Norm

I don’t like using too many chemicals, but I have found Ivermectin to be very helpful with mites & worms. If I were you I would try to get some from a vet, as to buy it in a full pack is very expensive if you only have a small number of birds. Just one drop on the skin of each bird, like some have said you would have to be real careful with small young, as I have never treated them. As your problem seems like it’s red mite, they suck the blood of birds at night or in the nest, so Ivermectin will make every bird toxic to them. So it should completely eradicate the mites, as it remains active for about 21 days & all mites should have hatched in that time. This treatment should work without the need for sprays or anything else. I used to get cases of red mite in the summer, but since using Ivermectin for scaly mite I haven’t had any cases, as once eradicated it would have to be reintroduced from somewhere else. If unnoticed Red mites can build up into enormous numbers at this time of year.

I don't think you have to worry about mites, the chances would be pretty remote, of getting them just from branches, most mites live on the birds themselves.

I'm afraid I can't see your picture for some reason, but if it really is scaly mite & you have only one bird it isn't necessary to get Ivermectin. With one bird if you rub some oil like baby oil into the effected area around the beak, being careful not to get too much in the nostrils & affecting it's breathing. Also the mites occur on the legs so massage them with oil also. Do this a couple of times a week & that should solve your problem, as it blocks the air ways of the mite & they suffocate. At last now I can see your picture it certainly looks like scaly mite, it looks oily around the area have you been treating it with something already? If you could get some Ivermectin from a vet one drop on the birds skin is all that it needs & you should have no more trouble. What was the treatment you got for it, if it was the proper thing I'm surprised that it has come back, as it's quite easy to treat.

Some more pictures of my young TCB's from the TCB to TCB mating. A back picture of two of the Opaline ones to show their wing pattern. A front picture of one of them, showing the colour of the breast, quite Yellow I think the desired colour, it will be good to see what it moults out like. And of the other, it's hard getting good pictures of them at this age, as all they want to do is run away, unless held & that doesn't show them that well. The colour of most of the TCB to TCB looks good to me, without being mated to a Lutino, the father of course is split for Lutino. A picture of the wing pattern on the other chick, which is Normal patttern, like it's Father. I also wonder if this is also Cinnamon or just weak pattern [a fault] as far as I know the Father hasn't got Cinnamon in it's breeding but the records don't go back far. It's one of the largest of the batch, got good size, if it's a hen I will maybe know if it's Cinnamon. The front of the Normal one, got quite a bit of Green suffusion [a fault] the three Opaline young in this batch have better colour than both parents.

I had the same trouble just awhile ago Jenene & my pair were on their second batch & had been getting on well, it’s hard to tell what starts it off. My pair had a large brood so I put the three largest chicks with Dad & left the others with Mum, they are all in the aviary now.

I have had some hens destroy all the eggs when the first few didn’t hatch & when smashed it was clear that some later eggs had viable chicks in them, maybe just a little impatient…good luck you may still save a few.

I have just had two chicks similar to your top one Grey Spangles, I’m suspecting they are also Dilutes, as Dave said it also has Pied in it. The Yellowish one may have Dilute also, it may be YF2 but I can’t see much Yellow in it’s face, it also may be Clearwing & have the influence of Spangle too.

Thanks guys …yes Kaz I think you are right about the pet & show ones, some of the better type birds [show ] have been the main ones that are having infertile eggs. And instead of having 6, 7 or 8 babies your lucky to get one two or three. I have some pet types that even in cabinets the young are out of the nest straight onto the perch, like they are if bred in an aviary. The others leave the nest & build a pile in the corner & often after removing them to the aviary it’s weeks instead of a few days, even if only one parent was show type, before they make it to the perches. At least this is the experience I’m having. Most of my bought birds are being mated to unrelated birds & if they have a problem like one that I have that can’t fly, I mate it to a strong bird with no sign of problems & I will select heavily from the young. I have some nicer type birds that now on their second moult they are having trouble flying, because they have lost too many wing feathers at once, I hope to cull as many problems out as I can. If I buy a bird of good type & it seems to have problems they will get one generation to improve…like if they don’t feed I will foster, but if that young one when it grows up does the same it will be culled from breeding. I think it’s better even if a bird shows real promise for showing, but carries other problems, in my opinion, it’s better to drop it from breeding, as problems breed other problems & then you have years of trouble instead of just the once off.

