**KAZ**

I took 17 fledged babies out of their breeder cages today and put them in a mini kindie cage together. Most of them ( 99% ) eating well on their own and the couple that arent all that enthusiastic just yet will learn from the others or will be fed from some older chicks. I leave the light on their cage all night which makes them eat and play a little during the night too. There was so much excitement in that cage from them all, it was like looking at a busy little anthill :sad: Here are some photos.......

Really? I have never removed a shell egg. Mum's often eat the egg, as it increases their calcium. Little ones may chew at the egg. I know I have never heard of it catching on other eggs, and I have never ever removed one.Yes really.....................the egg shells wrap around other eggs, are hard to see and prevent the egg hatching. If not eaten in the first half day remove is the best option. Chick has plum eyes, and that indicates a cinnamon chick in most cases. What are the parents ?

That is very sad :sad: I am sorry about your loss :sad:

:sad: Poor Dave......that would have hurt....a LOT !!

That is very sad :sad: I am sorry you lost the babe. About checking beaks......it takes getting one like this and knowing after how preventable it is, to make you be very sure to check inside beaks every nestbox check every day. It happened to me once so now I am paranoid about checking inside beaks.

Wonderful results Dave with all your breeding program. I am so happy for you that Dumber has left progeny to grow and hopefully develop like him :sad:

you did the best you could Ross, and its so sad when they look like they have turned a corner and on the road to recovery and then they die just like that. Often after these attacks there is a deeper wound or a crack in the skull that develops an insidious infection we hadnt counted on......deeper injury we were unaware of...in these cases it kills them after we see evidence of superficial looking wounds healing.

Others may disagree, but my experience is that plucked chicks do not in turn pluck their own chicks when they become parents. A parent can be great as a parent with one round and pluck another round. Plucking is generally an anxiety thing.

How accurate for colour is the photo ? Any white on a budgies cere is female.

Yes....it was still at the stage it wanted to feel it was in its nest...the nuzzling is like cozying up in its nest. The budgie was too young to be rehomed or sold. By rights the breeder owes a replacement bird, but preferably one who is old enough to leave home...............I wouldnt trust the breeder to tell a straight story. I would demand a refund.

Just like with humans.........there are really smart ones and really dumb ones. IQ tests show this to be true I reckon same with budgies.

Also peg the doors shut. Birds doing JAILBREAK BEHAVIOUR try to get out of the sliding doors usually.

Some budgies look like they are eating and arent actually or YES not eating enough. ...they take the seed in, play with it a little and it falls out the side of the beak. Babies do that when learning to eat. The dads feed them for a week or more here and there once they have left the nest. That budgie needed its dad to teach it to eat.

Baby was sold too soon and before it had learnt to eat on its own without dad helping it.

Should settle down in a few days assuming your cage isnt too tiny :emoticon112:

Present this list of questions to your friend and get back to us with answers.............. Age of budgie ? Poopy bottom ? Sitting fluffed up on the perch ? If so, for how long ? Fresh seed every day and not an owner thinking there was seed when it was HUSKS ? Eucalyptus is safe and the breeder was just covering his A*** when he said it was due to the branch. Candles or incense burned in the house ? Sandpaper sheets in the cage ? Shellgrit in the cage ? Cage kept where ? Covered at night ? What food was the bird given ?

Thanks Kaz, yep understand that 100%, I didn't really explain properly....I was meaning is that we still have some final touches to do, whether we move it under the pergola more or erect an awning, I have thick plastic drops that cover the entire "outside" flight for when it does rain, but no doubt a bit of water would still get in - especially if we had a storm.... I was meaning at the moment it's easier for me to change paper than to change sand if that was to happen until we decide what we are doing... Cool :emoticon112: Your husband really has done a lovely job hasnt he ?

Grate the carrot on to a large flat plate, finesliced some spinach/silver beet, mix through, mash a boiled egg and mix through, add the corn and sprinkle birdseed over it. They will eat it. Feed early morning or at 4 pmish .....their natural feeding times.

Oh dear :emoticon112:

12 months to 4 years for females. 12 months to 6 years for males.

Its because the budgies you just bought have been taken from a large space...........i.e. AVIARY....and are now in a cage.

We need to let it cure a bit ( dry out ) and then we start fitting the walls and dividers and mesh.

I agree with Dave..........check the eyes, as ino is often used in Texas Clearbody breeding and chances of parents carrying lutino would be high.

If you can find out who KA6 is ....yes.

The damage has already been done. The food stuck in the top beak would have happened well before now, built up heat and created the issue. Dont expect to see the food still there. You now have a baby budgie that will need its bottom beak cut back about every fortnight once it leaves the nest and begins to grow. In checking baby budgies in the nest ( see my care of baby budgies in the nestbox article ) you do have to open their beaks and check for food buildup ......every day....and then these things will not happen.