Sailorwolf

It's a tough one. Lets us know how you get on.

Love the cobalt yellowface. I've always wanted a cobalt that striking in colour. But what about yellowface 2's? JB There are at least 10 petshops that I can think of off the top of my head in Auckland right now. You just missed out. You should have pmed me and I would have directed you It's sad when you know all of the pet shops off the top of your head isn't it.

I just went through it and I am blown away by the little guy and his girlfriend Betty. So intelligent

They look like they have healed up. The first one I think has a pretty good chance of survival as its top beak meets with its bottom beak, so it should be able to pick up food. The little fella on the bottom doesn't look as good, but he still has a chance. We have old battery hens that haave been debeaked and they do really well.

18. When the BBC is your homepage

You never know, they may grow. We support you in whatever decision you make as you know what is best for your birds. I personally, would keep them going for a little longer, but I don't see them everyday or know them or know if they are suffering. Hugs, it's a tough one, you know what is right for you and the babies. Yea, I agree with MB. Don't beaks grow at the rate of fingernails?

Yea. I guess so. Very similar. A lot of viruses work that way There is still a lot they don't know about it

Again, it all depends on susceptibility. The french moult adults may not be shedding the virus at the time of breeding.

Haha Elly. Good job. We did go very off topic

Haha and Merry Christmas to you too :22:

Hi Dean. Good to see another kiwi on here. The Aussies, Americans and Canadians on here aren't that bad (they're actually kinda cool, but don't tell them I said that )

Exactly what I just said. Some birds will be more prone to it than others, because they have weaker immune systems or had something happen to them that lead them to have a weaker immune system at the time, be it genetic or aquired. It is also possible that it is also passed down vertically through breeding.

No. English budgies are more than just size. They also have longer feather, are more buff and longer masks and bigger crowns etc etc. English budgies have genes that go towards those factors more so than pet budgies. My internet shuts off soon, so I won't be able to discuss more until tomorrow.

Kaz. Just because it spreads by faeces and dander doesn't mean all your birds are going to get it. They are all obviously very healthy and have competent immune systems that can prevent it setting up infection or from affecting them. It is likely that many of your birds carry it, but are not affected by it. Infected birds continue to shed the virus throughout their lives if I remember rightly (I don't have my notes with me) and other birds may pick it up, but it may not establish an infection as the bird is healthy and can deal with it, or the bird gets infected, recovers and becomes immune, or it does set up infection but does not effect the bird, turning it into a carrier. It is viral. It is a polyomavirus. We studied it and it is caused by a virus. I'm just glad we don't have it in this country.

Haha, but if you breed blue to blues you will only get blues. Everything in a budgie's appearance is ruled by genetics pretty much. Pied markings are caused by an absence of pigment in the white areas. Blue birds are caused by an absence of yellow pigment. Cinnamon birds are caused by an abscence of black eumelanin pigment and have more phaeomelanin and brown eumelanin. Dilute birds are caused by a lack of the eumelanin to extend properly Albinos and Lutinos are cause by complete lack of pigment. These mutations are all controlled by minimal numbers of genes, usually just 1. Shape and conformation, feather quality and length is controlled by a large number of genes all together. A breed has all of these genes a certain way. Using your rottie cross pittie example, crossing an English and a pet together will also get you a funny mixture too. Although rotties only come in one colour (so aren't a good example), pitties come in many colors and you could argue breeding a black pittie with a piebald pittie will get you a funny mixture too. But a black pittie is not a different breed to a piebald pittie. The confusion is caused because strange names have been given to the colours. That's why horses are a good example as they have strange names for their colours. A chestnut horse is essentially a reddish brown horse with same colour mane and tail. A palomino horse is a dilute form of a chestnut horse. You can get palominos and chestnut horses in most of the different breeds. You can get chestnut thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, Arabians, etc etc and the same occurs with palominos, bays, browns, greys, blacks, duns, roans etc etc. Palomino in itself is not a breed. Just like Danish pieds are not a breed. So to summarise. Colouring is nothing to do with breed (unless stated so in breed guidelines (and no budgie breed has a specific colour adhered to it) but I will use this following as an example: A grey dog is not always a weimeranar, but a weimaranar is always grey). Also if you breed spangle to spangle you will not always end up with spangles, because of the gene dominance. Spangle is a co-dominant gene. Inos are recessive genes so you will never get any other type if you breed inos to inos. Palomino horses are like sf spangles. Two palominos together will produce 50% palominos, 25% cremellos and 25% chestnuts. Chestnut itself is recessive, so if you breed two chestnuts together you will always get chestnut (remembering that palomino is the dilute form of chestnut, so you could get palominos out of it if one of the parents was carrying, but that would be like breeding 2 blue budgies together. All babies will be blue, but you could possibly get dilutes. And breeding 2 dilutes together you will always get dilute babies). I hope that helps. It is quite a complicated matter.

haha, you crack me up :rofl:

That's great MB!

So the third picture is the mother? You should probably point that out, because I thought they were all the same bird

Some people just don't know do they. That's when you get out the scientific names of budgies and canaries and go "Look they are NOT the same species!"

Because a Danish pied is a pattern or colour combination that can exist in both pet and English breeds. Like Palomino horses exist in Arabian, Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses. It is a colour rather than a breed. Palomino is the name of the colour, along with Chestnut, Bay etc etc. This goes for Australian Dom pieds and Fallows. The mutation is just named after where it occurred. Breed really describes the shape and conformation of the animal type. (Some dog breeds can only be a certain colour according to breed standards, but they still fit the breed conformation. Like brown and white Newfoundland dogs are not considered showable and Weimeraners can only be grey, but Budgie breeds do not have specific colours, just like a poodle can be any colour). There is no point calling budgies Australian. That would be like calling all guinea pigs South American, all chinchillas Chilean, all cats Egyptian, all dogs European and all horses Spanish.

French moult can be spread via faeces and Dander. Adults just don't seem to succumb to it. It may pay to separate the other babies from him though just as a precaution. French moult is a weird one in the way it is spread and nobody really knows how it works.

It's a puzzler. I guess if he is otherwise happy and healthy, just keep and eye on him. What about parasites (although I think the others would be affected too)

Well why don't you educate her then

I read in an article on Budgerigars.co.uk that dehydration can cause feathers to fall out. Maybe they aren't getting enough water in the handrearing formula.

Yes I definitely agree with JimmyB. This site is top notch!