**KAZ**

We got to Collie with the budgies just an hour ago. Budgies are still in cages in the garage till we sort out the aviaries tomorrow and set them free inside each aviary Boy were they noisy on the trip here !!!

Staff member Libby came to day and helped me catch up all my budgies and cage them ready for the trip to the new house. Libby then went in the parrot aviary and met some of the princess parrots. One of them stole the back off Libbys earrring Thanks lib for the help catching my fat fat budgies and heres one of the baby quails that looks very different to its parents ( not sure what kind it is )

question answered. As far as terminology goes..........I say again common usage does not make it correct. The position will always be defended by those that change the terminology.

Because they are petshops and pet shops invent their own terminology if they dont have any facts. Its petshops in america that called pet budgies AMERICAN, call normal mutations of budgies RARE, and call show budgies ENGLISH on the whole. Petshops reinvent the english language to suit their sales of birds. People who do know the right terminology of these birds rarely own petshops to be able to use correct terms for the birds. Common usage of a term does not make it correct

That means either they arent cinnamons ( dad isnt split for cinnamon ) or it can mean they are both boys if Dad is split for cinnamon or just mean they are normals

Do both chicks have black eyes or is one plum ? I can only see the black eyed chick from that photo

Firstly you do not have an "english" budgie. If anything it is a show budgie or exhibition budgie but not "english". If you lived in england maybe an english budgie but even the english do not refer to their budgies as english. One bred from show or exhibition stock is just that a show budgie or exhibition budgie or bred from such. As far as its size goes, that purely down to genetics......what genes it gets from its parents. Even a runt in a clutch from show budgies can grow on suddenly at around 6-8 months and surprise you, so maybe too soon to be worried. But really you need to view parents and grandparents to see what its come from and even then it may still come out better than its parents if the pairing for breeding it was good. Just because someone says they have "english" budgies like the breeder who sold you yours, does not mean they breed for show or to perfect or improve their stock. They may just think its a way to get more money for the babies and not be selecting for better bred babies. PS there is no such thing as an American budgie either. Correct terminology is pet type budgie not american. American budgie is terminology only used in the states and begun by pet stores to differentiate between two type or sizes of budgie.

Good idea about the breeding journal. You dont have twins as they each hatched from different eggs. As twins are a rare occurrence its best bot to refer to non twins as twins if you get my drift Remove any spare shells as soon as you can or they do get stuck around good eggs and stop the other eggs hatching.

