Ravengypsy

update: I ended up leaving egg 4 with Duchess and fostered egg 5 & 6 to Dawn. As it worked out only egg 6 hatched (4 & 5 were DIS at an early stage), so both hens only have one chick each. All are healthy and strong and the fostered chick has been happily accepted by Dawn & Dusk. This will work out to my advantage though, as both hens should start their second round about the same general time and this will be good if needed to foster eggs/chicks for next round. I also have a a third pair who was just put into a breeding cage, and hopefully will be laying eggs around the time that the other two pairs start round 2. And depending on how large or small round 2 is, might be able to get a 3rd round from them since they only raised one chick each in the first round. But I'll play that by ear depending on the health and condition of the pairs after round 2.

Sounds like me Kaz, I go in for one bird and come out with more.. although 21!! (Laughing out loud) You gonna post pics of your new show birds?

Love this photo! Looks all sweet and cuddly at this stage. You're chicks are all cute as ever, Kaz.

I just added a towel behind mine and it kept them from digging... although they enjoy trying to chew the towel...

here's a video clip of the breeding pair Duke & Duchess taken today while the hen was outside of the nestbox Video Here

Here is a short video of the aviary setup. Right now only 8 birds in it, but I was planning ahead for the show birds as well. Gave them room to fly and gain strength. Aviary Here

YAY a Hen! I hope so, I need more hens for next year (Laughing out loud). She is the same coloring as the dad, who is a Violet Sky. thanks, I wasn't sure I wasn't overly worried till the vent started getting soiled and stuck on muck every day. But I'm making sure to keep it clean, glad the crop dots are nothing to worry over. Tinsel was 46g yesterday and Chick #2 was 8g yesterday, I can already tell they've grown since then but I'll wait to re-weigh them a couple days.

not sure on this one as I've never bred pied varieties yet.. but I'm curious also on how to tell if a chick will be pied in the pin feathers/skin.

Ingredients: 1/2 cup dried split peas* 1/2 cup dried lentil beans* 1/2 cup dried small white beans* 1/2 cup dried navy beans* *Note: you can also substitute the above with 3 cups of basic dried “bean soup mix” but do not use any that have added seasoning or sauces. 1/4 cup wild rice 1/4 cup dried popcorn kernels (un-popped, not microwave type!) 2 boiled eggs (smashed with shell crushed for added calcium) 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots) 1/4 cup raisins 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp cod liver oil 1 cup bird seed of choice 1 cup chopped fresh parsley (or non-toxic herb of choice) (Feel free to improvise with any other healthy ingredients your bird enjoys when available) Cooking Directions: Place dried beans, rice and popcorn in a container with approx 2 cups of water. Cover and soak overnight (6-12 hours). After soaking, drain mixture & rinse. Put in a pot and cover about 1-2 inch's over with warm water. Cover and boil for 20 minutes, then rinse. Separately boil 2 eggs. Mash the eggs into a nice crumble with the shells crushed. Mix the bird seed with the apple cider vinegar and cod liver oil together well, ensuring a nice coating on all the seeds. Add the mashed eggs, bird seed, frozen veggies (thawed), raisins, and fresh herbs to the cooked bean mix and allow mixture to cool before serving. Storage: Store any extra cooked mix in the freezer using old egg cartons, ice trays, or freezer bags. When ready to serve, remove the amount needed and allow mixture to thaw. You can optionally add dehydrated or fresh fruit/veggies to the mixture prior to serving. I usually add chopped spinach leaves, copped broccoli, grated carrots and diced apples when available. You can store the thawed mixture in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Any unused/unrefrigerated mixture should be discarded after 8-10 hours. I usually place in cage in the morning and remove mid-evening to allow birds enjoyment for their morning and early-evening feeding times. Note: This is a high-protein, low-fat meal that can be served in addition to a bird's normal daily diet of seed/pellet mix. It should not repleace their normal food!

Here are some photos of the newly finished birdroom and aviary flight. Some few changes will go on as we get new breeding cages, but here is the current birdroom! I live in the midwest US, where the breeders generally keep the indoor bird rooms in the basement where the temperature is fairly constant due to great insulation. Mine is in an area that has heating/AC, as well as a nice humidity level all year round. In the photos I have the outside windows covered for the winter to keep the cold out, and artifical lighting on a timer. When spring comes I'll uncover the windows for more natural lighting. This is the sink/counter & mini-fridge that I use for the birds. It's in the room outside the birdroom (next to the laundry area). I'm working on getting a better set of breeding cages for more pairs for next year, but for now this is what I'm using for breeding cages...Two of my breeding cages (getting another set of these in a couple weeks): My wire breeding cage and a spare cage under it (adding 8 cages similiar to this with a rack to hold them soon): Here is the computer for my breeding/aviary records and the webcam setup: This is our Junior flight cage, which right now Jack the cockatiel is enjoying the spare room until we need it. Here are lots of photos of the aviary, it's 6 ft wide x 4 ft deep x 6 ft high: We added a shelf for their fresh foods and pellet food, it has a small access door through the wire. In the photo you can also see the romaine lettuce bath they got today.. (Laughing out loud). Under the shelf you can see some misc perches and things to play around with, including their bath water dispenser. They also have a tall ladder for the ones who are still clipped to climb up: And here are the perches, I have 2 rope spirals (diffrent sizes) and a perch tree that swings. All of which are removable for easy cleaning and clip onto 3 eyescrews in the top support. The perch rack against the far wall is also removable for cleaning. It is attached to the back by two hooks, and in the front by two sisal ropes. If I dont' want to remove the entire rack, I can just lower the ropes and it will drop down to a steeper angle but still allow the birds to perch while I clean the cage and it will stay securely attached at the top. Under this rack is natural branches to give more perching space and something to gnaw on besides the cage. (Laughing out loud)

