Norm

You got it MB.

Welcome to the forum Ashnree, best of luck with your new chicks & hope you can learn lots from the articles you will find here.

That’s a good sign Liv, fingers crossed he makes it. Best wishes. Spring is on it’s way that may revive him.

I agree with Kaz, the first is Spangle, probably Sky Blue & the second Opaline Spangle…like some have said before the father must be split Opaline & that was why he was showing the Blue in his wing markings, the third still might be a Spangle but with very light marking, when it gets older would be easier…I’m not going to make a guess on the sexes, even Kaz didn’t have a go.

Some of my young hens have been doing the same thing of late, one was laying the eggs on the cabinet floor & I picked them up & put them in the nest & she ate them, but after a week or so she settled down & now has two chicks hatched. Others ate their batch after sitting a short time but all laid again & seem to have settled down now. Maybe you could try her with a fake egg or two & if she can’t eat it it may stop her. I know it’s frustrating when you want especially a special bird to breed & you keep wasting time & precious eggs.

I know some breeders who regularly sell birds from a thousand dollars and that includes chicks out of a nest for that kind of money too. They think nothing of paying $3,000 upwards for a bird themselves and have even been known to pay around $10,000 for a bird. They sell birds to the Eastern States market regularly. The income is HUGE. It would not only cover costs, seed and aviaires, but it would pay for their homes and a healthy retirement fund. Motivation enough to do well in show breeding I would say. Now the secret is out Kaz is dreaming a comfortable Budgie retirement...he he he...best of luck.

Yeah I have a nice looking show type hen I bought last year she had had about 3 batches all clear, the first cock I used with her with wasn’t proven. So I put her with a proven cock, she had one clear batch, so I have always used her as a foster Mum, well on her second batch I had another young hen lay on the floor of the cabinet so I gave some of the eggs to her, one egg hatched I thought for sure it was from the egg I gave her. Then I gave her two foster chicks, all three have grown up Cinnamons, so I had a thought about that & it turned out that the chick that hatched had to be hers as there’s no way it could have been from the eggs I gave her, so I will be hoping on her next batch for even more success. So some just seem to take a while before they click.

Good on yah Neat!!! Straight to the point no mincing your words I like it…by the way Neat I love your new sig picture, wish I could do things like that…real cute…

Maybe some of the big show breeders that get a few thousand for their birds make money from their birds, but the rest of us… I can't see where anyone could get the idea that we are making any money out of them. I just keep mine for the pleasure & an interest in improving my birds. I think the guy you mentioned is a bit like others have said, he just opens his mouth & a lot of hot air escapes, but not much brain behind what he says, I would just ignore them. From the noise that comes from my aviaries I don’t think they are suffering much, they seem extremely happy & constantly playing with each other & more & more of them are getting very cheeky & playful with me when I enter my aviaries. I don’t have a lot of hair on top these days, but some of my birds are intent in removing the last traces for me. All this with no training at all on my part.

Sorry to hear that news Liv, I was also looking forward to seeing if he could produce some nice chicks, what a blow, but as they say while there’s life there’s hope, the warmth might help, not many recover, but some do by themselves. As others have often said, it’s often the ones we have big hopes for that we loose.

They look good Pie, looks promising for some nice chicks

I have some long flighted birds that I bred from some birds that I got from the Newcastle area. I thought it was just a fault & didn’t know it could be useful. So thanks for that advice

I know what Salvation Jane looks like, but that's in the flowering stage, it has an earlier stage they call the rosette stage, before it starts branching up & producing flower heads. I know lots of people don't like it but it's great for bees it produces 35% protein pollen & bees do great on it. Don't feed it to your birds but.

If the colouring comes from their mineral block there’s not much you can do about it just don’t worry.

Or just firing…Being sacked from the job…LOL…how do you reload a Budgie TB? ... None of these rash statements…I want step by step instructions…

It looked like one to me Sunnie, but maybe you have some similar looking weeds in SA that I don’t know, as we are mostly a summer rainfall area & you’re a winter rainfall area [when you get it].

If the eggs were actually left for one whole night they probably would be no good, but this depends on how cold it was. How do you know she was off for a whole night? As maybe she returned at some times. Also it depends on at what stage incubation was at & some eggs still maybe okay. As at different times like eggs very early in incubation would not be effected if left for some time & others almost ready to hatch can survive longer also. If she is still sitting I would advise to let her continue, most birds will leave the eggs after some time if they don’t hatch & then produce another batch.

Your new birds look nice, if you keep them in quarantine you can put the two birds that you got from the same breeder in a cabinet & breed a clutch from them & later if you want to try them with other mates you can. After they have had a batch of chicks you will know if there are any health problems, as breeding would bring out anything if it were going to happen, then you will know they are safe. Your Recessive male is smaller as that is quite common with some Recessive mutations especially Pieds, that’s why it’s good to breed them with a bigger Normal to keep their size up.

You got some nice trades there, good luck with them.

Sounds like his genes ( jeans ) are zipped up too tight, Norm I trimmed back his jeans [feathers] it didn’t seem to help…LOL…maybe he's just scared, maybe he got hurt in the past...some of those females would sure scare me too...maybe he's just too smart to make the same mistake again...

Your thistles look nice & healthy Liv, the other plant is what we call Paterson’s curse & I think you in SA call Salvation Jane…it’s great plant for honey bees, but I wouldn’t feed it to birds. It’s supposed to be toxic to some animals. As some one said always be very careful from where you pick your wild weeds, next to busy Highways the ground still could have plenty of lead from the previous petrol & avoid where dogs may have urinated on them. Or where weed killers etc have been used. Thanks Liv, I must try to get time to put that article together, but been pretty busy. There is one weed I use lots that I don’t even know the name of so maybe someone will be able to tell me. Most of the seeds that are in bird seed mix will grow better in the warmer months as they are mostly summer plants, you can just cut the grass to feed, but they really like them when the seed heads are nice & plump.

Apart from the sick one Deb they seem to be going well. Good luck with them.

I think some just haven’t got what it takes, some of mine that have failed I have never even seen them take any interest in the hen. One TCB I bought looks interested in a half hearted way then just puts one leg on her back then steps back again & if he gets on top he just jumps down again & he’s already 4 years old, don’t know if he’s burnt out or just never could make it. Supposed to be a combination of two well-known studs.

I store mine in old freezers. Nothing can get into them & keeps cool. I’m using 6 40kilo bags a month.

I agree with you Norm. The pics I have seen on this budgie haven't convinced me that it's anything new. It wouldn't lose points, I doubt it would be judged at all. Just a heavily marked opaline that would be hard to reproduce. You need a aviary full of them and know the gene linkage before you can pronounce that you have a new mutation There have been a lot of odd-bods through the years that have come and gone because they couldn't establish a line. That bird you bred TB would be a good start to breed something new, looks like those Blackfaces with a bit of work...not sure if you call it a new Mutation or just a variation.