**Liv**

Your boys look awesome And i love your new sig - That picture of Cookie cracks me up!!!

Mr Jeeves Grayson it is heheheh

I Personally have to agree too. I recommend quarantine with ALL birds, no matter how trust worthy the breeder. After my recent scare with Psittacosis, which can lay dormant in a bird for many years, until stress triggers it. I now totally and fully understand the absolute importance of quarantine. Thankfully my birds didn't have that dreaded 'P' word, but i now understand how a bird can always been assumed as infectious until proven healthy (and that can take many years). That is just me - I had to have a bad experience to fully understand vital aspect of quarantine.

No idea. I have so many birds now that it's getting really hard to find names for these guys hehehe. I normally name in relation to their colour/appearance - makes it easy to remember hehehe. BG = Big Grey Kaz - Jeeves, i like it

Thanks Guys BG is doing even better again today And my new bird is getting lots of food to help fatten him up My new bird needs a name, any ideas????

I agree with Ravengypsy and Kaz Oh, and he is LOOOOOVEEELLLLYYYY YF opalines are my FAVE

I will PM'd you Jimmy - so not the hijack Sunnie's topic

You and i are in about the same place when it comes to colony breeding and cabinet breeding I am shutting down boxes at the moment too. I have left all boxes in the aviary for now as i still have one chick to fledge (any day now). I have been regretfully removing any eggs that are laid it's a lot harder to do than it sounds. I am doing it this way to stop the hens fighting over the nest box with the chick in it. Once the chick is fledged than i will remove all boxes at the same time I hope your new birds bring some awesome genes to your flock. My BG (show type) with a small pet type hen produced a lovely BIG baby, Cookie

Hen yes!! i love the picture of them snuggling

ZZZZzzzZZZZZzZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzAAAAP!!!

I think they will recover fast- yesterday BG was huddled next to his heat lamp in the hospital cage looking very sorry for himself - today he hated being in the hospital cage so i moved him into a medium sized cage and he has been flying, climbing eating etc - SOOOO MUCH BETTER YOU BET! RE: Vit A - I doubt it. my budgies have permanantly orange faces from carrots - They LOVE them!!! I am thinking it is due to the up and down weather we have had in the last week.

He also said that any food/meds that are to be given via crop needle, needs to be drawn up the needle initially to ensure there are no particles that will block the needle once it is inserted into the bird

Lonebudgie - Thanks for the info. I am still keeping strict quarantine and being careful when handling the birds etc. BG and my new bidgie are quarantined from eachother too, so they were in different boxes and i made the vet look at BG first :wine The vet said to lightly mist the cages/aviary with water before cleaning to stop dust, and to wear a mask. Yellow belly - Nope, i have had no chick deaths except once last year when 6 chicks died all on the same -4 degree night :bluebudgie: Sunnie - Thanks! I am very relieved The vet only demonstrated Crop feeding to me, so i didn't get to go it for myself, he was probably worried that if I injured my budgie that I would sue him. It looks fairly easy and I felt what the needle feels like when it's in the crop etc

They are lovely birds - you did well :bluebudgie:

BACK FROM THE VETS And he was an avian vet!! :bluebudgie: BG has a upper repertory infection (sinusitis) and an abscess on his cere (that black mark that I thought was mucus). My new bird is under weight and has had a repertory infection recently. He tested their poop - All clear He listened to their heart and lungs - All Clear Treatment = 10 days of Avicycline C (which i was already giving them) He demonstrated to me how to crop feed and explained the realaties of Psittacosis. He said that Psittacosis most commonly starts with a sore eye and bright green poop (which neither of my birds have **PHEW**) - he also said that he sees Psittacosis in his clinic all the time and in 20 years of working with birds, he has only known of one nurse to get conjunctivitis from the bacteria. As you can see i am REAAAAALLLLYY relieved Thanks so much for all your support and advice :wine

my avian vet has called in sick with gastro and won't be in until at least Thursday They have referred me to the dodgie "Avian" vet that Mag used and did that bad clip of Spikes wings. Will this appointment wait until Thursday or Friday??? or is it better to see this other vet sooner????

