Rainbow

Yeah, lettuce is mostly just water. I bought some budgie grass (made by Beak Appetit) but when I gave it to them they all flew away...it scared them. Then they ignored it. Silly budgies. I'm going to try again today. It's supposed to have a lot of the amino acids and vitamins they need. I'm going to try the little corn and celery too, since you have such good luck with that. Sprouted seeds are supposed to be very nutritious too, but I've never had much luck growing them.

Good idea, budgeover! I tried to give mine regular corn on the cob, almost amputated my finger in the process, and got mad and didn't give them any so they still haven't tried it. Those little ones I wouldn't have to cut up. :nest:

Some of them like them, some don't. They don't go crazy for it or anything, but I give it to them anyway. I just cut the pepper into skinny strips, then cut the strip in half and clip.

Have you noticed her sneezing any? Is the wetness just above the cere, or is it on the sides of her face too? Do the wet feathers look dirty at all?

There are a few different thoughts on this. Mine normally get fresh food twice a day - breakfast and dinner. At each feeding, they get several different kinds of veggies. They don't care much for fruit, so I don't offer it often. Some people think that is too much, and only feed fresh food a few times a week. I've never had a problem, and it all gets eaten with gusto. But I've always done it from day one, so they are used to it. Some things I feed are broccoli, baby carrots, green and red pepper, red leaf lettuce, regular green kale and purple kale, carrot tops, baby spinach. If you do a search of the forum, there are several threads with links to lists of safe foods. As far as how much, remember a budgie is a small bird. If the piece of food you are feeding is too large, they may be afraid to try it. A small piece of broccoli (smaller than their head until they figure out what it is), a baby carrot, a few pieces of baby spinach, a slice of apple cut in half are about the right size. If you can get organically grown produce, that is best. Even then remember to wash it thoroughly before you offer it. I clip food to the sides of the cage, because they will ignore it if it is offered in a food dish. Avoid apple seeds, onions, and dairy. Budgies do not have the enzyme necessary to digest lactose, and it can cause problems if fed on a regular basis. Don't forget to add some pellets to the diet too, preferably ones without artificial colors and preservatives like ethoxyquin or BHA/BHT. Some studies show no problems with those preservatives, others show they create a host of health problems, so you should research those and make your own decisions. Hope this has helped a little. :nest:

Her cere looks normal to me. When hens go into breeding condition the extra hormones their bodies produce causes the changes in cere color and texture. Mine stay that way all year round, once they get brown and thickened they never change. If she is laying, it may gradually go more whitish towards the end of her raising her clutch as she goes out of condition, but that is normal too.

No, because green is dominant to blue. If your hen was split to blue, the blue gene could come from your green hen, and blue genes are all the male has to offer. It takes two blue genes to get a visibly blue bird. But the babies, when paired to blue birds, could produce blue babies.

His legs look fine to me. They are so cute, it makes me go all warm and fuzzy inside to see them. :nest: You could get some blues, but only if your hen is split for blue. Otherwise they should all be green.

He looks plucked to me. I think as chirpy said the feathers should grow back alright as it doesn't look too bad. I would take him to the vet though, as I think it is somewhat odd that the plucked areas are where he can reach easily. Usually I've seen the plucking occurs on the back of the head or the back of the bird if it is being done by another bird. It is in the same place on both sides, so it's possible he has some type of infection and is self-plucking.

I hope you can take her to the vet's soon. It sounds to me like she's been vomiting, and that's why her facial feathers looked so unkempt. At least that was my first thought. If you can't get to the vet's today, then please, take her to the one you found first thing in the morning! Keep her warm tonight, and let us know how it turns out.

Most of what I've read says you should just leave the eggs and she will lose interest. She knows they are not fertile, or she wouldn't leave them to play. It's just a hormonal thing, not all single hens will lay eggs. I think she will stop brooding them on her own. Just keep a watch on them, if they turn grey toss them.

Can you really stand it that long????

http://groups.msn.com/BirdLoversInternatio...to&PhotoID=7885 There you go. They're so cute! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think those must be older than one week...mine didn't look anything like that that early. I would guess 2-3 weeks on those, but they are really cute. budgeover, you are funny.

I'm not sure exactly how long it takes, as all mine appeared to hatch at night. I'd wake up and hear little peeping noises. So cute... So if you are seeing signs now, it should not be too long. HOW EXCITING!!! :beer:

Well then, that's great news.

