here" and I was only too happy to believe that.

 

The thing is Dave, it may be warm in there with the fluoros on but it is not what I would call warm enough to prompt panting - and not all birds are doing it.

 

Nup, I think the heat wave the other Sunday was a contributing factor to kick start an outbreak in carrier birds. I closed up the breeding room to keep the temperature down - next time the mercury rises I will keep everything open and use a lot of fans.

[Ratemymate 0]

Fan with a bucket of water in front of it helps a bit. I even put a towel in so the water slowly leeches out the bucket into the fans air it is blowing.

 

I pulled all my pairs the day before the heatwave. Good timing i guess

[renee 0]

Fan with a bucket of water in front of it helps a bit. I even put a towel in so the water slowly leeches out the bucket into the fans air it is blowing.

 

Yes that is a good tip. Temperatures are set to hover around 30C this week.

 

I pulled all my pairs the day before the heatwave. Good timing i guess

 

I pulled as many pairs as I could but there were some nests where I just could not.

 

 

 

Are your birds panting due to heat?

 

I just put a thermometer in there about 1/2 hour ago. Current reading 24C - hardly hot.

 

I will check again later and then compare with the forecasted daily temperature.

[**KAZ** 0]

It hasnt got hot here yet.........and my breeding birds are in a room of the house. I think I will be okay to continue with the help of a mobile airconditioner if the room gets hotter at some point.

Sorry to hear about your birds Renee...............hopefully things will improve in time real soon.

[renee 0]

Sorry to hear about your birds Renee...............hopefully things will improve in time real soon.

 

Thanks Kaz.

 

Current temperature in the Breeding Room 27C at 2pm local time. Warm but no signs of birds in heat discomfort.

 

Temperature reading under the back veranda is 24C.

 

I will turn the lights off during the day on days forecast above 25C.

[GenericBlue 0]

ren my flight/breeding room gets to 45 some times close to 50 if im not careful

the other day it was 45 i put a small table fan on the roof and just pointed at the wall over top of birds dropped the temp by 10 degree back to 35

with the pop out they can go in and out and the side doors open you get a small cross breeze but my birds dont even drop their wings

breeding birds did look bit hotter than norm but not heavy breathing

so i doubt it is the heat

i have a bath with water in pop out for birds i refill every half hour just cm of water to roll in not more and their drinker is in shade

i wouldn't put wet towel on fan as i gave my birds pneumonia doing that once i thought it was good cool the air but it just makes the air wet gets in their lungs and they start heaving and making a sort of soft pant you haven't got you buckets of water in your room still could of cause extra moister on hot days could you ???

Edited October 29, 2011 by **KAZ**

[renee 0]

you haven't got you buckets of water in your room still could of cause extra moister on hot days could you ???

 

No, I don't GB.

 

I have re-set the light timers to go off at 9am and turn back on at 6pm. That should keep the temperature from rising more than the daily average.

 

I still think the panting is related to the French Moult outbreak. Chickie number 4 to the DF Yellow nest that I fostered to the DF Recessive Pied nest has fledged to the bottom of the Breeder Cabinet and is panting. I crop fed it Hand Rearing mix with Doxy last night and I may do so again tonight. I will be very interested to see if it drops its flights over the next few days.

[renee 0]

Another chickie arrived to day to the Normal Cobalt nest, that is the third! I think one should have hatched on Friday or thereabouts 'cause I opened a DIS yesterday. Still I am hoping for one or two more from this nest.

 

 

 

No one else has dropped their feathers but I am crop feeding 1-2mls of Doxy to any panting chicks- which are the chicks in the DF Recessive Pied nest, chickie number 4 DF Yellow, the Normal Cobalt that had splayed legs and the DF Rec Pied chick for good measure (it isn't panting).

 

 

However, I am most concerned about the three eldest chicks to the Cobalt Dommie Pied nest that want to come out of the nest box now and are situated below the 2 affected nests. Thankfully they are fledging really late and already have tail feathers 1/3 grown ... I may just move all of them to another Breeder cabinet today to minimise the risk.

[renee 0]

Everything is at status quo for the moment. All chicks are receiving Doxy until further notice and the adult birds are completing their 5 day course of Moxi T. In hindsight possibly the Moxi T is not the right meds but I am ticking off what could be causing the panting and Moxi T is for respiratory problems and I would rather complete the course and then consider other alternatives. Also I started the Moxi T before having confirmation of French Moult.

 

It is also worth noting that last Monday and Tuesday I gave all birds S76 for mites, lice and worms and it was after this that the French Moult became apparent in the fledglings nests, although I suspect it was preticipated by the heat wave the Sunday before as it was from that following Monday that I noticed some birds panting and gaping.

 

Earlier in the thread I was considering giving all birds S76 every week for 4 weeks. Well I didn't do that. I asked around and was advised not to in case it affected the little chicks.

 

 

 

No more fledglings have dropped their feathers and so far the French Moult outbreak is at this time confined to 3 nests: the Grey Spangle nest with the Normal Cobalt, the DF Yellow nest with chicks 2 and 3 (the worst affected) and the DF Recessive Pied nest with the 2 fosters panting. Although there are 5 nests which are vulnerable with chicks under the 3 weeks of age. The good news is that they are all at least a meter away. Also good news in that I did move the Cobalt Dommie Pied nest yesterday and so far so good with no birds panting at all.

 

 

In the meantime I took some photos of the DF Recessive Pied nest of the 2 fosters and the DF Recessive Pied, I thought I better get a record of them with feathers in case they drop them

 

 

Cinnamon Recessive Pied - I had high hopes for this one but now I am having second thoughts

I managed to get in a shot before the little bugger flew away!

 

 

Normal Cobalt - he has good feather and blow

He of the splayed legs, his siblings are hatching out now in the N Cobalt and N Green nest

 

 

DF Yellow with suffusion, pity about that he has excellent feather and blow

This is chickie Number 4 and sibling to the French Moult affected chicks

 

 

Well I have just realized that I haven't done a Chick Report for a fortnight so I'll do that this afternoon.