Ikon

Your work (and all the Mods) is appreciated by all.

Although they may be useful to some, I find the calculators misleading. The percetages offered are only a guide. I have a Spangle cock who has over the past 2 years fathered 12 young and only I have only 1 spangle (sf) from him.

Hi Neat, It takes time to be able to tell whats a good bird (and costly to buy) I have been breeding the show birds for over a year and have some birds that I am hoping will do well at the table shows this year. In fact I am going through my birds at the momemnt and deciding on who will stay and who will be sold. My advice is to go to the club and talk to the breeders and ask the judges why they chose a particular bird as the winner. I will PM you my details if you want to visit.

If hey have no place to lay eggs then in then they will not breed, at least thats been my experience.

Welcome to the BBC. I hope your breeding experience is enjoyable. Please post pics of your babies. Are you breeding pet type or show budgies?

Try a Visa Debit Card St George Bank have one. (By the way thats where I work )

I was thinking exactly the same Liv.

Try a seperate breeding cage and put her in first wit the nest box and intoduce the cock bird after a coupple of days. Out of curiosity what colour is she and what colour is the cock bird you plan to pair her with? (this will affect the colour of the babies so we may be able to advise on what colour to pair her with)

I think its a good pair especially the fact that they are from the same breeder. This is what I call Line breeding.

Without a picture I would say its scaley face.

Ideally you would remove the two males as they can as Neat points out fight, but they will also disrupt the breeding pair especially when they are mating and may result in unfertile eggs.

It's a matter of trust, that is you trust the other breeders will not be showing any birds if they know they are sick.

I have read the Watmough book - in particular the chapter on Inbreeding and Line Breeding, and take the same view as you TB.

You breed them to make more $1,000 birds If only it worked that way Kaz we could all retire on breeding budgies .

In purchasing birds I always question why breeders are willing to sell their good hens. Thats why I try keep my good hens. I try to buy birds that exceed in one feature but may be lacking in another. That way I can be be more sure that I'm not purchasing a "dud" when it comes to the breeding cabinet.

Good to see. I know I will be kinda peed off if someone sold me a bird they knew was a feather plucker or worst still infertile.

I personally would not advertise the fact I had a new variety. Only to a select few trusted people that will help in establishing the variety.

Getting rid (selling) the hen will only pass the problem on to someone. I would retire the hen from breeding and return her to the flight to live out her life. Of course if she was a good hen then I will let her lay the eggs and foster them to another hen.

The top breeders are the only one's making money but it takes many years to get there and a lot of initial outlay. At a recent auction Bob Smith has two birds that fetched $1800 and $900. A member of my club bought a pair of budgies (not sure who from) for $5000.

I take the babies out just before they flegde (about 5 weeks) and remove the nest box. I put a deeper dish(about 1-2 inch deep) in the breeding box, put some seed in it and the babies all huddle in there and peck at the seed. Usually the first few chicks are flying at this stage. I leave both the Hen and Cock in the cage and have not had any problems with this method (touch wood).

Im sorry I missed you last night TB my wife had a pre-arranged dinner wih some old freinds. I would have loved to have met you in person. I hope your son paid a fair price (in that I mean he got a bargain).

Why waste your money???. They will be fine. All you need to do do is keep an eye on them when you put them in the cabinet (trust me if the hen rejects the cock it happens within a few hours), if the hen accepts the male then within two weeks you will see an egg.

Surely the Landlord must have an emergency contact or even an email address they can check from time to time.

Anyone here go to the BRASEA show over the weekend? I'm just curious on the results.

Feathers are fine. I use wood shavings as it keeps the nest box cleaner even if the Hens throw it all out I find after laying that if you add some then they leave them.