**KAZ**

Put the pipe cleaner higher up the leg, past its " knees" and bring legs in a little closer....overcompensating is more beneficial. Cuttlefish is pretty much a useless source of calcium as most budgie just play with it more than ingest it. Liquid calcium is fine. Crushed powdered eggshell is the very best source of calcium. Some hens just dont process the calcium to their chicks well enough.

You are going to need baytrill from the vet for the respiratory infection if it is that. The female should be in a hospital cage right now with warmth and away gfrom breeding and aviary stresses. Respiratory infection would be a singular thing......Specific to the bird infected and not contagious to the others. You do need it diagnosed and you need to be sure of any symptoms in the aviary as well. Youy say it startted with one hen and she has these symptoms...But why are you saying you think you know whats wrong with the whole flock ? Whats going on with the others ? Ps there is no breed of budgie called an american budgie .......It is an adoPted name by pet stores to describe a pet sized budgie.

Agreed....and even better is how rare it is to ever actually observe this....puts a huge smile on your face

It was a very good day in so many ways I will take some photos tomorrow and post as well.

This budgie has scalyface mites and needs ivermectin spot on treatment.

Outstanding blue coloured cere against his green colouring........very nice photo

Here is Livs feathers duster topic http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....c=26506&hl=

I am quaranting and I did say that I was planning on breeding them but not right away. They are both more than a year old! You said in your other topic that you werent quarantining and that your parents wouldnt let you or something and that your parents put them together

and Tony donated blood all for a good cause too

Photos ?

Thank's Kaz, I read about lacking iodine. They have iodine bells in aviary but don't know if he has had it. In the water they would all get it, could they get too much with both? Bird is good to-day no sign of squeak now and alert etc. don't know how long to isolate him if he's improved now. thanks again for advice. If he has improved due to the ivomec you used then it was airsac mites and if so...you need to do all the birds.

Are you sure its 5 weeks old ? As a 5 week old should well be able to glide to the aviary floor okay and learn to fly ( if not already flying ) within a few days. If not FULLY FEATHERED. put it back in the nestbox.

I don't understand what you mean, because I thought budgie' s mated then two days later they lay an egg. I took a picture of her just seconds ago Not two days later.....she may have already been doing her egg thing on her own before you put them together.

Couple of things apart from respiratory issues..............air sac mites ( solved by spot on ivermectin.......you will notice overnight improvement ) and also thyroid issues solved by giving aqueous iodine in the water. BUT of course you need to determine which squeaky voice issue this bird actually has.

I'll see if I can look them up! Macka was trying to say Victoria is a big place and when someone asks where you are they mean what suburb

By adding the food, you dont mean into their seed do you ? Your topic title says weaning them off seed ...........you dont need to wean them off seed, but you need to add extras.

Jodie two days doesnt make an egg. Depression isnt exactly a budgie emotion...it does however indicate illness or a health issue.

Well...delays are happening. My brother arrived for a visit so I was busy taking him places. BUT Renee and her husband Tony , and RIPBudgies arrived yesterday to assist with the aviary. We got a fair bit done. We have more patio tubing up, we have a back wall up and we have the mesh ready to go up. I see it possibly being finished by next weekend at this stage.

And quarantine which you havent got happening and time to settle into a new home before setting up for breeding.

Remove her to an inside cage with a warm lamp near the cage ( 40 watt globe...not energy saver globe ) ............... QUARANTINE is for a very very good reason. This kind of thing being one of them

Are you colony breeding...Lots of pairs in an aviary with nestboxes ? If so, others can affect budgies access to their chosen nestboxes and their ability to get back to their chicks and feed them. Also as Dave suggested..........rodent activity will drive budgies out of their nestboxes. Also, budgies going out of condition during the raising of babies. Lack of food. A lot of people think there is plenty of seed when there is only husks and some people do not anticipate the amount of food feeding parents go through. More info needed please

I agree with all advice. You dont breed birds as soon as you get home as they need to settle from the stresses of being caught, sold, transported, new food, new friends etc. QUARANTINE too, not straight in with the existing birds. How old are they ?

Good luck. Will be a safer place for chicks if she has a nestbox

I would at this stage remove the eggs and keep them in a safe place. Then add a nestbox. Encourage the female to lay her next egg in the nestbox by making all other places in the cage including cage floor not a good place to lay eggs or raise babies...... Once she has laid the next egg in the nestbox, add the other eggs.

The pied has a goodly bit of white on it cere so female. Froget the white rings around nares thing,......that info isnt quite right..... just remember the overall whiteness of a cere means female.