Boris' Slave

The youngest chick has fledged:

Love the flight shot!

What a handsome boy! I've got a gorgeous gray opaline hen who'd go nice with him . . .

Beautiful budgies, Bud is very pretty!

All those birds are completely gorgeous!!!

Very cute bubs! I really like mum too, she is beautiful.

She could be sitting that way simply because of the age, definately no more than 6-7 weeks I'd guess.

Gorgeous bird whatever the sex! (although does look like a hen to me).

wowsers! what a huge clutch! I sure hope you get a good clutch, I will keenly follow the progress.

They're keepers alright! :(Laughing out loud):

LMAO That is brilliant! He is a gorgeous birdie!

Ozzie is cute but Oscar is gorgeous!

Beautiful birds! I really like Libby's colour too!

This chick (Red Rump) was with the Lutino's but the female stopped feeding it so I put it with an Albino hen & Gray Cock. Happy Family:

The eldest chick has fledged and I reckon the younger one will some time this week. Eldest chick in my opinion is magnificent! Front: Is this her cute side? Back side: Youngest chick - she's quite the looker too! Cute pose: Back side:

Looking really cute now!

When I asked her what the symptoms were this is what she posted: The most obvious sign is an enlarged abdomen, and the hen is less energetic, and moody. If you feel the abdomen, you can feel it is spongy, not hard like with egg binding. From what I've seen, they act a little like when they are egg bound, but not anywhere near as bad. Sometimes it happens as a direct result of egg binding but my first hen had never been egg bound while I had her, so I guess it was because she was a worn out breeder. The swelling gradually grows, and the hen usually dies. I think there may be a surgery, to save the bird, but it is more of a risk than it is worth, I think.

Hi guys, I've got a member on a Parrot Forum is asking about Uterine Rupture in a budgie and since we don't have any active members with budgie knowledge I said I'd post the question here. "I lost an older exhibition budgie hen (around 6 years old at least, was older when I bought her) to uterine rupture about a year ago. Now I've got another one, about the same age, showing signs of the same thing. I realize the implications that she was bred too long or under bad conditions. I only wish I could change that now. Has anyone here had experience with this sort of thing who can give me any tips on preventing this? (extra diet supplements or anything) I'm just trying to keep her comfortable now."

Luckily I haven't although I know others that have and it is a stressful time for both breeder and chick. Many chicks die before help is sought. Another thing is also sour crop. If there is a yeast type smell coming from the chicks beak it must be taken to an avian vet (or bird experienced vet) for a crop wash and medication.

The chicks life could depend on what you do. Have a look at this link (halfway down): http://www.cockatielcottage.net/march04.html Holes heal very quickly so you may even need to make a very small incision - the chick will thank you! Make sure the area you cut is sterile too.

Thank you for this information Daz, it is good to have it all in one place. A cockatoo would go mad in a cage that small - it wouldn't even be able to open it's wings. Minimum should be 2m X 2m.

Another way I have seen is to "pop" the air bubble. Sterilise a sewing needle and gentle pass it through the wall of the crop and immediately withdraw the needle. This does not hurt the chick.

I had to remove the red rump baby as the mother stopped feeding it. I did however give it to Supermum & I took her 1 chick (surprise hatching thread) and gave it to the lutino's so Supermum now only has the red rump chick to look after. On checking yesterday she had fed the chick.

That's what I did too - but squirted out a fraction prior to inserting into the bird to test the needle again.

Very true. As "luck" would have it I needed to use this skill the very next morning after watching the video. Darned if I didn't freak out at first but after a false start - the crop needle was blocked - I managed to get it perfect the second time.