Thankyou very much Rob

Thanks Phill........great info

BREEDER PROFILE ROB DUNSTAN Q1 . AT WHICH POINT IN TIME DID YOU FIRST DEVELOP AN INTEREST IN BUDGERIGARS? IT SEEMS I HAVE ALWAYS LIKED THEM BUT I HAD NOT SEEN THE EXHIBITION STYLE BIRD UNTIL 2000. Q2 . WHAT WAS YOU FIRST AVIARY / BREEDING ROOM LIKE? MY FIRST AVIARY WAS 8 METRES LONG , 3 METRES WIDE AND 2 METRES HIGH. ONE BIG OPEN CAGE WITH ONE 2 METRE SECTION ON THE END COVERED WITH COLOUR BOND. I FILLED IT WITH AS MANY DIFFERENT COLOURED BUDGIES AS I COULD FIND. NEXT I ADDED 2 NEST BOXES PER HEN AS RECOMMENDED. HENS STARTED LAYING. NEXT EGGS GETTING TOSSED OUT AND BROKEN ALL OVER THE PLACE. THEN HENS STARTED LOSING TOES AND IN SOME CASES WHOLE FEET. THAT WAS ENOUGH , BLOODY LITTLE CANNIBALS! Q3 . WHERE DID YOUR FIRST BIRDS COME FROM AND OVER WHAT PERIOD OF TIME DID YOU CONTINUE WITH THESE LINES? . MY FIRST EXHIBITION BIRDS CAME FROM AVARIETY OF BREEDERS ( ANOTHER MISTAKE MADE ) I BRED WITH THESE BIRDS FOR AROUND 3 YEARS. THEN SOLD 90% OF THEM. Q4 . ARE YOUR PRESENT BIRDS FROM THESE SAME BLOODLINES , IF NOT WHAT BLOOD LINES HAVE IMPACTED MOST WITHIN YOUR STUD? NO THEY ARE LONG GONE ! MOST IMPACT ? ARMSTRONG AND GEARING BIRDS. Q5 . HOW DO YOU PREPARE YOUR BIRDS FOR THE BREEDING SEASON? 45 DAYS OF DOXY THEN PROBOTICS TO GIVE GUT FLORA A KICK START THEN IVERMECTIN SPOT ON THE NECK. THEN FEED THEM WELL FOR AT LEAST 6 WEEKS BEFORE PAIRING THEM UP. Q6 . DO YOU SET YOUR BREEDING SEASON Y THE CALENDAR OR BY SIGNS THE BIRDS ARE READY? BY SIGNS THE BIRDS ARE READY , IT IS OF NO USE TRYING TO BREED BIRDS OUT OF BREEDING CONDITION. Q7 . WHEN PAIRING UP DO YOU GO BY PEDIGREE OR VISUAL APPEARANCES OR BOTH? VISUAL , THEN CHECK PEDIGREE , IF THEY ARE TOO CLOSELY RELATED THEY ARE NOT PAIRED UP. Q8 . HOW CLOSELY DO YOU MATE YOUR BIRDS AND WHAT RELATED MATINGS HAVE BEEN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL? COUSIN TO COUSIN IS NORMALLY THE CLOSEST. I HAVE USED MOTHER TO SON , FATHER TO DAUGHTER PREVIOUSLY TO GET SAME BLOODLINE BREEDING STOCK. BUT , IT IS A WASTE OF TIME AS THIS CAUSES THOSE BIRDS TO GO IN TO A TIME WARP AS THERE IS NO IMPROVEMENT. REALLY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER TO PAIR THE MOTHER , FATHER , SON AND DAUGHTER TO BETTER BIRDS THAN THEMSELVES. Q9 . WHAT VARIETY MIXES DO YOU USE FOR IMPROVEMENT IF ANY OR IS IT JUST BEST TO BEST? I USE SPANGLE AND SPANGLE DOUBLE FACTOR THE SAME WAY OTHERS USE NORMALS. THE CHCIKS FROM THESE JUST SEEM TO HAVE THAT LITTLE BIT EXTRA DOWN. Q10 . HOW MANY CHICKS AND ROUNDS DO YOU ALLOW YOUR BIRDS TO HAVE? 4 CHICKS PER ROUND FOR ME IS THE IDEAL. BUT , SOMETIMES THERE IS NO WHERE TO TRANSFER EXTRA CHICKS TO . I LET THEM HAVE 2 ROUNDS BUT IF A 3RD CLUTCH IS LAID , I TRANSFER THE EGGS. IF IT IS AT THE END OF BREEDING AND NO WHERE TO PUT THEM I DONATE THEM TO A BREEDER THAT HAS A NEST AVAILABLE Q11 . WHAT FEATURES ARE THE HARDEST TO PUT ON A BIRD AND HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT ESTABLISHING THAT FEATURE AND RETAINING IT , THE DIRECTIONAL FEATHER , STRAIGHT BACKLINE, SHOULDER AND LENGTH? ALL OF THE ABOVE , IF YOU GET ONE FEATURE RIGHT THEN INTRODUCE ANOTHER FEATURE USUALLY THE ORIGINAL FEATURE GOES BACKWARDS. Q12 . WHAT IS YOUR FEEDING PROGRAMME DURING THE BREEDING SEASON AND DOES IT DIFFER DURING THE NON BREEDING SEASON? ALL MY BIRDS ARE FED THE SAME DIET ALL YEAR , EXCEPT WHEN ON THE DOXY , THEN IT IS JUST SEED MIX. Q13a . PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT AVIARY DESIGN , SIZE FLIGHTS BREDING CAGE DESIGN AND NUMBER OF CAGES ETC? AS I AM IN A RENTAL PROPERTY MY AVIARY IS JUST A BASIC AVIARY PLACE ON A PURPOSE BUILT WOODEN FLOOR TO STOP MOISTURE. BREEDING CAGES AND NEST BOXES ARE A CONTINUAL EXPERIMENT. THE CURRENT ONES ARE LOOKING okay , I HAVE 14 CAGES. Q13b . WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT YOUR SETUP IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO DO SO? I WOULD IMPORT OESIG AVIARIES AND BREEDING CAGES. Q14 . DO YOU USE PREVENTATIVE MEDICATION DURING AND PRE BREEDING SEASON AND IF SO WHAT AND WHY ? SEE Q5. Q15 . WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE GREATEST ASSETT TO BEING IN THE HOBBY AND WHERE DO YOU SEE THE HOBBY HEADING WITH SO MANY BREEDERS LEAVING TODAY? ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE WHICH IS USUALLY FREELY GIVEN AND ACCESS TO GOOD BIRDS. IT SEEMS TO ME THERE WILL MOST LIKELY BE FEWER BREEDERS IN THE FUTURE BUT THEY WILL HAVE MORE AND BETTER QUALITY BIRDS. Q16 . WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER THE MOST IMPORTANT VALUE ABOUT FRIENDSHIPS FORMED AND FELLOWSHIP WITHIN THE BUDGIE BREEDING FRATURNITY? THESE FRIENDSHIPS ARE FOREVER. SOME I PREFER TO MY OWN RELATIVES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Q17 . DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON HOW TO PROMOTE THE HOBBY TO GET MORE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR CLUBS? THEY HAVE TO HAVE A REAL INTEREST TO BEGIN WITH AND A WILLINGNESS TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO GET TO THE LEVEL THEY WANT TO BE AT IN THE HOBBY. PUTTING UP POSTERS MAY GET ONE OR TWO NEW MEMBERS PER YEAR BUT THAT IS NOT ENOUGH. THE MEDIA IS A GREAT WAY TO SHARE INFO , WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO UTILISE THE MEDIA. THIS FORUM I HAVE NOTICED HAS CONVERTED A FEW PET TYPE BREEDERS OVER TO THE OFTEN FRUSTRATING EXHIBITION BREEDING. I CONGRATULATE YOU ON THAT . Q18 . WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF HAVING A NATIONAL SHOW? YOU CAN SEE WHAT DIRECTION OTHERS ARE GOING IN REGARD TO THE FEATURES ON THEIR BIRDS. ALSO IT IS A FANTASTIC CHANCE TO TALK TO SOME OF THE 250 TO 300 OTHER BREEDERS ALL IN ONE SPOT. Q19 . HOW WOULD YOU GO ABOUT POINTING A NOVICE BREEDER IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO ENABLE THEM TO REACH THE TOP BENCH IN AROUND 8 YEARS? IDEALLY EVERY NOVICE THAT JOINS A CLUB SHOULD BE ASSIGNED A MENTOR THAT CAN BE A POINT OF CONTACT IN TIMES OF TROUBLE. SERIOUS BIRD PROBLEMS DO NOT HAPPEN JUST PRIOR TO CLUB NIGHTS. JUST A PHONE NUMBER SO THAT HELP IS AT HAND WHEN NEEDED WOULD BE GREAT. I CAN`T EVEN IMAGINE THE AMOUNT OF NOVICE BREEDERS THAT WOULD HAVE LEFT BECAUSE THEY HAD NO REAL ASSISTANCE WHEN IT ALL GOT TOO MUCH FOR THEM OR THEY WERE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP. Q20 . WHAT DO YOU DO WITH BIRDS WITH FEATHER DISORDERS? IT DEPENDS ON THE SEVERITY OF THE DISORDER. Q21 . WHO HAS INSPIRED YOU MOST IN THE HOBBY? GARY ARMSTRONG , CEC & BRENDA GEARING AND DANIEL LUTOLF. Q22 . WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR LOWEST AND HIGHEST POINTS IN THE HOBBY? LOWEST? WHEN I HAD TO SELL ALMOST ALL OF 10 YEARS OF BREEDING AND GENETICS WHEN WE MOVED FROM WA TO VIC. HIGHEST ? STILL TO COME , WE LIVE IN HOPE. Q23 . WHAT IN YOUR MIND WAS THE BEST BIRD YOU EVER BOUGHT THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE IN YOUR STUD AND WHAT APPROXIMATELY WAS ITS COST? A YELLOW DOUBLE FACTOR SPANGLE HEN FROM GARY ARMSTRONG. SHE WAS A SMALL HEN BUT PRODUCED SOME RIPPER BIRDS , BETTER THAN HERSELF. COST ? $100. Q24 . IF YOU WERE JUST STARTING OUT ALL OVER AGAIN AS A NOVICE IN TODAYS WORLD , WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU DISPENCE BASED ON WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT? VISIT BREEDERS AVIARIES. FIND A STYLE OF BIRD THAT YOU LIKE THE LOOK OF THEN PURCHASE CHEAPER BIRDS FROM THAT BREEDER. ONLY PURCHASE MORE EXPENSIVE BIRDS WHICH ARE RELATED TO YOUR BIRDS AFTER YOU HAVE HAD AROUND 2 YEARS BREEDING EXPERIENCE WITH THE CHEAPER BIRDS. EXPENSIVE BIRDS DIE AS QUICK AND SOMETIMES QUICKER THAN CHEAP BIRDS. Q25 . WOULD YOU HAVE A PHILOSOPHY TO SHARE THAT HAS HELPED YOU IN DAILY LIFE WITH YOUR BUDGERIGARS? ASK QUESTIONS , ASK QUESTIONS AND THEN ASK MORE QUESTIONS. Q26 . WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE MUTATION OR VARIETY THAT REALLY INSPIRES YOU AND WHAT VARIETIES ARE YOU SPECIALISING IN AT THE MOMENT? MY ALL TIME FAVOURITES ARE SPANGLE AND D/F SPANGLE. SPECIALISING IN LUTINO CURRENTLY. Q27 . GIVEN ALL OF THE ABOVE DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER TIPS OR HINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE AND SUSTAINAN EXHIBITION BUDGERIGAR STUD? DON`T BE IN A HURRY. IT IS A LONG ROAD WE TRAVEL AND THERE IS NO END SO NO POINT IN RUSHING. MOST OF ALL , KNOW AND ENJOY YOUR BIRDS AND YOUR HOBBY. Q28 . IF THERE WAS ONE MAIN THING YOU HAVE WANTED TO SAY THAT ENCOMPASSES YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT BEING INVOLVED IN BUDGERIGARS AND CLUBS , WHAT WOULD IT BE? AS IN EVERY DAY LIFE YOU WILL MEET DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE. I HAVE FOUND MOST PEOPLE I CALL FRIENDS ARE FROM THE BUDGERIGAR FRATERNITY. EXCELLENT PEOPLE!

