**KAZ**

We will be moving around Christmas time. The bank has passed our finances and we have got the house.

Lovely chicks you have there Dont get confused between clearwings and clearflights

For right now.................happy and active and alert. Sees me coming and ducks into the icecream tub hutch in case I will pick him up I do to check body weight and crop contents.

That hunched look budgies have pretty much always indicates some health issue. Your instincts here are to be listened to, so get her checked for your own peace of mind. Make sure your avian vet is a good one.

Get the avian vet to test for megabacteria.

Dusty is going well and around 15 weeks now. I will get some new photos later. One other sibling that also seemed affected was euthanased at age 2 weeks as its feathers indicated an issue not recognised at the time as a feather duster but most likely was one as well. New photos of Dusty.

There will be no guarantee that a new budgie wont mean fighting. Its a personality thing. Best getting another male not a female regardless of future ambitions for breeding. One female and two males will mean fights and seperating of existing relationships. Just because one female you once had kept the peace doesnt mean another will. Do not forget quarantine..........another cage in another room and another airspace at least 5-6 metres away for minimum 30 days.

Why do you think you need a girl budgie at all ?? You have two boys living in harmony and you want to add another.......then add another male. Females always bicker and peck at others over space and possession of cage things. A young or baby female will be subject to advances from the boys that she is too young to handle thereby giving her stress. The boys will fight over her which changes their relationship, and two females would make the bickering and possessive stuff even worse. Why ( again I say ) get a female at all ? Better off getting another male if you want another budgie. Make sure the cage is big enough for three.

You have some nice big headed babies in there Dave. Check Lazarus though..........looks to have undershot beak ? But it could just be the photo

I used some steel mesh I got from the glaziers I do leadlights for. The kind for the tough security screens.

Have you blocked the holes caused by the ridges in the colourbond at roof level yet ? Because mice can run along the roof and shimmy in and nest in the ceiling if you dont block those holes. No hole over 10mm PS they can eat through space invader foam.

I dont see an sensible need to ever just dole out a portion of food for a bird.......just fill their seed cup or half fill it and replenish when necessary. Whoever decided that two teaspoons of seed was a birds daily requirements needs their head read A birds daily consumption of seed will vary under a wide set of conditions and plenty of food should always be available to them. If they eat all their two spoonsfuls and spend the rest of the day running around, and back and forth pacing inb the cage looking for more......thats stress. Stress brings illness as does not enough food. A bird without seed for 24 hours can die so its best to never risk it. If all this is about wasted seed and messes........then thats the territory that comes with bird ownership. Thats something not worth getting tied up in knots over in my opinion....there's more to worry about in this world than a little spilled or wasted seed. If worried tip all wasted seed into a plantpot and grow it for greens for your birds. People would have more to worry about if they had my seed bill..........100 kilos per month sometimes more. Easy seeing I dont go out and count heads and multiply that by two teaspoons PS If anyone tried portioning my food I would slap 'em

The Princess parrot babies are doing well. They have been named SUGAR for the white female and STRETCH for the blue. They love a cuddle.............as soon as they have had enough food off the spoon they climb up me for a cuddle by my neck.

I agree with you Splat on the heat and stress theory of french moult. When I had french moult go through a long while back it was during the hot weather.

My coated ply was $5 a sheet 2400 by 1200 but I was lucky I stumbled onto that White coated here is around $12 and thats a Bunnings thing. Where are you shopping ? Do you need thicker wood due to temperatures where you are ?

Use vinegar. You can buy cleaning vinegar. Keep away from all other products, and you will have to move the birds out of the house for at least a week.

Why so expensive ?? What are you using. You can get whitecoated ply or whitecoated mdf sheets way cheaper and you dont have to paint because its already white coated. Generally around 1200 by 2400 size sheets for around $12. Check out your options.

Tell your Mum that white vinegar is a great cleaner and safe for birds.

He wouldnt be contagious and can be in the aviary between beak trims

With this particular bird ? Most likely YES

He is 14 weeks old

Dusty is doing well. I have Dusty in a cage ( breeder cage size ) in the aviary in a cabinet. Dusty can see and hear the other budgies and some of them come visit the front of the cage. Breaking cap now and I notice shedding some feathers on the floor of the cage too. Eating well. As long as the crop shows signs of being full of seed Dusty can live there.

You had better stop saying HE because HE is a SHE

Best size for these tow budgies is one thats 60cms wide by 45cms deep by 45 cms high ( or bigger ) we have a whole topic on cages in our cage discussion forum. http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=17858

That has already been stated in this topic. Our own forum link has heaps of vets listed.