Dave_McMinn

He is good, plump describes everyone in this house, some unfortunately are more plump than others - He is still moulting, so the flights are only half way there and there are still a few feathers coming though - all over.He has an excellent head on him. I was trying to get a picture of him next to Caesar, but it never eventuated. Maybe in the future. He was definitely on the right flight, make no mistake there.As for breeding him in the future, I think he can have his picture of the best hens that I have. Here are some of the others in the aviary And my favourite picture of my favourite hen, just making some room. She is a curious thing. She was nibbling on my shirt today as I stood in the aviary

People wanted Quiche, so here he is. Once someone replies, more pics to come of other birds

Do you need me to send any rings?

GB, I understand exactly what you are saying, and theoretically even the best breeders have birds that have the potential to introduce disease into any aviary. You are also right about mega - it is a secondary infection that affects birds once their immune system is low due to something else. Most budgies in Australia are thought to carry mega as I understand, thus the non-exportation policy that currently exists. The secondary infection here is the key point. How do you avoid the onset of a secondary infection that all birds appear to have? Best method is to do everything to prevent the onset of the primary infection. In this partcular case, stress is what is going to count as the primary infection. The new birds were isolated for only a week, they were examined for any signs of primary infection, droppings were normal. The stress from going from a large aviary to a small cage can really stress some birds out. We have recently see with a bird that Kaz had that was plucking its primary feathers that stress can have a massive effect on birds. My birds were really not setting in the smaller cage, constanly running and seeking to escape, what I would call dangerous flight attempts and general uneasiness they displayed. Therefore I made the decision to introduce the birds to the larger aviary. I am sorry for the loss of your birds, I have no idea the quality of the breeder you got them from. I know where mine came from. The aviary is impecable for its cleanliness and the quality of birds it produces. I have seen it with my own two eyes. The birds were not at a show, where they mixed with other birds. They came from one aviary to my place. Quarantining is about ensuring the birds are healthy and not intriducing potential hazards to your flock. Mega is something that is in most budgies, so that is not being introdcued. No other illnesses were apparent or present that I could determine. The only way these birds were going to become sick is if they remained in a smaller cage, not an aviary, thus to avoid the secondary infection resulting from stress, they were put in the aviary. You also state that a bird can carry illness for up to 6 months. How long do you want people to quarantine for? Quarantine is to protect a flock from the unknown. When the unknown is known, the quarantine period is naturally shorter. I know you say you are not having a go at my quarantine procedures however it does seem that your use of generic statements and theories about quarantine did not take into account specific factors that relate to this situation. I do appreciate the comments and the thought that you put into them, however I do think you have missed many of the major contributing factors that impacted and affected the decision I reached. So everyone knows, the birds are doing well and all is good.

That is indeed Monster. He was named monster as his ssize compared to the others, he was always and remains beautiful today

more quiche photos hopefully tomorrow Some other non-gearing bloodline birds Twitch Offspring of Twitch - both red ringers (but very late in the season) GreyGreen Opaline Hen - from my John Hewitt bloodline birds Greg Gregoriou bred cobalt opaline cock

For a bird that wanted the limelight once, he now is a bird that is camera shy

Latest update. last pics of these little ones before they go to the aviary

Time for a update. I will try to explain the pics as they come along as well. The best bird I have bred - a grey clearflight pied hen. She should be split blue as well. (Her face is messy from eating fresh corn) This ball of feathers refused to come out and get his picture taken - you may all know Quiche - Cec Gearing bred birds - I want a line of birds from this breeder. So far there are these additions A YF blue opaline cobalt cock - blue ringer A GreyGreen Cinnamon Wing Opaline Hen - green ringer A DF Spangle Hen - Green ring (I think) An albino hen and a lutino cock - both blue ringers A very young green greywing cock - blue ringer A light green spangle hen - red ringer Bruticus - a grey normal/cinnamon/opaline - black ringer A GreyGreen Spangle Hen - black ringer A Sky blue opaline Hen - daughter of bruticus above - blue ringer A violet opaline cinnamon wing hen - daughter of bruticus and sister to sky blue opaline above - blue ringer A GreyGreen normal hen - red ringer Caesar - his two children, an albino hen (not pictured) and a sky blue opaline spangle cock (below) are included in the breeding group. Son of caesar on the left

I recently bought some new birds that arrived tonight from Perth. They are all looking well. They are in holding cages at the moment in my smaller aviary that I use for breeding pairs. They greywing boy escaped and had a flight around inside the aviary until i caught him. He does need some meat on his bones, but they all look to have travelled well. Thanks Kaz for the assistance. to come soon, I promise.

Hey hey hey, don't blame it on males. Note it occurred when the hen got interested in the nestbox. She has pressured him. Performance anxiety has obviously struck. He is not a piece of meat. He has feelings. I blame the hen. There, I have said it, stop pressuring us....er, them.....whatever, you women know what I mean!!!!!!!!

Fantastic pair, they look great, both the parents and the little ones.

Don't worry so much abotu the feeding, worry more abotu the bird that is attacking the chicks. A hungry chick can be fed and it will recover, a chick that is attacked might die, no recovery there. One of the parents has to go. Maybe Mum and put the chicks in an icecream container on the floor. Put the millet that was in the picture in the icrecream container and put seed as the beeding. This will encourage the youngsters to pick and start trying to eat on their own.

Cehck once in the morning and once at night, unless there is a problem, when you need to check on a more regular basis. From the sounds of things, twice a day is fine for you.

The RWA rings are blue right? The )0 on the rings means that 10, so 2010 breeding season. The WA P ring has a (6 on it. This is an 06 ring. )6 rings are orange. This means that this bird is reachgin the end of her breeding years. If you want offspring from her, you had better put her down sooner rather than later.

I think he is a male.

I am not sure she is cinnamon and I want to see a better shot of the rump to truly tell.

David, Elenbee bird seeds sell them. They do table shows at a lot of club meetings. Or contact them at Elenbee Bird Supplies Website Barry and Therese are great people and they will help you out a lot.

Yes, it is possible. You are doing the right thing. Keep her warm and well fed. You may want to add some vitamins or sparks to her water to help her out. Recovery is possible. It is ahrd to watch, but if there is no improvement is say, a week, then you have to make the hard decision. Until then, keep doing what you are doing.

You don't just quarantine for the sake of your new bird, but also existing birds. They are exposed to each other, so now all you can do is hope and pray. Good luck.

It is swollen up as an infection is setting in. You need to cut the ring off. After that, bathe it in a clean solution of warm water and betadine. Getting the ring off is the priority.

The interviews were the idea of Kaz and she has put a lot of great work into securing the interviews and posting them for us all to read. Interesting your focus on Lutino's. Very good to hear. Can you post some pics of your setup and the pairs you have down?

Clancy, we are all hoping you are the exception to the rule. We all wish you the very best of success, don't think anything other than that.

She is very cute. She did not move as she was scared. Make sure you talk to her a lot. Even play some budgie chiping sounds, or leave the radio on for a while. She will feel more comfortable that way. Looking forward to more pics.

You need ring cutters. I have had it happen in the past and I took a bird to the vet. I bought ring cutters that cost me about $15 and I had it happen again, and I cut the ring off myself. Give the bird a drop of ivermectin on the back of the head. The ivermectin will help kill any mites that may have caused this. This occurs as a bit of dirt gets in under the ring, rubs, and infection is the result. You need to get to an avian vet or a breeder who has ring cutters. Perhaps there is a budgie breeder near you.