Both Birds are getting new pin feathers coming though around their cere. They are only small and can only be seen when i brush the feathers the wrong way. My initial thought when I bought my new bird was it was blood stain from having a bad moult, or a fight. BG's dark mucus is still there. It has dried now, but its that black patch below his right nostril. BG has been defending the top of his nesting box this last week. His chick is the last to fledge before all boxes are out of the aviary. He might have been nipped, but it is really hard to tell as I don't see any wounds and i really don't want to go touching that dark muck in case it's infectious.

I am so sorry what a horrible thing to happen - brings tears to my eyes I love birds that can fly too. I also have children (2-4 years old) and my back door is nearly always open, which means my 3 inside pet budgies need to have fully clipped wings at all times. It's for their own safety. Personally, I would clip your new budgies wings fully.

I am so sorry for your loss I agree with Birdluv, she is grieving - Poor girl just lost her best friend I'd give her some treat food, like millet sprays, to encourage her to eat a little. Don't fret, she wont starve herself, she may even be sneaking a little food when you are not looking. If she starts to show any sickness symptoms that Bluey had, then get her to a vet ASAP. Keep us posted.

Thanks Norm. I hope everything is okay too.. his eyes are clear I really don't want to have to deal with that dreaded "P" word that I cant even pronounce hahaha Fluids out of both ends -----> NO THANKS!!!!! BG let me take a perfect photo And the same photo in full resolution ------> Here I have a avian vet appointment booked for the 2 birds at 8:40am tomorrow

I haven't been able to get though to any avian vets over the weekend - it's 8:40am on Monday here so i will be on the phone in 20 mins

Thank you for your replies. It is wonderful to be able to get support when the vets are closed - i'd be totally oblivious to half of these illnesses and conditions if I didn't have this fantastic forum (with is highly talanted members) to turn to!!! BG had a good night in his hospital cage. He is a bit more active today and cherping to the others. This cherp sounds different though. I am hoping to take BG and my new bird to an avian vet today - i still haven't been able to get though to any one yet, so i will be calling around as soon as the clock strikes 9am! baby Cookie is better now. He has been treated with raspberry cordial (25% pure) for the last 48hours and his poops have returned to normal - he probably had a tummy bug, or wasn't eating enough food. Kaz was an angel and helped me with him over the last few days - Thanks Kaz!!!! :hap:

I hope you are right! I thinking it's largely the weather that is causing all these problems. We are having really up and down weather, hot one day, cold the next. It's stressing my birds (and me). I really do hope he just has a cold. it's the dark blacky-brown stuff coming from his nose that is quite distressing. How do vet trips with birds happen? Do I take them in a box, or in a cage? can I take a few birds at the same time - i want to get my new bird checked too?? These show types - they are so precious and delicate! Pet types are hardy and strong - i have never encountered illness before. I take my hat off to the show breeders who deal with hundreds of birds every day! i feel overwhelmed with just 3!!!!! it's a tough job to keep these gorgeous guys healthy!!!

Well i think my new bird IS infectious!!!! :hap: This is my new bird with the stains above the cere .... And this is BG today.... (sorry for the blury BG pics - my camera insisted on focusing on the wire ) BG has dark mucus coming from his right nostril. He is is another hospital cage and i have just turned his warm lamp off so he can get some sleep. I am assuming the worst until i can get to a vet tomorrow. - Psittacosis!!!!! At the moment it have my birds on complete lock down! - BG was in the big aviary so I have moved my small aviary away from my big aviary to reduce the spread of airborne bacteria. - My inside birds are (regretfully) not being handled as if any bacteria is on my person, they could be exposed. :hap: - BG is in a completely disposable hospital cage that i made up myself, out of a nappy box and some aviary wire - and i am treating him with Avicycline C in his water. - My new bird is in his quarantine cage and I am giving him the Avicycline C too. - BG's Lady, seems to be okay so far and am wondering if she needs to be treated too??? All the birds are spread out with about 5m between them. Please correct me if i am doing anything wrong :hap:

Thanks Tam! I am going to need them... other birds are falling ill :budgiedance: