Dave_McMinn

Good luck with this pair. I really like the hen, She looks to have a really nice head and mask on her.

Maybe it is just me, but you have not indicated that either of the birds were spangles, and yet the wing marking on these birds look very much spangles to me. Am I mistaken here?

the cuttle bone is useless. they will destroy it but get little goodness out of it. Get the calcium bell - it is much better

He looks like he is starting to moult, so the feathers won't look smooth on him for a while. In regards to the beak, whilst this can be normal, beaks require calcium to be at their best. Get him a calcium bell so he can chew at it and ingest some calcium. This should help. Staining above the beak indicates a slight respiratory infection. It occurs, like us having a slightly runny nose I suppose. Make sure that he is in an environment that is draught free. If he has got a little sick once, then it could happen again.

We do need more pics. Hs looks opaline but his wing patters look normal. he looks green but the blue rump area would indicate he is a YF or GF blue bird.

I am guessing there is no showing of a dom pied greywing. Not sure what it would even fit into, class wise.

My dogs means there is no cat problems. I had rat problems due to a neighbours shed but baiting seems to have overcome that. No hawk problems, an often problem with noisy minors scaring the birds, but not harming them. Mice are always a problem. I use live traps, pellets and a mixture of other solutions. I do not think there is a definitive way to overcome them, but I agree it is important to vary the strategies.

All 6 eggs looking fertile?

i bet ken loves it

that might be the difference, none of mine roll in it

Mine don't, that is strange.

keep the pics comings

I cut the full beetroots in half and slide 2 or 3 onto a metal skewer which hooks on the side of the cage's wire and then other end goes over a natural branch perch. I also cut some up into pieces for the birds who prefer to eat off the goround. The bits on the skewers always get hammered and go first.

Dad is split cinnamon is he? I do not remember, what with my 35 year old mind now -

Thanks Robyn. I do feed them fresh beetroot. The colour temporarily stains the feather sround the mouth, and chest feathers if they rub up against it. the colour only lasts a couple of days, then it is gone like it was never there.

Your bird needs to go to a vet ASAP. It may be a tumour, it may be a cyst that needs to be drained, it might be something else. A vet is required immediately.

In regards to the behaviour of burrowing and the loud chirping, this is pretty normal. Usually it is a learned behaviour from a parent, so nothign to worry about there. As for the wet stool, it may be dependant upon what it eats. Think of it this way as well. Since it is the eldest, the biggest and the loudest, it would usually get fed first. This may mean that the food it is getting is of a more liquid consistency than the others, thus the droppings. How old is this chick? Are you providing extra seed or millet for the young ones to begin to nibble on? This may help provide extra food for feeding, and it means that the birds, when they emerge from the nestbox, will have already learnt to feed themselves.

I was going Dave , But I have my 6 year old all day tomorrow . Kids come first round here . I will be at the brasea so may catch you there, Happy buying!. Hey Matt, Family should always come first. Well, I have been and come home. I only stayed for abou 1/5th of the auction. There were a few out of towners there and some of the regular faces. Birds went from about $40 for the cheapest to $800 for the dearest, and I left at lot #50. There are some people there just buying buying buying. It is like some old guys have worked hard their whole life and saved up and are just buying left right and center. $300 here, $500 there. I was sitting behind these 3 guys who must have bought about half of the 50 lots so far, totally about $4000 - $5000. There were some average birds, and a few nice birds. There was the father of a recent nationals winner ( a clearwing) who went for $800, with the uncle also going for $400 or so. The thing I noticed most was the preparation that went into these birds for the auction. They were despotted. There were no birds with a mass of spots, they have been plucked or trimmed (whichever method he uses) so when they sat there, they looked like they were show ready. These means that the birds would look better, and the better looking birds will always sell for more money. I thought this was interesting as I had not see this before, the despotting for an auction. Interesting. Anyway, with the old man bid-a-thon going on, I decided i was out of there. Were there some birds I would have liked? Sure, but even bidding for them would have seen me paying top dollar for some birds that I might have got better elsewhere, and there was no guarantee I would have won, and even if I did, chances are I would have paid too much for the birds there and then. Good experience, but I will wait until next weekend to see what is on sale at the BRASEA auction.

so this is on tomorrow. Anyone going besides myself? Since i received no shopping lists guess if I bring any birds home they are mine -

they are very cute there is a very forlorn look on the face of the puppy being held -

2 eldest look like they are feathering up like dom pieds. Little one looks like he/she got kicked out of the hiddle int he last picture -

okay, i understand now. i was wondering what they greygreen baby was doing in there in previosu pics, now I know it is a foster and that the third baby and the plucked baby are one and the same I feel a whole lot smarter.

Slowing down hey? maybe the time in the flights was the worst thing that could happen to her. She only wants half a clutch now so she can go back to the flights sooner -

A normal healthy looking chick. What colours are the parents?

The end closest to the camera is lower so she can jump in and out, well that is how the pics look so I am going with that.