Dave_McMinn

almost time for the little guy to come home.

I love my dogs more than life itself and I worry about them like they are my kids. I can only imagine the sadness you are feeling at the loss of such a wonderful friend, companion, protector and family member. I honestly believe that when we die, we go to a better place - all races, all cultures, and all species. You will see Buffy again one day. Know that you and Greg are in my thoughts and prayers.

I was going to suggest budgie **** to get her in the mood, but my own dating history has revealed to me that some females are not into certain things-

I see the lack of colour in the mantle, and the opalescence, but I am still thinking that this bird is not opaline. What were his parents? Was his father opaline?

6 chicks so far, and 11 more unhatched eggs, but not all of them are fertile. The big chick hatched on the 10th Feb, so it is at least 6 days older than its nearest sibling. It was big as a 3 day old. That is why I had to ring it at 5 days old. Glad I did.

Because one person demanded it, I have taken photos, but they were on my iphone, which does nto zoom and has no flash, so they are really poor. Had to improvise lighting, but you get the idea. Pair 1 - 3 chicks. Pair 2 - 2 chicks Pair 3 - 1 chick Better pics tomorrow afternoon when I return with my camera.

Still off sick so I have not been to work to get my camera, however another update. This pair have 3 chicks. The eldest one looks like it will be a green or greygreen spangle. It has white down so I am thinking opaline, but that must mean Dad is split to Opaline and the chick is a hen. I am not good looking at ceres and identifying gender, but it look male to me at an early guess. The other two chicks are smaller, with one just hatching today. There are another 4 or 5 eggs in there, so we will see what happens. Have 2 chicks and 2 more eggs. Had 2 chicks but one did not make it though the night. Might have hatched too early, or had something wrong with it. If a chick dies within the first day, you know there was something wrong with it.

it is not possible to get a grey bird from pairing a blue bird to a green bird. It has to be mauve. Do you have any pics of the birds in question and the parents? That would make it much easier.

timing is important. That hen is almost past breeding age now. What will you gain if you wait and do not use her?

Your grey is not actually a grey a grey, but rather it is a mauve - a blue with two dark factors. Look at its cheeks patches. Do the patches look violet or grey? Asking if dominant pied is dominant over opaline is like asking can a person have brown eyes and blonde hair. The genes exist on different alelles, so it is possible for a bird to be both, neither, or on or the other. The same exists with the spangle and dominant pied. They are not related. A bird can be both spangle and dominant pied, neither, or one or the other.

With the wet weather and the heat, there is a lot of fast growing food and it is a good time for an explosion of mice. I thought I would bump this thread up as it is a good one.... and also because in the last 3 weeks, it has caught 3 mice. I just put it outside about an hour ago, and it has already done it's job. Great mouse trap, and best of all, it could be used in the aviary, safely. I only knew there was a mouse in there as one of my dogs had dragged the trap 2 metres across the concrete and he was trying to work out how to get it open, so he could kill the mouse that is in there. 1 more dead mouse!!!

New update: A new little chick hatched in the the nestbox of the greygreen spangle hen and the grey cock. This means that there is a 6 or 7 days age gap between the 2 chicks. Big difference in size obviously. The larger chick is starting to get its down feathers, and they looks white at this stage. Still only 1 chick in the other nestboxes. Interestingly enough, there was a real hot snap for a few days here and couple of weeks ago, and that meant that many hens were hopping off their eggs. This threw the regular pattern of laying and incubating out. So much so, that I am sure that one chick layed a new egg on the same day or just the day before, a chick in that nestbox hatched. Now, this would normally be possible if a hen layed a big clutch. Think of Ommelette, Kaz's hen. She has layed clutches of 11 eggs. If an egg is layed every 2 days, this would take 22 days. Incubation period is 18 days, so if a hen lays an egg on day 1, and begins incubating, it is possible that the egg will hatch whilst others are still being layed. It will be interesting to see what develops. I will get soon, but I have left my camera in a bag that is at work. Might need to wait a few days people. Sorry.

how many blue and red ringers do you think you have? how are you deciding what to cull?

both are lovely, but I thought we were talking birds

I still like Frannie more.

Definitely DF spangle!!!!!

An update A 5 day old chick in the nestbox of this pair below. Big chick too, already rung. A 1 day old chick in the nestbox of this pair below A 1 day old chick in the nestbox of this pair below.

Yes and no, it depends on the individual bird. Show birds, as a rule, generally have smaller clutches, however there are some birds like Omelette ( Kaz's birds) that lay 11 0r so eggs on a consistent basis. One bird has 8, another 5, another 3. I woudl be thrilled if my "8 bird" layed 8 consistenly as she is a great bird from a good breeder. I will see ho this lot turn out, rest her then give her a new better partner. Her older brother (same parents, different clutch) is a great looking bird, so I will be happy to see some of those genes come through.

A few - not sure all up, probably about 16 in 3 nests, but not sure how many are viable.

Rarely!!!!

Been away for 4 days at yr 7 camp, just checked in on birds. It seems some eggs were affected by the heat, but others were not. Pair 1 - Grey Cock and GreyGreen Spangle Hen - big baby who $ only 3 days old, but big!!! Pair 2 - Green Dommie Pied Cock and Green Cinnamon Wing Hen - a lot of eggs but no hatchlings yet Pair 3 - Light Green Spangle Cock and GreyGreen Hen - 3 big eggs Pair 5 - Cinnamon Wing Blue Cock and Blue Hen - nothing.

Tomorrow is "move all the stuff back in" day - ouch in advance

so that is how all this started? hmmmm

I know how good your birds are Daz, but i am not prepared to wait another 25+ years - I look forward to seeing your thread

I think that budgies are the most complicated little birds I have ever come across!!!!