Dave_McMinn

i have taken some photos and I will upload them when i get home. No red eyes visible, all look dark.

very hard to tell if anymore hatchlings. Milly sits and refuses to leave. She shelters her young very well and I have to say I am kind of proud of her for that. I am thinking that there are 2 in her nest box. She only layed 4 eggs, so 2 is good, 3 would be better, but we will see.

2 in the nest box, but more eggs so possible hatchlings to come. All look dark eyed, so no fallows

confirmed 3 in the nest box. It is hard to see at times as Angel is very protective. She stands her ground and defends her brood - she acts anything like an Angel - (Laughing out loud)

A newborn hatched today, so now there are 2 in the nest box

amazing colours in that lot Lady

i love the blue - very cute.

Keep us updated. Like you said in my posts, it is exciting. Of course, you are far too far away for a play date unfortunately, so the best that our young ones can hope for is a pen pal - (Laughing out loud)

Well, the good news is that there is a young one hatched in the nest box. She is bigger than that other two that are in the other nest boxes, but that is to be expected due to the size of her parents, and the size of the egg. She is an only child so far, but I am hoping the other eggs all hatch. Pics soon hopefully Lady, just giving everyone a chance to feel comfortable with the new additions.

Well, today an egg hatched. Mum and dad were both in the nest box attending to the young one when I got home tonight at about 9pm. This little one is so tiny, but very cute.

Day 2 and all is well. still only 1, but a cute jelly bean she/he is!!!

I have checked and mum Angel is proving to be good, although new at the job. When I looked in she was feeding her newborn and so all looks good.

Newsflash - "Novice or first time breeders are more likely to overreact or worry than experienced professionals" A long headline, but one that I am sure is true. This morning, I uncovered my breeding pairs and looked in one of the nest boxes. The nest box of Angel and Ozzy. I saw a cracked egg off to the side, and as I had this thought in my head that the eggs were not fertilised, i figured that they must have accidentally cracked one egg when moving around the nest box. What if....? No, put that thought out of your mind. I went and took my dogs for a 1 1/2 hour walk. I came home and was tidying up and remembered that cracked egg. What if...? Well, I should have a look just to satisfy my own curiosity. I lifted the lid of the nest box ever so slightly. Ozzy scurried out, but Angel was not moving. There was the cracked open egg shell, but there was no fluid around it. Then I looked near Angel's feet, and in amongst the eggs was a little pink glob, moving back and forth - my first newborn!!! I am so happy. They are not infertile, which means that the other pair of Sebby and Romeo, who are the same age (bought from a pet shop so it is a bit of a guess at their age) may not be infertile. There is a great deal of happiness here. My birthday is on Wednesday and the birth of at least one little one, with hopefully more to follow, is the best present. I know that everyone wants photos, and I may get some in the future, but at the moment, i want the little family to get to know each other and not get stressed out by a big guy staring into their little sanctuary.

I knew these two were young going in, but since they made the effort to breed and lay eggs in the aviary, i thought the least I could do was to give them a nest box and more comfortable surroundings. It has been about 23 days since the first egg was laid, and i have this feeling that none of them are going to be fertile. At what point should I block off the nest box, take out the eggs? Should I leave the pair in the breeding cage, without access to the nest box, to allow them to recover strength before returning them to the aviary? how long do I wait? Angel has 7 eggs, so I have to wait to see if any hatch, but from laying the egg to hatching is meant to be 18 days right? Any help?

It has been a little while since an update on this pair. Milly is a very good Mum who spends all her days, except for a quick toilet stop, stretching and the occasional minutes of pure enjoyment with Zeus, sitting on fours very large eggs. I am surprised at how big these eggs are, they have to be twice the size of Sebby's, and 1.5 times the size of angels, at least. I am more hopeful of getting chicks out of these 2 than any others. I will keep you updated.

A couple of days until the eggs hatch, if they hatch. I have my doubts as Sebby does not seem overly concerned about sitting on them - and they do seem very small. I will keep you updated.

Well it has been about 17 days since the first egg was layed, so i am thinking that we make get some chicks appearing any day soon. I do think that they are a young pair, and I worry that the eggs may not be fertile. I did nto candle them, or mark them, as, well, in all honesty, I am a bit hesitant. I know that some of the experience breeders on here do that, but I am kind of worried I might harm the egg or something like that. Nothing I can do but wait now. Angel ahs layed a total of 7 eggs, and she has been sitting on them, keeping them nice and warm. Ozzy has been feeding her. They are getting seed, spinach, corn off the cob, their water has calcivet in it, and they have a cuttle fish which they gnaw on. They are both very healthy, so we will see if they were too young. It is effectively the first clutch for them - if you do not count the two eggs layed in the husk catcher in the aviary - so i am a bit nervous. I will keep you updated.

Ah, so if it is kind of mixed up, where you see blue and green then it is a yellow face (or goldenface) parblue, but when there is just the one dominant "seafoam green" it does nto count as parblue? yellowface type II parblue yellow face blue - seafoam green - not parblue as the blue is not seen Is that right Daz?

Great paintings Ellulah. Sebby looks like that middle one - the cinnamon greywing violet cobalt - however she is more diluted, her chest colour is no where near as bright as that, and of course, there are her red eyes. that one in the middle is my favourite colour budgie of all time. I had one of those about 20 years ago, and he looked just like that painting. I am on the lookout for another one like that.

no iris rings. At first I thought that it was because he was young, but it may actually be because of his mutation right? feathers - they are 1 inch square. Why?

thanks Nerwen

sebby definitely had red eyes. Photos may nto show it, but i can confirm 100%

okay, I have 2 new additions to my aviary. one was bought and the other was caught. Both were seperated for a month to ensure that they were well enough. the first was the bought budgie, name Hugo. He is a pied, however i do not know if he counts as recessive or dominant. What is the difference? He is a wonderful bird and unlike many aviary birds, he is not that timid. the second was caught by a student i tutor. they have peachfaces and this budgie flew into their yard looking for food. they caught it by hand, that is how tired it was, then they kept it isolated for 2 months, looking for an owner or a new owner. Finally they asked me to take it as they had no other budgies. I call her brewster. this is why. When you look at her chest, you can see blue and green, and a combination of the two. She is yellow face, so she has a bit of everything going on. She came from the streets (well not really, but that is where she was found) and has now ended up living a good life in an excellent aviary. rags to riches story. When i was growing up, there was a show on tv about a little girl like this. She always wore clothes with all different colours, and she was living a rags to riches story. her name was Punky Breswter, thus why I called my new little one Brewster. I am thinking that she is a type 2 yellow face blue, is that right? here they are together Hugo Brewster Brewster next to Humphrey

Milly definitely does not have brown/cinammon throat spots, she has black, jsut not a very strong black, that is why I think she may have a dilute gene, even if it is a very weak dilute

okay, see i always thought she was more grey than cinnamon. I suppose I need to consider that strenthgs of things, for example, some cinnamon birds are really brown, whilst others are not. right?