Norm

The problems also Deb, is you got those nice birds at a pretty good price, I think I read somewhere, so if you were going to buy more birds it would have probably been better from him, as they probably wont be that cheap at the sale. Also I always try & tell myself, that with a few good birds, if they breed okay, it don’t take long to get numbers up & then you have first choice of them which ones you can keep, whereas sold birds are what others don’t want to keep, so your at a disadvantage straight away. And we are all limited by the numbers we can keep, by how many aviaries we have or the cost of food. I think I have stopped basically buying birds & it will only be very special birds for specific purposes from now on, I think if I can’t breed some good birds from what I already have, things are bad.

Nice clean looking chicks Kaz, I noticed one of my chicks at about the same size just about leaving the nest, had a massive crop, about twice normal size, it seemed very soft. I thought it looks like it might be sour crop or something & I would loose it, but the next day it was back to normal. Maybe it was just trapped air. I like that last picture of the Pied “Sleeping on the job” or “ I wish Kaz would hurry up with that photo so I can get back to sleep” if I was Elly I would say you should enter that in the Budgie of the month…but I guess mods can’t.

What time and where at Cessnock.i would like to go and have a look but could not buy, my husband said i have already spend all my budgie allowance for this month. Spend next months allowance…or go without food…LOL… :hap: :hap: ... ...Bad Norm encouraging such behavior.

I was thinking you were talking about just Budgies; things will be different if you are keeping lots of different types. Some finches are good in planted aviaries & mostly they have open flights to water the plants, best to not have too many birds to each cage & you would have to treat for worms etc. With some of the larger parrots etc people often put wire bases in the flights to stop the birds connecting with the ground, also suspended aviaries, if you know what they are…looks like plans to spend lots of money…

Nice looking birds Deb, should breed some nice chicks from them, I agree with you the Green is a really nice bird & I like that Cinnamon hen too, they’re my favourites. Should be plenty of show competition later on with all these new show breeders coming on line.

Just a couple of idea, I would suggest you have the roof area all covered, as even though they like the rain to bathe in, any moisture in the aviaries is asking for trouble in my opinion [disease & parasites]. And have an area on the sides, from the ground up almost a metre of tin so that mice can’t climb up & get through the wire & make sure they can’t get in any other way, otherwise they will drive you mad. I tried to make mine mice & snake proof, but still have some trouble. I think some of Derek's ideas are good too, plenty of protection, but lots of fresh air when you want it.

Good one Kaz, I'm sure we will all be waiting for those photos. I hope you both have a good time tomorrow.

Yes Kaz, give them a couple of months, mostly they surprise you after they moult & can be different birds. I know the show breeders want lots of feather, but I wonder when I see those birds that you can't see their eyes for feather, whether they can see where they are going. Maybe that's why some spend so much time on the ground. I mated my Grey Green hen that I told you about the other day, with one of the birds I bought at the Hunter Valley show last year, it's a Cobalt, they produce 6 or 7 chick each batch & seem to be very early maturers, they have moulted out I think real nice, will have to get around to some pictures. Yes I didn't see any sign that my hen was crook, just dead & like you say fat…I had couple die this year that had lost weight, but others were still plump, hard to know sometime what it is. Could be like you often say something to do with mice. Have a great time at the Nationals, hopfully you will see some nice birds & meet some nice people too. Is Aly going too?

I’m sorry Neat that sound a little dangerous to me, maybe alright if you only had to move it a small way, but to another property I think the hen may get stressed & smash the eggs trying to get out. My suggestion would be to at least delay moving until the young hatched & then I think it would be more successful.

Normally if you just put a pair together in a cabinet, if all is well they can have eggs in about 10 days, but I suspect that your pair have been together before you placed the nest in & the fact that you say her poops are getting bigger [which is a sign that things are getting close] you could have them within a few days.

She must be tough if she can compete with a Peachface…good pictures Karen.

Like you say the world is small & I can't believe you were able to find that little Zebra top, how appropriate. All the best Zebra & hopefully you get more time to be back with us soon…but I bet your enjoying your time with little Ben. "A little Zebra"...LOL...

Welcome Kez1989, I hope you enjoy it here, thanks for showing us your birds, they are looking great.

Hi Louise glad to have you with us, I hope you enjoy it here.

They’re all looking great Kaz, I especially like some of those Spangles & that one Grey Spangle has good wing markings. I was just thinking how good their heads were Kaz & now your saying you need “more” directional feather. I lost my one & only Fallow hen the other day, found her dead on the floor of the cabinets, was on her second batch so got some chicks from her at least. Bought her earlier in the year. She had four chicks in the nest, the oldest about a week old, the largest had been fed by the cock, but the smaller were pretty cold & have fostered them out & all going well. One had just hatched, but the heat of the others must have kept them going, as nights are pretty cold here now.

All the thing you describe are signs that you birds are in breeding mode, so I think you will have eggs pretty soon, good luck.

They are looking good Deb, in that second picture is that a gap in the corner of the tin shed, just check that nothing can get in or out. Mice or pythons if you have them in the area.

It certainly could be a Recessive Pied as DrNat says, as we have little to go on, if you knew it’s parents that would help. But I’m still sticking to Dominant Pied & it certainly could be Spangle also as the markings look light. I would think that a Double Factor Spangle Fallow [blue series White] would be pretty hard to pick from an Albino, I would think you would either have to test mate it or know it’s parents, as from the DF Spangle the bird would be completely White & then if the Fallow made the eyes Red, it would be very difficult. The Green series bird [Yellow] would be very pale Yellow, as some said a bit like a Creamino. Seeing your bird is a hen MB it should be able to breed, a cock probably might have trouble, it’s only an injury isn’t it, not a genetic fault?

Watching chickies grow is so much more fun that housework......the housework will always be there I am lucky...I married a man who loves to vacuum, mop, do the washing and clean I see now the secret is out, on how the miracle women gets so much done…LOL…

Neat once incubation has started it’s too late to remove them & store them for later, if you want to do that the eggs must be removed almost straight away & can be stored maybe something like a week & should also really be turned each day so the germ wont stick to the side of the egg shell. Once incubation has started the eggs must be kept at that temperature otherwise the germ will die, it may survive a small time of cooling but can’t be stored for any longer time. If you want to foster, they must be placed straight from that nest to the foster nest, they can be carried from one place to another as long as the egg doesn't chill. For example from your place to someone elses place as long as every attempt is made to keep them from getting too cold.

Looks a bit like a Dominant Pied Fallow to me.

Looking good Neat.

Yeah good luck Neat, it will be good to see how they turn out.

They look really nice Sunnie.

I have never had one breed like that before, but it may work out, I had a cockatiel that reared babies on the floor of an aviary inside a concrete brick. As there was no nest in the aviary. The first two eggs I gave to another hen & they look fertile, but she still laid & the last one disappeared, maybe the cock broke it. She looks real settled in the corner, but I’m going to try & convince her to move into the nest as I think that’s better in the long run. Looks like your one is settling down okay Deb, your's only built there because it had no choice & now it's got a nest looks like it will be okay. But mine had the choice & choose the floor. If you don't have a concave in the bottom of the box, I would try putting back some material after she lays 1 or 2 eggs to stop them rolling around, mostly after the first eggs most hens stop throwing it out.