Ravengypsy

thanks Daz & Kaz! (hmm that rhymed! (Laughing out loud)) .. that's good to know! I've made sure both pairs have sufficient full spectrum lighting (to help with vitamin D) as well as Prime multivitamin in their veggies and a cuttlebone and iodine mineral block. I'll pick up calcivet if it's recomended still though. I'd hate to loose a bird cause I was over confident with their calcium intake, I was just worried about over-calcium dosing them. I'll have to pick up some cod liver oil and add that to their seed mix, What ratio should I use for the oil in the seed? Also, I just got home from work and went to check on my birds and to my SURPRISE both hens were in the nest boxes! Not only that, but both hens now have the large runny droppings!! YAY Guess we are well on our way with both pairs, I'm so excited!! I'm crossing my fingers they lay some fertile eggs, and looks like they'll be on about the same time-frame in case I need to foster.

I have my first pairs in breeding cages and one of the hens has been in and out of the nest box almost constantly the last few days, as of this morning there were several large watery droppings outside the nest box and when I came in to turn on the lights she came out to see what was going on. As soon as I checked the nest box (i was being hopeful, but no eggs yet) she was protective of her box and went back inside the box to greet me. So I'm sure she's trying to lay now, but my questions are... 1) are these runny watery droppings normal for a hen about to lay eggs? if so, how long should I expect an egg now from the time I start seeing these types of droppings? 2) if not normal, how do I watch for an egg bound hen? I haven't seen her displaying any signs of distress.

thanks for the help... I've made some changes in location after thinking this out a bit more and we'll see if that helps. I now have an official "bird room" with alot of artificial "natural" uv lighting. Here in my local area, all the avairys are in the basements due to weather and daily insecticide spraying by the city outdoors... (I have a finished room with insulation and good lighting in my basment that I convered for them) so I talked to another breeder locally who directed me to what lighting to use to give them the correct natural lighting for Vitamin D3 production... an avian full spectrum light fixture. There are also two basement windows in their new room, so that gives some extra daylight as well. Also the new arrangment will allow them to have visual as well as the vocal stimulation from being in the same room as the non-breeding birds (opposite walls to face each other), and added a CD player to give them some quiet background noise. And I moved their breeding cages up a bit higher so that should help as well. Hopefully this will make a difference. My hubby will be building a 4' x 6' aviary in the room and a junior flight cage within the next few months and so it made the 'bird room' more feasable. Thanks for the input, maybe this will make a difference. Also, how can you tell they are "entering breeding condition"... as I know the brown crusty cere is usually at the end of their breeding condition?

in those three weeks should they stay in the cages or should I be okay to let them out to fly? currently I have the breeding box in my living room, which is where my computers are and has the most going on... the other bird cages are in the bedroom right now which is the next room over and you can hear the birds in both rooms. But the breeding cages are tucked into the back corner of the living area. I always have some type of music on in the room if no one is home, and they are all used to me vaccuming around them with my hand held (gotta love wood floors). i'm going to be building a bird room in a few months with an indoor aviary and new (wider) breeding cages in there but still waiting on the finances to do that. here is my current setup: will these boxes provide enough security to allow them to want to breed in the room they are in? http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra...es/000_2409.jpg

that's great! Congrats!!

it's better to have the breeding cages in low traffic areas correct?

I have a pair that I put into a breeding cage a week and a half ago that aren't showing much interest in the nest box or each other. They are usually on opposite perches. The nest box was checked out once (the shavings were disturbed) but that's about it. How long do you normally give them to bond in their breeding cages before moving them back to a flight or mate swapping... aka how long is too long? They are within audible range of my flight cages and are always chatting back and forth between the cages but do not have any visual stimulation due to the current layout of the room they are in. They get along but just not showing any of the normal bonding/mating behaviors. I'm new to breeding and my other pair are doing great, but this pair (Dawn & Dusk) aren't bonding yet and wasn't sure how long this process usually takes in a breeding cage and is there anything I can do to help the process along? and how long do I let them stay before I take them out and put them back into their flight cage, or will giving them some flight time outside of the breeding cage help? Any tips or assistance is appreciated

It's moments like these where being a breeder is heartbreaking. It sure makes you wonder what the hens know and you don't about the baby... nature has a funny way of survival by natural selection... which never makes it any easier on us humans. I hope all goes well and the bub survives. Poor little thing.

thanks Kaz, I bookmarked it

thanks for the link Kaz, I saved it for later.. very helpful!

thanks for sharing that.. so sweet!

I got in touch with the person who created the program and he's fixed the evaluation download links now for anyone else needing it... it's working again!! http://www.geocities.com/budgerigarprogram/TBP2006/DownloadTBP2006Evaluation.html The evaluation is free up to 200 birds, after that you have to pay for the full version to add any more birds.

where did you get the splints? or did you make them? great picture on how to splint for those of us who haven't had to do it yet. Thanks.

the download evaluation links are still broken for parts 2 & 3 of 3. I'm trying to contact the owner to see about getting a copy.

