**KAZ**

Oh wow :raincloud: dream holiday !!!! Good for you. :mallet:

Have had ten acceptances so far today for interviews :raincloud:

Looking fantastic Nubbly..............you will have a good showing getting into the nationals the way your birds have been of late :laughter: and as you normally do. I know what you mean about tails. Some of my best ones ready for Sundays show dropped tails too :raincloud:

wow...so sweet. Your babies are looking fantastic mate ...cant wait to see them moult out later on :raincloud: PS would that YF be the Jeff lloyd boy ?

Love the fluffy pantaloons on your babies...............feather flowing out over their little leggies :laughter:

I usually use the rolled oats or quick cooking porridge oats as a base for my soft food mix ( plain brand packs in the supermarket is cheaper ) I will usually add budgie starter ( passwells ), egg and biscuit, whole egg powder, whey protein powder, wheatgerm, polenta and calcivet. The egg powder is whole egg powder not the egg and biscuit. Hope this helps :raincloud:

Today was carrot, sweetcorn, celery tops and a mixture of rolled oats and sunflower with egg powder, whey protein powder and calcivet. :rofl:

Yes Dave Well Nubbly seems to know how to fly around and find the perches. he also found the carrot supply :rofl:

Who are you asking?? Everyone I can think of. If you have any suggestions PM me for arrangements. This will be bigger than a snowball rolling downhill. I will need people able to do any of the interviews further afield...internet or in person. If you have contacts I havent got let me know I am getting yes answers from the bigger breeders, judges etc but wont post details until its all set in concrete :hug:

I like Frannie too :hug: she's a gorgeous lady OH...did you mean Frannie the budgie ?? :rofl:

:rofl: Just to add, since the main emails went out today to some of the prospective interviewees..............email responses are flooding back in and we havent had a NO yet

The "cracked" one ??

Read my article http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....showtopic=13358 in particular this part........... 4. Access to Nesting Box. To gain access to a nesting box, just tap on the outside of the box and parent/ parents will usually hop out and allow you to check the babies. If the parent stays in the box and squarks its head off, try putting your hand in with palm facing down and back of hand upwards. That way you can gently access under the hen and lift her slightly on the back of your hand to check what's underneath. Be prepared for getting a nip...it's hardly ever blood-letting but just a warning nip from parent budgie to you. Some new Mums squark their head off and act very annoyed, others just let you look but watch closely to see what you are doing. At this point the hen may move to the outside of the nesting box while you check everything. Be careful of eggs that may break, and watch for signs of a cracked egg that may indicate an imminent arrival. If you see a chick half out of an egg, leave it be. They can usually manage to sort themselves out and interference sometimes can be fatal to the hatching chick. 5. Do Not Fear Checking Out the Nesting Box and Babies. Checking nesting boxes when chicks start to arrive is a must. You can time it for when parents are looking for food early morning and early evening. It is a good idea to check boxes twice a day. You really need to check to be sure..... A. Babies are being fed B. No eggs are broken or damaged C. Parents aren't eating their eggs and or babies ( Yes...it can happen ) D. Check for dead babies ( some are born through the night and die as they haven't been noticed or fed ) . This is a must as there is nothing worse than finding a dead baby budgie days later and knowing there is bacteria and illness in the nest from that. E. Check nesting materials F. Check for possible spiders, cockroaches or insects in the nest. Check for mouse activity in the nest. G. Check for possible deformities in the babies. i.e. Splayed legs, ( which is correctible if caught early enough and treated ), bone and beak deformities. Much later when their eyes are open,check to see that they have both eyes, as some chicks can be born missing an eyeball. H. Check for food build up in babies beaks ( see Item 8 ). as time goes on checking a nestbox is very important....you will need to and whether or not a bird "lets you"will be irrelevant.

Go check the egg you think has a crack in it :rofl:

Check again if you can buddy :rofl: You must have counted 18 days from the very first egg then. Try working on 18-21 days from around egg number three or so.

she said she bought it at a local garden centre folks :rofl:

How long has it been with the opening ? if too long a chick can dry out and get stuck to the shell. Or it may be a damaged egg. What date were you expecting your first hatchings ?

Generally around 20-40 mins to hatching from an opening in the egg. Doing the sums isnt it too soon for the first hatching ? If so, might be a damaged egg. Is the egg discoloured in any way ?

I have been making moves over the past couple of weeks to organise a set of interviews with top breeders of show budgies, judges, and National winning breeders. I have sent out emails for exressions of interest and we are getting a very good positive response so far, including interviewees offers to add to the interviews by various contacts of their own. Just finalising the interview format right now in readiness to send out. So within a fortnight or less we should have some interviews to read and refer to right here and others to add as they come in. This concept is designed to be inspirational and educational and to forge some enthusiasm within the show breeding frasternity. Watch this space. Suggestions welcome. Volunteers for interviewing ( using the same questions ) also welcome...... the more the merrier. :rofl:

Oh wow !! Thats is so cool !!! Really really cool :rofl:

I put Nubbly out in the aviary today. Only birds left in the breeding room are two in quarantine.

http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....showtopic=19173 and here http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....showtopic=25470

They seem to vary a little as far as the colour of the quill the tail. Here is a young spangle greywing hen showing wing markings and tail her main tail quill is white and the other tail feather quills are grey Male spangle greywing and his tail ( he dropped one tail feather as I put him on the show cage ) as you can see his main tail feather quills are grey. another young female spangle greywing Tail as you can see...with her...her middle tail feather quill is white why the variance, I do not know. Maybe someone can elaborate on that ***This may help or confuse you :rofl:

I have taken photos of three of my greywing spangles and loading them up shortly so you can compare

Me too. Looks greywing ........greywing spangle Not too hot today so I will go catch up my greywing spangles and take photos for you