Sunnie

Well the clearwing family went out into the holding cage today. I thought I would update with some pictures. I think the dilute is actually a violet, it looks more purple than blue to me. Harrison, Sparkles and their baby lookalike (there were two green babies, but I only got pics of one cause the other was hiding) The first thing Sparkles did when she was put in the holding cage was jump in their water dish and have a splash. They were sitting so quietly preening each other and I had the cage door wide open for pics and all of a sudden they both took off round the breeding room! It didnt take much to catch them and I am sure they enjoyed their quick flight around the room lol Here is the violet dilute. Such a gorgeous pretty baby. Baby blue who was fostered from my blue pair is in the icecream tub, happily nibbling at the corner, while green baby 2 was hiding on the other side of the tub And a cute shot of baby blue who is quite the cheeky little thing.

Sorry to hear of all your bad luck with new birds AV :hap: This happens I think, with all birds in general. We just recently bought a replacement crimson wing hen for our other hen that died and I introduced her into the aviary in the afternoon and checked on her several times the next morning to see how she was settling and everything seemed fine. Then I was about to hang washing and thought I would just duck around quickly again to see how she was and I found her on the floor of the aviary with a broken neck These kinds of things really suck, but with birds being such delicate creatures, I guess we can only do the best we can and keep on loving them the way we do. Crossing my fingers for you for better luck coming your way soon

Nice to have you back again NickNack. Like the others I enjoy your little storytelling posts :hap: So now you have a couple of birdies living in sin eh?? You better perform some sort of ceremony for them and make honest budgies out of them.........with the pics to go with of course

Well good luck and I hope you have a great burst of chickies really soon :hap:

I now have two cabinets free, so the shut down begins, and I'm looking forward to the time I can just enjoy them all out in the aviary again! Mind you, I already have ideas in my head for the next season lol

All five babies have been successfully fostered as of today. The ones I started fostering on Saturday are already growing their down back in. I really dont think mum was trying to hurt the babies. I think she might be over attentive as all the babies were well fed and whenever I had to remove them to check or clean them, she would eagerly gather them all under her and be preening and fussing. Can we say OCD Budgie?? lol I feel a bit sad for her as she has no babies to care for now. Her and Boof will be going into the holding cage for a week or so and then back out into the aviary. I will post more pics when I get time to show their new feathering/down. :hap:

Congrats on your crested baby, cant wait for pics! :hap: I was given a pair that are both split for crested and are in a cabinet at the moment. She has been in and out of the box a bit, but I dont know that they will go down before I finish up my season. But there's always next season!

I hope you have a great time while you are away, the forum will miss you!! :hap:

Fantastic pics Kaz I had to look twice at one picture, where the princess and the barraband are on the wire and you can see the bricks and window of your house behind them. It looked like my place, then I realised the princess was green and not blue LOL :hap: Good luck with your vet visit today, I hope the youngster pulls through and heals

Very pretty baby Neville, I look forward to progressive pics

Gorgeous birds. I love your clearbody

Good news. I look forward to the pics too. I hope the baby stays on the road to improvement

Thanks Elly Well I did put another baby in with the first and I was away overnight. When I got back today, Microsoft Corporation ® TCB is being very protective over "her" babies and both their crops are very full. The other baby is also doing well with its new foster family. I am going to add the two older ones to the tcb nest now she is mothering the younger ones and hopefully in another week my babies will be looking a lot fluffier!! I cant tell as yet what sex the babies are, at this point, sorry to say Hills, but they all look like hens to me, but they are still very young. I will post another picture in a week and see if we can get some other opinions

Well the tcbs have adopted the first baby, it's crop is a lot fuller than when I put it in this morning. My next question is, would it be too soon to add another baby there? The cock has been in the nest box with the hen for some time so I am guessing he is already helping feed their "new baby".

I just went to see if I could tell, but mum and dad are in feeding so I wont disturb them right at the moment. I am having a bit of a problem with that clutch, as I believe the mum is plucking the babies - more in the Boof and Sophie topic.

The problem with "show rejects" is that you really need to keep your show type birds for at least 6 to 18 months to see their potential. It's not until this time that you see their full growth and decide then if they are big enough to keep for further breeding or showing. If I sold one of my show birds and the person who bought it from me showed it, I wouldnt have an issue with that. Good luck to them But, what I guess I'm really saying is, that my show birds are not handled constantly like my pets for sale and therefore, they would be sold as aviary birds further down the track. Of course, any budgie CAN be tamed, it just takes longer with adults

Oh I missed that, thanks MB lol

Lots of babies have black on their beaks. It is something to do with the amount of melanin they are carrying and from what I know is a good thing and yes, your baby will grow out of it

Well it seems, unfortunately, that Sophie is just like her mother and is plucking the babies. I only noticed last night when I decided to update this post with a photo and noticed that none of the babies have down. While it isnt a serious thing at this moment, I know it will become serious so I have been trying to work out what to do. I have a tcb pair who havent had any babies and are sitting on (their last) clutch of clear eggs. Sophies youngest, even though about a week old, is still quite small, so I have decided to try it in their nest, as their eggs were due to hatch a couple of days ago and I did this successfully recently, fostering small babies to a mum who had clear eggs that were due to hatch. If they take the youngest and feed it, then I will add the next baby and hopefully foster the 3rd oldest baby to another nest who has similar aged babies. I am hoping to leave the last two to dad, as I dont want to overload my foster parents either. Any thoughts on this? Would the oldest babies be old enough to leave with dad?

I'll come! I'll drink the Elly brings :hi: Congrats Pie :D

It says available from Coles or Woolworths - I have my doubts my local supermarket will stock a 5kg bag of egg powder, but I will certainly look next time. Is this where you get yours from Kaz?

They all look gorgeous Jodie

Gorgeous bunch of lil "ferals" hehe

Congratulations Krosp :hi: :D

Thank you Jwancia and Elly Just my luck - with pet babies you want boys and with show babies you want girls! LOL