I have one teil and alot of budgies... my tiel is the quietest of all my birds, but when he does decide to talk he's the loudest... luckily he's usually quiet and not an issue. He's also the most tame of all my birds and spends most of his time out of his cage on our shoulders or on my keyboard etc... while my budgies perfer to be in their cages and are less tame overall. My teil also is the most cuddly, and loves attention and interaction... if you don't have enough time to spend alot of attention on a teil then I'd say a budgie would be best, but both need interaction... just my tiel needs more, but he's the most fun of my birds and thinks of himself as the family's replacent for a dog.

thanks all, boy it is ! and for the color in person he looks like a mauve... it's more of a dark dark blue with some grey mixed in on the body, and normal markings. So mauve normal and he's sweet as can be, but still a bit skittish after his living ordeal... he reallllly likes when I play music too.

okay here are more pictures of Devin.... all were taken in natural lighting today without any flash. http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra.../Picture029.jpg http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra.../Picture028.jpg http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra.../Picture027.jpg http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra.../Picture026.jpg http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra.../Picture024.jpg

I'm as undecided as Kaz and that's how s/he really looks in non-photo too.. my hubby keeps telling me it's a hermaphrodite budgie I'll get pictures tomorrow morning. Devin's coloring is mauve normal and 3 years old, poor little thing is confused. I haven't seen any gender specific behavior but I'll be home tomorrow and I'll watch for anything that may help.

I'll get a new picture for you in the daylight tomorrow Kaz The other photos aren't as good but here they are.. I'll try to get better ones tomorrow in the daylight. http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra...s3/000_2260.jpg http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra.../000_2259-1.jpg http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra...s3/000_2257.jpg http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra...s3/000_2256.jpg

at least I'm not the only one confused on this one... I'll heed the advise of those who know better than me with more experience... the owner kept saying it was a girl.. i thought boy because of all that blue in natural lighting looked a bit dark on the cere, even though the nostrils are quite white.. the blue is only on the bottom though and is more of a paler blue with indoor lighting i first thought girl.. so.. not really sure.. I'm a bit lost on it. The picture was taken without flash in natural lighting from the window. Maybe that will help. As soon as they told me how they'd been keeping her I was quick to take him in. They didn't even have a normal cage floor, it was covered with nothing but a piece of cage sand paper and had a tiny finch nest in it for some reason and a rusted bell to play with. I wanted to smack them... the parents didn't really care about the bird since it wasn't as friendly as their previous bird who "died mysteriously after 3 years", and the kids had generally stopped caring but alot of mis-informed petstore budgie owners out there who don't take the time to learn any more than what a petstore owner tells them to make a quick buck.

thanks Karen, then I've named him correctly .. (Laughing out loud) I picked Devin and was hoping I wouldn't have to change it. hehe

pretty budgie... but I'm at a loss on the mutations, will be interested to find out what she is. color looks mauve or grey (picture is very fuzzy to me) but I think the cheek patches look blue possibly so I'd go with mauve clearwing something or other... but that's just a guess.. very pretty.

I just rescued this 3 year old budgie from a family with kids who no longer wanted the bird, and was keeping it in a tiny cage by itself on an all seed diet and no flight time. I was not sure on the gender of this one since the nostrils are white with a bit of brown on the very top but the bottom is a deep blue.. so I thought I'd ask the pros s/he's in quarantine right now with my new greywing better picture http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x271/ra...s3/000_2264.jpg

(can an admin/mod move this to the genetics forum for me?) Well I managed to do my research on these genes.... I've finally worked out the genetics on them... OMG the combinations made my head hurt. The only question is if the female is a double or single factor grey which is visually the same and can't be confirmed until I try to breed her. Due to her parentage, either is possible but can't be confirmed until I breed her. If DF, then I'll get 100% grey factor birds.. i'm hoping she's SF, then I'll get 50% grey factors and more variety... (I also found out that the male's parents were a DF violet sky paired with a cobalt, resulting in my (SF) violet sky cock). So these should be my theoretical results of the combined genetics: SF grey green spangle /blue hen X SF violet skyblue cock= 6.25% Grey Violet Green/blue Spangle 6.25% Grey Violet Green/blue Normal 6.25% Violet Green/blue Spangle 6.25% Violet Green/blue Normal 6.25% Grey Violet Spangle 6.25% Grey Violet Normal 6.25% Violet Sky Blue Spangle 6.25% Violet Sky Blue Normal 6.25% Grey Green/blue Spangle 6.25% Grey Green/blue Normal 6.25% Light Green/blue Spangle 6.25% Light Green/blue Normal 6.25% Grey Spangle 6.25% Grey Normal 6.25% Sky Blue Spangle 6.25% Sky Blue Normal (6.25% = 1/16 chance) However if the female is DF grey, DF grey green spangle /blue hen X SF violet skyblue normal cock= 12.50% Grey Violet Green/blue Spangle 12.50% Grey Violet Green/blue Normal 12.50% Grey Violet Spangle 12.50% Grey Violet Normal 12.50% Grey Green Spangle 12.50% Grey Green Normal 12.50% Grey Spangle 12.50% Grey Normal (12.50% = 1/8 chance)

I'm not a pro like these guys, but I'm thinking maybe a normal cobalt.. this would bring out the violet with the possibility of some visual violets. giving you 25% cobalt violet (visual violets), 25% sky violets, 25% cobalt normals, 25% sky normals. A normal would give 50% dominant pied (sf) and 50% normals. If you paired with another (sf) dominant pied you would get 25% double factor dominant pieds (very cute in my opinion) as well as 50% dominant pied and 25% normals.