jenene283

I dont know. I could hear one in a gum tree not far away so with a bit of luck (something I'm not having much of) some of them might find their way home. But with all those crows etc around here I dont hold much hope I'm afraid.

I am absolutely heart broken. I arrive home from work today to find the door to my budgies aviary open and all (except one that cant fly properly) my breeders gone.I just couldnt believe my eyes. I am just so upset. I loved those little mites like I love my family and now they are all gone. Some of them I had hand reared myself and spent so much time on them. I dont know what to do or where to turn. Someone obviously would have had to open the cage as the catch was secure when I last opened their cage. Life is so cruel sometimes.

I'm not sure of all the benefits but I read on the internet that eucalyptus leaves provide budgies with a lot of medicinal properties. I give them regularly to my birds and they devour them within days. They absolutely love them and the branches gives them something to chew as they would if they were in the wild.

I hand-reared all my baby chicks this breeding season and it was a HUGE job! So I hope you have lots of spare time. It was fun at the same time though. If you are going to hand rear I would advise you start when the chicks are at least 2-3 weeks old. That way they get all the good nutritious food from Mum when they are first hatched and will be off to a good start. You should be prepared to get up of a night and feed them as well and most importantly make sure they are kept warm at all times. Which brings me to the topic of brooders. I bought a cheap one from Ebay, I think I paid about $50 for it. It was a hand made one from a guy in Sydney. It works great. It is just one of those big plastic storage containers with a thermostat and light bulb. I have reared Princess parrots, King Parrots and budgies in it. and have had a lot of success. but I cant give you instructions on how to make it myself but I'm sure I've seen how to do it on the internet. So if you do a bit of searching on your computer you should be able to find something!!! Good luck and if you want more help with hand rearing dont hesitate to email me! It was good fun and the budgies turn out to be extremely tame.

You guys crack me up - I get my daily dose of laughter from this site!! Good to hear she's sitting on the eggs!!

Well in that case all I can think of is maybe get your hands on an incubator?? But then you have to hand rear them which is very time consuming.! Let us know what you decide to do.

If you have other hens sitting on eggs you could try and foster out the eggs to them, it's worth a try!!

I have always been told not to inbreed any sort of animal, whether it be a bird, dog, cow or anything. I'm not an expert on the subject and I'm sure you will receive some expert advise on this forum but personally I wouldnt be doing it and I take particular care not to pair up related birds when choosing breeding pairs.

I had this problem a few months ago with one clutch of chicks. They all developed french moult and was advised to cull them as it is very contagious. It was very heartbreaking but had to be done. I have no idea why they had it as all my other chicks were very healthy. Do you have any photoes you could post???

Definately take the nesting box out NOW!! You should only let your birds breed twice in 12 months. It takes a lot out of the hens laying and rearing her chicks and you should never let them breed any more than they already have within the 12 months. If she lays any more eggs take them out and dispose of them. She wont become egg-bound.

I have a budgie that I hand raised myself and he is very similar in colour to yours!! My bird certainly rules the roost in my house - he is almost human. He is only 4 months but carries on like he's been around longer than us!! He loves to get out of his cage and fly around the house. (He's had a few close calls by perching himself up on the bathroom door without letting us know he's there and nearly been squished!!)

I have the same problem with my budgie at the moment, but he is only a baby and I have been hand rearing him since he was 3 weeks old. The reason he bites me is because he thinks my finger is the spoon with his feed on it. I had no idea such a little beak could inflict so much pain!!! It's extremely hard not to swear, I have to bite my tongue with 2 kids around. But, my God it hurts!!! ( as you know). Good luck with him!!

What a beautiful back yard you have!! Your birds are very lucky!! I often wonder what everyone's aviaries look like - well, at least know I know what your's is like!!

Good to know that there are SOME responsible fathers out there!! (just joking). Once again you have stunning birds to share with everyone. I love the middle photo!!

It amazes me how these cute little things can turn so vicious especially to their own babies!! I had 4 hand reared babies in a cage yesterday in my lounge room when I heard a terrible noise. By the time I investigaged one of my babies had attacked 2 of his siblings which both sadly died a few minutes later. I was heart broken and still get teary just thinking about it. They were getting along fine and almost ready to be weaned off their hand rearing mix. Why do they do this kind of thing ???

Well I'm glad I havent got the only bird that does this sort of thing!!

I hope he grows out of it too - and quickly!! I duck for cover when I see him headed my way. But then he just takes out his frustration on someone else!!

Yep, I guess thats the only way to stop him. When I explained to my 11 year old son what he was doing he was nearly sick! (but then rolled round on the floor in fits of laughter)

He has toys in his cage which occupy him. I let him out everyday to fly around, but he just likes to "make out" with us. I put him back in his cage, that is, when he lets me catch him. He is only about 4 months old, I thought he'd be way too young to have any desires yet!!!!

My budgie that I have hand raised since 2 weeks of age has a "thing" for peoples hair. The second he lands on your head he goes for it. Any one got any suggestions as to how to stop him?? Although it's quite funny when you think about it - it gets very annoying!!

I have my breeding pairs set up in my garage, where they all have a seperate breeding cage to themselves. It gets pretty cold where I am (-2) and I have 3 newly hatched chicks, so if you are able to remove the nest and parents into a cage of their own where they have some protection from the weather would give you more chance of the eggs hatching.

My bird aviaries (one for the budgies and a very large one for my parrots) need some shade provided on them as the summers up here are stifling. Although we have a sprinkler system on the parrots cage, the budgies aviary (which is made of colourbond) cops a lot of hot sun nearly all day. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what to plant. There is a 2-3 metre gap between the two aviaries. (Will post some photoes tomorrow,)

We're all waiting patiently for some photoes!!!

When the egg is first laid it looks clear but as the embryo develops inside the egg does look darker. You can check the egg by holding a bright light (e.g. torch) up to egg in a dark room and you should be able to see the chick inside.

That was a wonderful thing for you to do. If only he could talk and tell you what sort of life he has had. He is a beautiful colour and I'm sure you'll take great care of him/her. He's one lucky budgie!! Hey, that's a good name - Lucky!!