Sunnie

I was given a cock because "he bred last year and he may this year but his cere is starting to go brown so you can have him for nothing". I put him down, cause he was flirting with a hen, with a brown cere, and like your boy, his cere then went bright blue. He only filled two eggs, but filled eggs nonetheless. I think it could be a sign of maybe going toward retirement? Maybe, but like Dean said, its still worth a try until he's not filling eggs anymore. Glad your boy is still "working" for you

Here in SA we have Cheap As Chips stores and they sell a good sized cage for $30. It is about (this is approx without actually measuring) 60cm long, maybe 45cm deep and possibly about that high as well. They come in black or white and I recommend them to a lot of people as they are a much cheaper buy than anything from a pet store and a really good size for one or 2 budgies I dont know if you have Cheap As Chips stores there, but I am guessing you would have something similar..... Wow my size guessing wasnt too bad after all lol

Ive had babies that havent been particularly friendly in the nest box, nor particularly fearful either, but in the baby flight, when one of the friendlier babies wants to nibble on and play with your hand, others sometimes come up out of curiosity and play too. Same in the aviary. Ive had babies in the nursery aviary that have never really been handled, yet when others that have been, land on me, a few more curious and brave babies do the same. Those babies have never really let me pet them and rarely step up on my hand or finger, but they play in my hair on on my arm/shoulder, chew my shoes etc. I think that if they had had more attention when younger, they would have been candidates for good pets too. But I agree with Dean and Kaz also. Sometimes you open a nest box and some babies will be almost falling out, looking for attention and being curious about the new world, while others are rushing to the back of the box and screaming when you pick them up. Might I add, none of my parents are "screamers", so I believe strongly this is a personality thing, not necessarily learned behaviour from parents.

As I said Alpaca Boy, he has lost his tail and flights which is really disappointing. I dont know if he will grow them back or not, but he certainly doesnt look like the chick he once did. He is also now "budgiefied" and not interested in sitting on my finger for pics anymore.......

Teehee cute picture. Looks like blue baby is saying to yellow baby "Im not kissing you!!!" Congrats

Yeah, Im not planning on hand raising any if I can help it, but last year, we had 6 babies and baby #6 got lost amongst the older ones as the weeks went on, I should have taken it and hand raised it and it might have survived, so I am keen to learn how to if the need arises.. They are lots different to budgies lol

GB he hasnt graduated to outside yet, so I cant take a sunlight picture of him and he's dropped his flights and tail, so Im just hoping they grow back. He does look grey to me. I have ONE mauve in my aviary and she stands out to me, so I am pretty sure he is a grey. I will repost new pics when I get a chance though, just for your peace of mind I will post mum and dad - again when I get time to get some pics Thank you alpaca boy, I have a couple of dom pieds now in various colours - cinnamon dark green cock (who is my best boy), a daughter of his same colour I bred this year, that grey baby I bred and his mum who is also dom pied spangle grey green and two sky's, who are brother and sister. Hopefully, I breed a few more next year of my own.

Your lutino princesses are gorgeous! How do you go with hand raising parrots, Ive never done it or tried. Our superb pair have their first baby for the season and I was wondering how you feed them? Off spoon, crop?

I will be at the next BSSA meeting. It's a shame you havent got rings, you should be able to buy them at the table the same night you join though

That sky blue dom pied was a recent purchase and he isnt very big, but he's pretty. He is however, paired with my best hen, and they have 2 fertile eggs so far, so fingers crossed - more dommies!

I think she's lovely

Aww very cute

I am sure Dean is correct. I guestimate when I crop feed and at that age, 5 to 7mls sounds about right to me

Wooohooo! Well done! Isnt it nice when you try and try and think there is going to be no result and all of a sudden - RESULT! You must be chuffed, lovely parents, I hope they give you chicks to match

Bootiful

Oh dont worry. Anything I remotely like baby-wise, stays in my aviary for a good 8 to 12 months. I am lucky enough to have room to keep more than I need. I do a couple of big culls a year, until then, the young ones stay until they are about 12 months and if Im not sure, they still dont go lol Even if he is smallish in size, after he has developed, I still think he will be worth keeping for feather quality (and dom pied-ness) lol

Most people say no, but I have seen it done. I think as long as there are no nest boxes and plenty of flight and perch room.........

I struggled to give advice on this - good job Dean

We also have a guest speaker at most meetings. They are not always breeders, we have had someone from the Zoo (pre Panda) to talk all about the Pandas and their imminent arrival in SA, we have had a fire forensics police officer come and give us a lecture on fire safety which also included some forensics talk and was really interesting. The nights we dont have a guest speaker, a mini club show is organised. We have a guest judge from another club come and talk about why they place the birds in first, second etc. We also have a trading table, with feeders, grit, drinkers etc. A library to borrow books. A nightly raffle where the main prizes are usually a show cage, 5kg of seed or a bottle of wine and any other donated prize. We all have a club number/badge and each month there is 5kg of seed for the badge number (drawn out like the raffle) and if the member isnt there to receive their prize it jackpots. Sometimes, people have walked away with 30 or 40kg of seed! Our seed is donated by a club sponsor. Supper is always supplied, usually by the same core people, but others sometimes bring other plates along to support. We have one or two aviary visits/bbqs during the year. Our December meeting is a Christmas show and we all bring along a plate of something to share, main course or dessert and byo something to drink and people donate lots of small things to be wrapped for a big raffle with about 20 or so prizes and Santa comes too. Families are encouraged - partners and children.

I agree with Kaz about finding a bird rescue. I doubt the baby is feeding itself properly and with all the stress, wont even attempt to eat on its own. I think it would probably need hand rearing formula to get some strength and as Kaz said also, warmth and quiet. I have baby budgies I sometimes take from parents a few days early when I worry the parents may attack, and even just a few days early makes a huge difference to their independence. I watch these babies very carefully and sometimes need to supplement with the occasionally crop feed to make sure they are keeping up their strength as they learn to be eating on their own. Your baby may be just that few days too early out of the nest to be properly feeding itself.

It was really interesting reading that info. Thanks for the explanation RIP Funny, I thought he was going to be something special when he fledged, but a week later and he already looks smaller than I first thought. How our perceptions change. He's still got very nice feather tho, and he IS dom pied lol

Looks like a Red Rump to me......

Very sorry to hear about your dog and your naughty hen. Sue can be a life saver cant she. She certainly has saved me more than once (well my chicks and/or birds) with advice and support. There is a local breeder who is getting champions in SA and VERY much supports the newbies in the hobby

LOVE your dom pieds and the rest of your babies look great too! I would be over the moon if that was my first ever breeding attempt with exhibition birds. Just lovely

So, if he's mauve, then hopefully, if I found a violet hen for him for next year, he might possibly give me violet dom pieds?? Thanks for all the comments. Sorry Libby, he is staying with me, but you are welcome to visit sometime