there are purple budgies. They are called violets and you need a visual violet to see it as purple. Hit the search button on here and type in violets

Two handsome fellas Good to "see" you

Its not a funds thing....not about money at all. But we have to build a large garage for the cadillacs, so until that goes up I cant do the aviaries permanently. I plan to build off the back of the garage later on. Might be at least 6-8 months till the garage is completed.

although a native plant I just saw it on the list of toxic plants too

Hope it all works out okay Dave I think I can extend the long galvanised aviary out to the same level as the other one at some point, or create a new aviary in that area. Still havent got a birdroom, but I can make use of part of my leadlight workshop.

Sounds like you have a yellowface blue budgie. The only way it will " turn yellow" is if you are seeing down feathers only and not full body feathers. Has there been significant feather loss lately ? PHOTOS needed........before and after.

Throw away your sand sheets. They arent needed for budgies and can indeed harm them if ingested. they can also add to feet issues. As far as wearing down nails goes, that petshop blurb written on packets. Normal branches are good enough. A budgies nails and beak will only grow out of size and shape and control if it has a health issue causing the growth. No sandsheets or sandpaper in my aviaries and on their perches and none of my birds have long nails or beaks

Birds being caught up and moved this week, somewhere between mid week and the weekend.

Sounds like your aviary isnt quite big enough. One of those tall and not so wide ones and the half door will allow for escapes. In which case its better you add some of these feeder bowls and external waterers so you dont have to go in there as much

Almost ready two new aviaries for the new place Still think I have to get the first aviary more level yet to do list......... finish flooring area ( has mousemesh and yet to complete sand cover ) Put perching in Feeding and watering areas Lay cement slab path between both aviaries and shed cut away excess mouse mesh and peg down mousemesh joins with tent pegs under sand layer add metal sheeting to cover lower mesh areas. I hate the idea mice can just walk through the mesh so I will sheet the aviaries to 3ft high all around. One of the aviaries has weatherproof sides that attach for bad weather To be continued

ditto and based on this photo may have the beginnings of scalyface

Many a time I have tried to save the weak chicks who wont eat once they hatch and many times it fails no matter how hard I try. I now dont try. Let the strongest survive and the other dont make it for a very good reason I have worked out.

Boy

Boy