Sorry to hear about your losses Kaz, sadly we have to take lots of knocks, all we can do is go on & hope for better luck in the future. As you know I had a few attacks like that of late, but luckily so far they haven't been fatal as was your case. I lost a few nice hens of late that I just found dead. When they happen so fast there's is little that we can do. To us life is not perfect, but it continues to move on…on Friday 23rd last I lost my Dad 91 years old, yesterday my eldest daughter had my first Granddaughter 28th.

Welcome back Marlony, I wondered what happened to you…(Laughing out loud)… :fear

I like your new birds & the cabinets are great you both did a good job, I hope you breed many young in them.

Yes so do I Birdluv.

I always try to have nesting material in the nest to help keep it dry. But in my experience if all is well the droppings should dry in small pellets & not dirty the babies much, so something might be out of balance or some other problem if things are too messy. I would agree to let the parents raise them. I would keep up keeping the babies clean, as too much caked dropping can cause many problems. Many hens cere turn white while they are breeding in it's self that isn't a problem.

Thanks Kaz, some look better than others of course, I'm starting to get a few that look good from the show type birds, other than the TCB's as well.

A front shot of the first TCB to leave the nest from the TCB to TCB pair. Back shot of the same chick...it's an Opaline TCB. Sorry the picture is not that sharpe. A picture of one of the three hen Lutinos in the same batch, as the Father is split for Lutino. The special trait that TCB's have is that the cocks can't be split for Lutino & TCB in the same bird...they are either one or the other.

That bird is a Spangle, not an Opaline. Some Spangles will get a patch of body colour at the back of the head, when they go through their adult moult. You can get an Opaline Spangle, but it will have the body colour through the wing & body colour in the V area between the top of the wings & less zebra markings on the head.

Sandy, Cinnamon is sex linked, to get Cinnamons from that pair means the cock must be split for Cinnamon or the hen mated with another bird that is Cinnamon or split. A Cinnamon hen mated to a non Cinnamon [normal] bird will only produce split Cinnamon cocks that are not visual Cinnamons, but carry it, her hens will be Normal. A Cinnamon cock mated with a Normal will produce only Cinnamon hens & split Cinnamon cocks. A split for Cinnamon cock [doesn’t show it visually] will produce some Cinnamon hens & normal hens & split Cinnamon cocks & Normal cocks. So your parents must have the Cinnamon carried by both the cock & hen & the young can be of either sex. That is the only way you can get Visual Cinnamon cocks.

You should be very careful about paspalum if it’s clean it would be okay, but it is subject to ergot a fungus which it extremely toxic, so probably better to be safe if you don’t know what to look for.

From WBO standard CLEARFLIGHT LIGHT GREEN General body colour: rump, breast, flanks and underparts light green of an even depth of colour throughout without any breaks or patches of variegation. Mask: buttercup yellow, ornamented by six evenly spaced large round black throat spots, the outer two being partially covered by the base of the cheek patches. The buttercup yellow of the mask extending over the frontal and crown, to merge with the black undulations at the back of the head. The frontal and crown should be clear and free from all markings. Head patch: buttercup yellow at back of head. Markings: on cheeks, back of head, neck and wings; black with a well-defined buttercup yellow edge. All markings should be free from any intrusion of body colour. Cere: blue in cocks, brown in hens. Eyes: black with a white iris. Cheek patches: violet. Primary wing flights: seven visible buttercup yellow feathers in each wing. Primary tail feathers: buttercup yellow. Feet and legs: blue/grey mottled or fleshy pink. I have seen pictures on some sites with coloured tails, so I guess that's where the confusion comes from...

Definitely lots of improvement…good luck keep up the good work.

Those two oldest chicks are definitely Opalines & look like being Violet too. Chick three looks like being a Normal Blue, like Dad…Dad must be Split for Opaline for you to get Opaline chicks, so they can be either sex. They look good.

Looks like a bird palace…they should have fun in there.

Thanks for that Kaz, it looks good doesn't it…nice head…if you listen to the showers over here you would think that that's all birds have [heads]…nothing else seems to matter that much…(Laughing out loud)…you've gotta be lucky & at the right place at the right time… Thanks Nerwen… I think I'm going to another bird show Sunday so might see some nice birds...I don't think I'm buying any more at the moment. I think I’ve got about 300 odd young birds that need a bit of moulting so I can do some culling, what with seed the price it is…so I’m behaving myself at least for the moment.

They all look good Kaz, I like those crested with the coloured crest & clear body. Jaffa is a Red factor but maybe hasn’t been colour fed.

Both birds are heavily marked on their heads they are both Opaline Greens…if they were being showed, the heavy head markings would be a fault, as they should have as clear heads as possible. You could say your bird is a Clearflight, but Clearflights should also have a Pied tail also. They are nice young birds.