Sunnie

Congratulations on your first pinky. That very first baby is always so exciting!

Fallow baby #1 has been rung. First baby for the season with the pretty purple rings. Will take pics soon.

Congrats on your beanie Pity pair 2 are clear so far, but if they foster, maybe they might get some babies in their 2nd round. It sometimes happens

So sorry to hear your news Finnie. I dont have any answers I am afraid, I just wanted to say most of us have disasters and disapointments and would be sympathetic to your problems

They do the most unpredictable things dont they, makes you wonder sometimes. I hope the chick is okay and the rest of the babies hatch for you.

Congrats on your new girl. She is very sweet

Lovely looking pair

Viewing at 9.30am, Auction starts at 10.30am sharp.

I bred a budgie a couple of years ago and she has been an "office" pet budgie, living on her own almost her whole life. I introduced her to a boy and she wasnt impressed. I changed her boy and off she went. She has had two clutches with no problems. The person I borrowed her for doesnt want her back and she was quite aggressive in the baby cage as she isnt used to sharing space. She has now been put in the aviary where she seems quite happy. My Sun Conure however, was bonded to me and not interested in breeding at all. As someone else said, I really think it depends more on the bird's personality than natural instinct.

Thanks for bumping this Kaz, I hadnt seen it before and it is handy stuff to know. Thanks to Liv for the info also

Gorgeous happy snaps

He is out in the aviary, he hasnt really done much more work than fertilise the eggs, the hen is bring up 2 chicks the other 2 are fostered. I am aware of the dangers of introducing him back to his hen, which is why I will wait until her chicks are ready to fledge before I even try and even then it will be on a day I can observe to see how they go.

Thanks Kaz. Well he is in the nursery aviary at the moment. Maybe he will be feeling better in a couple of weeks and can go back with his hen. I hope so, but I guess time will tell.

She thinks she's a star already - me too

Hard to tell from his cere I think, being fallow, but I have decided he is definitely going through a moult. Should I put him back with her in a couple of weeks when her chicks are about fledged?

Gorgeous looking pair. Cant wait to see the babies. She's a lovely stylish hen

In the unpredictable world of budgies: I now am not sure that the hen attacked my fallow cock, or that he suffered stress moult in the breeding cabinet. He seems to be pinning badly, and missing feathers around his cere. He is in the nursery aviary and I suppose that he should be in recovery if he is moulting anyway. Mum is feeding her two babies, I am keeping an eye on them. The two oldest foster babies are looking strong and healthy in their foster care. My dilemma of course is - do I re-pair him with her split sister and start again with him, or foster out the other two babies and reintroduce him back to the fallow hen (carefully of course) to see if they can give my another round of fallows. Would love comments on this. Pair 2: Still sitting on 6 eggs, 3 look fertile. Of course all will be split, but they should hopefully be quality splits. Pair 3: Second baby hatched today - both split babies

I am so glad to hear your babies are being fed! That takes the stress out of things. I hold the chick on my tummy (just under my *****) comfortably with my index finger on top of the head, my middle finger about the left cheek - near the beak and the thumb on the right cheek. Keep this hold gentle but firm. I tease the chick with the end of the needle to open the beak, then slide the needle over the tongue directly toward my thumb, so I can feel it in the cheek, against my thumb. I then slide it down the gullet (?). I have been told you can feel when it hits the bottom of the crop and I am sure I have done that but I dont aim to slide it all the way down. I have found if you get it past the throat and keep to the thumb side, you are in the right area to push the food directly into the crop. I hope this explanation helps I am happy for other experienced crop feeders to critique or add to my explanation

The split to fallow pair have one chick so far still. The split to split pair are sitting on four eggs with one looking fertile. The blue cock to fallow hen should be due any time, but havent hatched anything yet. Another 3 pairs I put down, not fallows, at the same time all have chicks as well.

Pair no #1: Now not a pair, but single mother now has four chicks. The two oldest have been fostered. I wish I could have let them go a second round with this sort of fertility......

Hi Finnie. The easiest way to hand feed chicks is to crop feed. It is very daunting the first time or two, but once you have done it successfully a couple of times, it is a breeze. It's quick and makes sure the babies are full. You will need a crop needle and syringe. I dont know if you have access to a crop needle, they arent sold everywhere, I bought mine off Ebay or some clubs sell them off their trading tables. It is really preferable if you can get someone with experience to show you how to do it, but I believe Squeak learned how to crop from a Youtube clip I sent her. I am currently cropping two babies as I dont have fosters the right age for them, and to feed two babies, it takes me about 10 minutes from the time of preparing the mix to getting them all full up. It is a fabulous skill to have, as I have also cropped medication to sick birds who were too weak to eat and it has brought them back to being strong enough to feed and get better. I wish you luck in feeding your babies

Nice pairings Squeak. I look forward to seeing the results

Great thread Finnie. I hope your chick survives, it is always sad when we lost a chick, no matter how or why. Your pictures are awesome

My fallows are red eyes, so I guess that makes them English.

Yeah, fallows ARE recessive. I have it all under control squeak. I am breeding a variety. Normal to fallow, split to split, fallow to fallow and fallow to split. I can only put one more fallow pair down and that will be, as I said, the fallow cock that has sired my currently hatching babies (Pr 1) to the Pr 1's sister. The next lot I put down will be a mixed lot of cinnamons, tcbs and normal/spangles etc.