Dave_McMinn

We all do funny things in our sleep. Some people too and turn, some sleep without moving, some waves their arms around, some even sleep walk. Sounds like your budgie has one of those little idiosyncracies that we all have. Don't think of it as a problem, think of it as something that is endearing. Nothing to worry about in my mind. We should all learn to love each other for our flaws, not use them to classify each other.

Jut checked on the birds, and this is where we stand Pair 1 - Grey Cock to YF Grey Hen Second round of eggs all infertile. I have removed the nestbox of these guys, I will give them a chance to get their energy levels up again, then they will return to the aviary. Pair 2 - GreyGreen Cock to DF Yellow Spangle Hen Previously they had 1 chick who is feathering up nicely. This chick will opbviously be a spangle, but I am thinking greygreen spangle. The good news is that another chick has hatched in this nestbox. I am keeping a close eye on it to ensure it is fed. Pair 3 - GreyGreen Cinnamon Cock to GreyGreen Opaline Dommie Pied Hen I had removed the nestbox of these two for a week, and then replaced it. All eggs were infertile in the first round, but the hen has just layed her first egg for round number 2. We will see. Pair 4 - GreyGreen Spangle Cock to a DF Yellow Spangle Hen All eggs were infertile in round 1 and it looks like the only 1 that was fertile in round 2 is DIS. THe nestbox will be removed tomorrow and the birds will have some time to feed up before returning to the aviary. Pair 5 - Opaline Violet Cock to Green Hen One egg layed off a perch and one egg layed and then consumed in first round. I am giving them another week before I call it quits with this pair. Pair 6 - Green Cock and Green Spangle Hen (St Jude) 5 eggs layed, 1 fertile, a cinnamon spangle hen. St Jude also is a foster mother to a DF Yellow Spangle Cock, an Opaline Dominant Pied Hen, and a Opaline Sky Blue Dominant Pied Spangle Cock Pair 7 - Violet Opaline Spangle Cock to GreyGreen Cinnamon Hen Hen turned out to be an internal egg layer. Cock returned to the aviary, unfortunately hen did not recover and passed away. Pair 7 - Sky Violet Opaline Spangle Cock to Green Opaline Dominant Pied Spangle Hen 3 young are currently being fostered by St Jude. Hen has layed 3 eggs now and she is sitting on the eggs. Hoping for more blues, but they are all loved equally. I will try to get pics tomorrow. I am also thinking of new pairs and who I will put down with whom. I am thinking of a successful pair of the past - grey/violet/cinnamon cock to an albino hen - as well as a Sky Cock/Ino to a GreyGreen Hen, a Sky Cinnamon Cock to a DF Spangle Hen and maybe a few others. I will give it some more thought and post pics soon.

I suppose that is the trick isn't it, continuing to improve on whatt are already top birds. Apart from the flecking, this bird looks pretty good. Any more photos of this one?

It has been a long time since I updated this topic, but I will get some new pics soon At the moment we are having the mother of all thunderstorms here. It has been pouring on and off for the better part of 5 hours. There is flash flooding all over Sydney, including in the aviary. The floor has flooded, and it shows me what has to be fixed over a drier (hopefully) summer. The hail earlier would have been a new experience for the birds. Hail the diameter of 20 cent coins ricocheting off the roof of the aviary would have scared a few. Luckily the shadecloth on the structure of built and put on top of the aviary seems to have held up well. Meant to be a wet day tomorrow, so no chance of a repreieve there.

We are having the mother of all thunderstorms here. It has been pouring on and off for the better part of 5 hours. There is flash flooding all over Sydney, including my aviary and my breeding room. Nothing on the ground in the breeding room, so water runs in one side and runs out the other. Nothing I can do at the moment for the breeding room until I do some further concreting over the summer. The hail earlier would have been a new experience for the birds. Hail the diameter of 20 cent coins ricocheting off the roof of the aviary would have scared a few. Luckily the shade umbrella was still up, so that would have deflected a lot of it. Meant to be a wet day tomorrow, so no chance of a repreieve there.

It is pied and the dark markings on its head confused me. After I typed it I knew it had to be opaline, but the dark bars. When I typed it i forgot that the pied gene mixess everything up. The thing that clinched it again for me when I was looking at the young bird was the green that appeared in the wings. I thought maybe Mum wasn't but she is. A picture I forgot to add

Here are the 4 chicks in St Jude's Nestbox Light Green Cinnamon Wing Spangle Hen - this is the daughter of St Jude DF Yellow Spangle/blue - the oldest of the fostered chicks Light Green Dominant Pied - definitely not splayed legs - both parents were opaline but this one is not. Sky Blue Opaline Dominant Pied Spangle - guessing here The little chick on its own is yet to feather up Dumb and his hen have 2 new eggs So there you go. More pics later in the week - hopefully.

Weekends have meant very little to me recently. I have been working 6 days a week and 14 hours a day. Sundays were used to let the body recover before the next week started. Although I am going to get pics now.

Update: There are five young from the last round. All look good. I will get some photos later today, but an update so far. St Jude's nestbox Light Green Cinnamon Wing Spangle Hen - this is the daughter of St Jude DF Yellow Spangle/blue - the oldest of the fostered chicks Light Green Opaline Dominant Pied - definitely not splayed legs Sky Blue Opaline Dominant Pied Spangle (?) - I was pleasantly surprised to see that the wing feathers are white, not yellow. This means that the mother hen is split blue, something I was unaware of. Dumb and Hen After suffering the tragedy of the problems with the nestbox and getting a new nestbox, two new eggs been layed in the nestbox. GreyGreen Cinnamon Wing and DF Yellow One chick and doing well. All other pairs appear to have infertile eggs. For some, this is their second round of infertile eggs, so the nestboxes will be removed and the pairs will have a chance to improve their health before returning to the aviary.

Feather dusters have many genetic issues wrong with them. We all know that a blue bird is a mutation of the pigmentation, thus it appears as a blue on white, not the usual green on yellow. It is entirely possible that the damaged genes that result in the "feather duster" condition also can have an effect on pigmentation.

good idea

Kaz is so good she can sense the gender of her own birds whilst they are still int he egg, but for us mere mortals we have to guess looking at ceres, and Kaz is still better at that then us -

Both situations you propose have a 50% chance of producing a blue chick. No difference

Are you planning on crop feeding her a lot? I may be harsh but I think that sometimes we need to do what is right and not prolong things.

That is why Jimmy - it is white, compared to the brown ones

It is very frustrating when they lay so many eggs only to only get 1 young - if I am lucky.

I got some pics All together in the nestbox Lazarus - DF Yellow Spangle Cock Cinnamon Spangle Hen (Non foster) Dominant Pied Spangle - legs do not appear splayed despite pics Too young to tell Little Chick Newborn - Spangle (mum is a DF spangle) Hoping for a fertile egg out of this lot but not hopeful Protective Mum More pics tomorrow - possibly

No. Breeding sometimes mean making the tough decisions

I will get pics in the morning. everyone is settled now

Cinnamon wings do not always look what would typically be called "brown"

Looking forward to the pics

I agree with Dean. Cinnamon, not greywing.

Welcome to the forum. We all look forward to you posting some pics. Info is in my signature below this.

Update on the bubs. The 4 bubs in the one nestbox are all doing well. The original chick in this nestbox looks like she is going to be a green cinnamon spangle. Lazarus - the eldest foster chick looks like he/she will be a DF Spangle Unnamed - the second eldest foster chick looks like being a dommie pied spangle - all yellow Youngest chick - no discernible colour yet. Also some very good news is that the first little chick of a possible 4 fertile eggs (2 eggs look infertile) has been born to the pair of GreyGreen Cinnamon Cock to a DF Yellow Spangle Hen

I agree with Clearwing