Denise

I have had a heat lamp on her most of the day and she seems to have picked up a bit. She is eating and have seen her drink a little this afternoon. Her poo doesn't seem quite so runny. I haven't checked her keelbone as yet everytime I go to open the cage she gets very fluttery and looks more stressed so I will try tomorrow. If she is no better tomorrow I will take her to the vet. I can't understand why she is like that and the cock I got at the same place on the same day is fine?? Yes I do use a different seed for where I got them, I don't like their seed it is mostly wheat. I got them from Ivorsons Stock Feed in Newcomb (you would possibly know this place as you live in Geelong area). I have gotten several birds from there and have never had a problem before.

On Thursday I bought 2 more budgies. Left them in a seperate cage away from the others but on Friday I have noticed that the hen has really runny poo, it was a light yellow but today it has gone a bit greener. Her vent is a very dirty greeny color. I have taken her out and put her in another cage to see how she goes. Sometimes she is fluffed up but not all the time. She is still cherping but just sits on the perch. Could this be from stress of moving cages or does it sound like something else. I will put up some pictures below.

Not sure if this is the right place to put this or not? Does anybody have an easy way to cut the slots out in the end of the dowl to make perches for a breeding cage? We have the cage built but are having great trouble putting a slot in the end of the dowl to make the perch fit on the cage front. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have a hen that has chewed all around the hole of her nesting box, it looks to be made of chip board. Should I take the box out and will she be alright?

They are lovely photos Kaz. Could you please tell me what the plate of bread is, is it soaked in something or just plain bread. Our birds love the fruit and vegies but I haven't tried bread.

Yes it definitely needs a paint job. I can't wait for it to be finished, my hubby tells me I have no patience...(Laughing out loud)

Fantastic photos, they all look beautiful.

They look so gorgeous

Thanks for that I have taken her out today she had been in there for a week. How long should I rest her? Also she seems to have no feathers around her vent about the size of a 5 cent piece?

What a shame I was hoping it was daytime. I have 3 boys at Judo on Tuesday nights from 7.00-8.30pm.

Your birds are really beautiful, ours look really plain compared to them.

Yes we have to replace the wire, they must have had larger birds in it. We want to cover half of the top section as well for some shelter.

I have a hen in a breeding cage with a cock and she has gone a bit strange. She is biting everything in the cage and it's like she is scratching her back all over the cage, she is on her back wriggling around and the floor or climbing upside down on the top of the cage. The poor cock is always trying to get on her but isn't having much luck, by the time he chases her all over the cage he looks worn out, then she gets up on the perch and flaps her wings and he just looks at her stupid??? Is this normal behaviour for a hen?

This was our bargain out of the local newspaper today. It was $20. It is 1.5 metres diameter and 2.4 metres tall and it needs some repairing to be okay for our budgies. We had drawn up plans for this shape with a 2 metre long by 1 metre wide flight extension on the side of it. My question is how many budgies could we put in that size comfortably? We won't be colony breeding. http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee127/denbre/DSCF0118.jpg

Have changed the perches today they now run width wise instead of length wise thank you all for your input, it is much appreciated. I would be interested in the budgie club, is it a daytime or nighttime meeting? Saturday's are out for me as with 5 boys I'm am always running around to sporting events on Saturdays.

Is this set up going to suit breeding or do we need to do something else? We are going to build some more breeding cages like the bottom one on the weekend. ">

Would someone be able to tell me what sort of tree branches to use in an aviary and do I have to do anything to them before they go into the aviary?

Yes we have done that thanks Kaz, below is a photo of our present set up until we build some more breeding boxes on the weekend. "> To Daz As you all know I am colour blind (Blue Green Blindness) but the first picture is a double factor Spangle hen in the blue series with the Grey Green Cock.. Black eyed with an iris ring. The second Hen I can see is a red eye. So an Albion Hen. Both white hens have red eyes as for the rest I don't know (just starting out). I also have a baby yellow with a red eye, what does that make him?

Thank you all for your comments and help. We were lucky enough for a breeder to come and look at our birds and yes both albinos are hens. The breeder also told us which ones were ready to breed now and helped get us set up for breeding them now instead of waiting until next year as we had planned, so we'd better get ourselves into gear and build this big avairy...(Laughing out loud)

I have taken some photos, although they are not great? The photo of the 2 birds together are the ones that have paired up. http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee127/denbre/DSCF0061.jpg http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee127/denbre/DSCF0070.jpg

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone will be able to help me, my husband and I have just started our collection of budgies, eventually we want to build a large aviary and have lots of these beautiful birds but these things take time. Problem is we have bought 10 to start with and there is 2 albinos in amongst them and it is very hard to tell if they are male of female?? One has a brownish ceres (I think this one is female as she has paired up with a male) and the other one's ceres is a pinkish/browny color (this one is hard as it keeps to itself and hasn't paired up with anyone). Also could someone tell me the breeding season for budgies? We don't want to breed them until next year.