Well, the antibiotics should help, but if it is psitticosis they will be given longer term. I semi-converted mine by mixing pellets with seed, actually burying the seed under the pellets and only having a few seeds showing. It took about 5 or 6 different brands of pellets before I found any they would really even try. You may have to try a few, but if you can get Harrison's from your vet that is the best. If pellets really are a bust, you will need to add a lot more veggies into the diet. I am trying to get mine to eat a cooked diet as well, but they mostly just walk in it and eye it with disgust right now. I'm trying different flavors of Beak Appetit, but will order some Crazy Corn and try that if they don't start eating what they've got soon. I mix some of their regular veggies in with it, and sprinkle some seed on top so they know it's food.

I know it will be hard, but try not to stress yourself out until you know something. It makes you feel bad and makes the time go by so much more slowly too.

I hope he comes back with a clean bill of health. I'll bet you will worry until then, won't you? The not knowing is sometimes the worst part, you know. Hopefully it will not be anything at all. Thinking about you 'till then. Let us know what happens.

Keeping them in seperate cages will be the only way to make sure they don't breed. They can have supervised time out together of course. I can attest to the fact that they will breed without a nestbox if they really really want to. Bea, mine were going to lay behind the cushions on my sofa... and they had lived together in the same cage for over a year without any interest in breeding at all...

Mine can fly just fine, they just choose not to more often than not. And it is only the hens that are heavy...maybe from guarding all those food dishes...

I've got some fat budgies too. One looks like a butterball. It's very hard to get them to lose weight. I've lessened the amount of seed they get, and they are all flighted, but the heftier ones don't fly much. I also changed the Harrison's they get to the regular maintenance formula instead of high potency, and they've never had a sugary seed treat in their lives. So far I'm not having much luck. If you find a way to slim them down, please share. I worry about them carrying all that extra weight.

His budgies are the large "English type". Soppy about fluffy things....what an accurate way to phrase that! That's exactly how it is! Good luck with nursing your sick hen back to health.

Some people are good at selling babies, hence we have breeders, and others...well not so much. I appear to be in the latter category. I had every intention of selling all of the babies, I really did, but I just couldn't. If you get easily attached you might have a tough time of it. And 10 birds are very dusty. I've got.... Just kidding. There is a breeder up here somewhere, but he has exhibition budgies and not pet size like ours. I might have his card somewhere, I can try to find it if you want the larger budgies. I don't know anything about his setup, but if I remember correctly he also judges shows so he should be knowledgeable. That would be a good idea if they would let you. The one up here does that too, but I hate the fact they are selling unweaned babies. In my opinion, that should not be allowed. Otherwise maybe your vet could show you. Have you ever given oral meds? It's similar in that you need to make sure you angle the syringe from your right to your left to get it down the right pipe. :beer: Excellent! And education is really the key, isn't it? I don't think most people are bad pet owners, they are uneducated pet owners. I was afraid of that! It would be hard not to.

....flashbacks..... When it comes down to it, will you really be able to part with any of them? Not that I'm the best example or anything, but for me once you've seen the eggs, heard the peeps, seen the helpless little babies, seen the little eyes open, watched the feathers begin to poke through, studied the new dynamics between the budgie parents, cleaned the nest box, cupped your hands inside and watched some babies climb through like it's nothing (and they are softer than you can imagine) and others pretend to disappear in the corner and others gently nibble on your fingers and of course heard the one who screams bloody murder and freaks out the hen (the first time it happens you will jump! LOL), seen little heads poke out of the nest box hole, watched very wobbly babies learn to perch, seen them beg for food (CUTE!), watched them beat their heads across the ceiling during their first flight, AND know that they will fearlessly perch on your finger or shoulder as you carry them through the house, not flying away (at least not for the first few weeks), trusting you because they don't know any different yet... I was a sucker for cuteness. Putting aside the fact that the babies will be too cute to sell...if you go through with this, you may want to put aside some $$$ for emergency vet fees should your hen become eggbound or for well-baby checkups for two clutches of chicks, guess 4-5 babies per clutch, plus whatever meds they may need (yeast overgrowth is very common and you probably won't know there is a problem until the gram stain results come back). $$$ for extra cages, because the first clutch will not be able to still live in the same cage as the nestbox with new eggs in it. They are much too curious and still want to return to the box as long as it is hung. This spells trouble for baby birds, as they don't get why mommy won't let them go back in (unless they are Mystery - hence one of the reasons for her name ) and they keep getting attacked whenever they go near - which is all the time, because they don't get it. On a completely serious note, I find your reasons for wanting to breed to be very sound and well thought out. If you decide to do it, I think you are on the right track with how you will educate prospective caretakers. I would drive out to see the babies.

Congrats on all the babies! :beer: