Norm

Both quite nice birds Liv…congratulations on your first Green. The Cinnamon Grey looks good too, maybe he would be a good match…as Kaz said you would get some Grey Greens & the way she wrote it without a comer between Grey & the first Green making it Grey Greens & Grey Greens might be true…my aviary seems to be filling up with Grey Greens they are often nice size birds & of good type, lots of my better show types seem to be that colour. I like Cinnamons myself & they are good birds to improve feather quality later in other birds.

At least some you bought don’t look too bad, so should be some good ones on deck soon if not already. Some of my latest chicks are looking bigger & less of them in number [per batch] that's a sign I'm breeding show types don't you think???

You had that trouble already have you Kaz…LOL… :hap:

See what I mean…maybe I still have to be scared…I better keep quite.

I agree with all that Kaz has said she has pointed out most of the important things. But as others have said don’t forget that these birds have bodies & other parts, sometimes when you hear show breeders talking you would think that all a Budgie has is a head. That’s why I think sometimes some show birds have faults that it would be better they were without, but I think it’s because some get carried away with only what their heads look like…Good post Neat, we all could learn a lot from this. I'm only learning too.

Your lucky Kaz wish I had a breeder like that here…only one National breeder near here that I know & unless you have a few thousand to spare he doesn’t want to know you. I rang him once & even on the phone you could tell he didn’t want to be bothered by you. Takes all types I guess.

I wanted to be a Zoologist or something like that…Neat a cop…the thought is scary…just as well they don’t always come true…

Yes I remember your deer shots from last year also Elly, like you say cute but wildlife can take it’s toll when you live with them. Around here they think we garden for them I think...they don't wait till things are ripe.

I agree with Kaz, mostly with good parents it’s amazing how you can have really large chicks in the nest & still the smallest one will do good, but it depends on the parents, some just let the smaller ones die. Like Kaz says I think they die from lack of food or other things, not from being squashed, you often see the smallest baby lost in a maze of larger bodies & still with good parents it’s crop is full & if doing well in a few days they increase in size so much.

Both look quite nice type birds AV, I also like the hen, looks a good breeder type to me. Good luck.

Really nice birds Daz, I especially like the wing pattern on that Spangle.

Sky is your female isn’t she? She is Cinnamon Opaline Dominant Pied Sky Blue…no dilute as far as I can see.

Hi James welcome to the forum, can you tell us a bit more about your Budgies, what colours etc & what things you are wondering about, if you can post a picture too that would help.

Don’t know about that Dave, some of us haven’t got the connections that some have …LOL…

I'm guessing from the chatter that it's a lovebird, but the picture wont download for me, I tried everything no luck. Like others have said if it's a Lovebird feed just as per a Budgie. If it's very young it should tame down very quick I have had them if kept by themselves, finger tame in a couple of days, one was real nice & tame, but the other one a female I suspect, as they are very hard to sex, wasn't afraid but you couldn't call it tame all it wanted to do was bite my hand…as you say beware the beak pretty powerful & more aggressive than a Budgie. Now that I posted the picture is showing up, it’s a Blue Mask Lovebird. Sex your guess is as good as mine. If you have some birds together the biggest & most aggressive are the females, but with just one bird, even though I’ve had them for more than 10 years I wouldn’t have a clue. DNA test is only sure way.

I am feeling very left out :fear Norm.... :feedbirds: no birdies for Elly or Norm We will have to do it the hard way Elly…breed our own…you better get a gal for Merlin.

Congratulations Libby…don’t get her started on cake she will be as bad as Nicknack.

That would be the ultimate sterilisation Neat…not many bugs left after that.

Some good looking birds Kaz, you should be doing even better at the shows soon. Yeah I know how you feel Elly, I didn’t see any mention of my name either. :fear

Yes it's very hard to tell if a Green bird is carrying the Yellow Face gene, the only way of finding out for sure is to mate it to a Blue series bird.

I was going to say maybe it was because it was a Recessive Pied, I have had many of them that retain their barring, as that gene seems to do strange things to feather colours, but as Nerwen says there’s an iris ring. Probably just late with its moult, there seems a lot of genetical variation in moulting out; some strains are very fast others take their time.

Yes I agree with you MB this birds colouring is almost identical to the bird AV got you. I agree also with Elly that it’s quite possible that the cock bird’s colour is diluted by the Greywing, but it’s a factor that’s hard to confirm, he looks like a Light Green, but if he is Diluted he could be a Dark Green genetically, also I wouldn’t be surprised if he is masking YF also as I see plenty of Blue in his Green. The Yellow Face 2 bird has a light Cream coloured face that doesn’t come out that good in photos, but the Golden Face has more of a Buttercup Yellow colour.

As stated vinegar should be good, but I often use normal household bleach, even on wooden boxes & then air them in the sun, it doesn't build up & should kill most things.

I totally agree Libby I was going to say the same. It's Light Green, Dark Green or Olive depending on the number of Dark Factors. AS FAR AS I KNOW NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING SPLIT FOR BLUE [sorry Kaz]. I also agree with Elly more like Golden Face Type 2 Violet Green [so YF2 Blue]… Nice birds MB should be happy. Also I don't think that that hen will be "wasted" on Charlie. From what I read lots of Crests aren't of such good type, so pairing her to him should improve their chicks, I know if you want to win at the shows you should mate show type to show type, but if you just want to keep improving your birds that's the way to go in my opinion. I mate many of my better so-called "Pet Types" to show birds & see a lot of improvement in the chicks even in the first generation. Also I want to put many of the good traits of my pet types into the show types, as many "good looking" birds have a lot of improving to be done, in the way of their vitality, vigour, fertility, feather quality etc

You can only try it, you can never be sure of anything, if his eggs turn out infertile if you can give them some fosters to feed it should work the same.