Here are some new pics of my flock, I'll add more as I take photos this year Zeus & Hera, in a wire breeding cage: Yuki, catching a quick nap: Tori, climbing over to check out the camera: Roka & Bambi, newly bonding pair: Two newly bonded couples, on left is Yoshe & Tenjin and on right is Tori & Kenja:

The hen isn't being plucked that I can see, but I'm keeping a millet spray in the nestbox so maybe that helped. Here are some new photos I took today! Chick #1 (I've named him/her? Tinsel) pictures at 20 days old. Here is chick #2 from Duke & Duchess, at 7 days old. Although I am curious, anyone know why this chick (with fosters) has these black specs in the crop? I've also had to clean the vent off each day. Not sure if this one may be ill?

thanks Kaz, I'll keep a closer eye on her although two nights ago I did add a small block of alfafa for her to chew in the nest box. So hopefully that is helping, but I may keep a small millet spray in there as well, except when I do that the cock goes in there more and eats it, (Laughing out loud).

georgeous as always Karen!

I put a 3rd pair in to breed in a spare wire breeding cage I had last night, but they are new to the birdroom and may take a couple extra weeks before we see anything worthwhile to report as they get acclimated to their new environment. Here is the pair, A grey green 06 cock and a cinnamon green 06 hen.

SOO CUTE! CONGRATS.

Kaz, I'm so sorry to hear about the 5th chick. :rip: Andrew, The "Pet" budgies are the same as the "American" and the "Australian" types, in otherwords they are the smaller pet type that are closer in feather/size to the wild budgies of Australia. In America we tend to call them pet or American types. The "Show" budiges are also called "Exhibition", "English", or "Banded" budgies depending where you are from and who you talk to. I use the terms interchangably depending on who I'm talking to. (Just like here in America we also call budgerigars in error by the more common type of 'parakeet', although that is not an accurate term since budgerigars are a type of parakeet. Those of us who are aware of English budgies, etc know the difference but the majority of the American public does not)

The pieds mess with me on pin feathers.. (Laughing out loud)... but they are adorable! Goliath's baby 1 is my favorite, just go ahead and pack 'em up and ship to the US /giggle hehehe

great to see your flock and welcome to the forums... your "lonely one" is so cute!

thanks for the help Kaz, I checked tonight and some blue is starting to show on the tail feathers now.

Kaz, at what age will the colors usually start showing if there are any? This chick was 13 days old (and weighed at 36g).

I was going to post this in my original thread but the thread link is not working for some reason. Anyways, in regards to Identifying colors/varieties in the nest (aka pin feathers) let me see if I have this one right. Parents are: Spangle Grey Green (split to blue) hen Violet Sky Normal (split to Cinnamon) cock Grey Normal ? I didn't see any blue in the pins, just black/grey/white. The two tail pins are dark (non-spangle) and the down feathers are grey (non-opaline). Eyes were black from birth (non-cinnamon).

I have to agree, if you want to eventually clip them at home then try to find someone willing to show you how it's done correctly. Preferably a reputible breeder or vet. Both wings need to be clipped to the same length to avoid injury to the bird when they try to fly. I've seen two methods of wing clipping from vets and both seem to work depending on what you are wanting it for. The most common clip is a straight cut across the non-blood outer flight feathers to various lenghts depending on how much you want to limit their flight ability. Another option that's being adopted by some vets is to clip just under the coverts on only the outer 2-3 flights (non-blood feathers). But either way, it takes two people to clip a bird correctly and I strongly recomend having someone show you how to do it the first couple of times till you get the hang of it.

I got home last night to a surprise that egg 6 hatched a day early, baby was already fed by the foster hen and so far so good. Egg 5 didn't hatch however and this morning was pushed to the side of the nest and no longer warm. So looks like we just have the 2 chicks this round from Duke and Duchess. Both hens raising one chick and hopefully the next round will prove better and less stressful on the birds as a whole. Here are updated pictures of Chick 1 & 2. Chick 2- (1 day old under foster mother) Chick 1 (11 days old) Chick 1- (13 days old, weighed at 36g)

yes it's quite possible they just got too moved around or cold durring the build, I was affraid that might happen so I'm not too surprised. Unfortunately it couldn't be helped much without moving the cages to another area and that would have been worse, so we tried to get it done as quickly as possible, basically 3 days total. Hopefully the next round will go smoothly. On the bright side because of only having 1-2 chicks (i'm being optimistic, (Laughing out loud)) then they may even be okay to do a 3rd round depending on how round 2 goes, of course. I also have two more pairs I'll probably setup for breeding in a month.