**Liv**

she is very pretty and has a lovely colour. hahaha I love the wet pics - Very Cute!! She looks very happy in her new home :hap:

Yes i know :hap: It just happened... i didnt know what he was upto until it was too late. like i said i never saw any 'bonking' :hap: Anyways, he is taking good care of her and the chicks so even if he is not the biological dad he is getting lots of practice with parenting for when he has chicks of his own :hap:

thats good... I still wont be using it though.... well at least not the stuff we have anyway... It says in fine print "ensure use of dust masks, gloves, overalls... wash your hands, face, arms, clothes after use....." etc.etc.etc. then it says "infrequent minimal exposure to dust can have a accumaltive poising affect to animals and humans" !!!! It is just an Ant Dust from the supermarket :hap:

Get a large very shallow dish ( like a pot plant saucer or a tray) that will be able to hold the bricks that support your feeder. Fill the dish with water and this will create a barrier from the ants without harming your birds :hap: . Make sure the bricks are not too close to the edge of the dish as you don't want the ants to cross. :hap: that stuff is so toxic and nasty though!! (if your talking about Ant Killer powder that is) My theory is No food access, no ants :hap:

Would be good to hear about your experience with the dodgie breeder. Like with all animal breeders, you have your good ones who do everything right :hap: , your learners who try to do everything right :hap: , and the bad ones who just dont care

I agree big smack with no warnings for the breeder!!! They lied about age, sex and cliped its wings before it could fly AND has rehomed it too early... very upsetting I am so pleased Jack is in your good hands now Michelle. You are basically her new mother until she is old enough to care for herself. Babies are normally weaned after they are fledged about 6-7 weeks old. Oh and your new bub will be VERY tame and very bonded to you which is a big bonus Kaz, do you think Michelle will need to hand/crop feed Jack??

okay...sounds fine. Pity its wings have been clipped so young though. I prefer mine learn to fly upon fledging. Even though I never clip wings, if you are going to, its best they learn to fly first I think. Surprising that the woman said they all snuggle together in the bottom of the cage. That is not normal behaviour for a fledged baby budgie...maybe for younger budgies in a nest but not for fledged babies. Weird. Thats why i said it looks 4-5 weeks old I dont feel there is any way that baby is 6 weeks old. I think its JUST out of the box, If that Keep a close eye on its eating and its weight - it may be pecking but not eating enough.

Kaz - AKA - Super woman with X-ray eyes (Laughing out loud) I had no idea what you were talking about. How can you tell the colour of the chicks eyes when they are shut tight. I then I looked at a day old chick from another box that i know doesn't have recessive babies and... OMG your right they are 'plum'... well not BLACK like the chicks from the other nest Dose That mean BG's not the dad????

I agree too... you never know what is in the dried fruit. Fresh clean fruit is best

Another Chick!!!! It has just hatched and hasn't had its first feed yet. Why do I always miss seeing them hatch! I STILL have never seen it for my own eyes WOW how much they grow in a day (Laughing out loud)

Roy is a lovely name

Mmmmm Sounds Yummy, and having the mixture on a pine cone would provide lots of entertainment for your bird It sounds okay (as an occasional treat) to me, but I'm not an expert in this department So I would wait for a second opinion hehehe What is your lovely blue birds name by the way....????

Hi Michelle and welcome I agree that Jack looks like a Jill/Jackie too There is nothing wrong with having a female. they are just as lovely as the boys when tamed from a young age - Its only the wild grumpy females that tend to bite hard As for the age of your new baby... my first impression was 4-5 weeks old. looks like it's JUST out the nest, especially the way its snuggling into that cloth. Is Jack cracking seed (eating) yet???

I know Throwback is saying about the noise of breeding birds!! I colony breed too (nest boxes in my main flight) and i have 3 pairs with newly hatched chicks and another pair starting to mate - it is SOOOOO noisy here and i only have a few more birds than you . Perhaps they need some mood music to get them going hehehe. Also personally, i don't handle or candle eggs. i know a lot recommend it, but so many things can go wrong when handling eggs that i prefer to just leave them be. Good luck...

What an awesome buy!!! They look fantastic!!! Well done

Oh, YF grey spangle sounds pretty Kaz I like it :hap:

Thank you everyone for your replies I will keep you posted :hap: It's really exciting and i hope they ARE his!!! Thanks Libby. If i get normal dom pieds they could be BG's or could be another males and i will never know. Hopefully there are some Spangles in the clutch so i can know for sure He is my only spangle It has turned out to be a test to see if he is viable. I didn't really want him with that hen, but thats who he chose and he seems to be very picky as he has NEVER shown interest in ANY hen before now. I am currently looking for a show type hen for him - blue spangle, normal or opaline.

Some of you may know the story about Big Grey (BG). Here is a recap for thoes who don't :hap: He is a very nice grey spangle that I purchased from a petshop about 2-3 years ago. I really wanted to breed from him but He has never ever been interested in any hens :hap: So i just assumed he was an old bird who was sold by a breeder to get rid of him....One day, to rub salt into an open wound... i then found that his ring stated that he was from 1994 (making him 14 years old!!!) Well after expert advice (from THIS forum :hap: ) and learning that he was rung wrong and probably only 4 years old tops (YEAHHH!!!) he has finally decided to like the ladies... The only problem is I colony breed and i wasn't expecting him to choose the smallest hen i have to mate with.... I never actually saw them mating and i have seen other males try and be with this hen too (she is very popular with the boys hehehe)... I have not seen her mate with any male so i am not 100% sure that BG is the dad even though he is doing ALL the fatherly duties......????? She is the little white DF pied. So anyway, They have eggs AND a chick!!!! :oliveb: What types will the babies be if they are BG's???? The other 2 males that were interested in her were normal dominant pieds.....(if that helps) Thanks Liv

Mine all sleep like this too. i think its adorable and they look so sweet i call it "all tucked up" - even my pet canary dose it too

Thank you so much for all your kind words :hap: It hit me late last night that she has really gone... :budgiedance: 14 years is a long time to be in someones life. I'm almost 25 so she has been with me for more than half my life :hap: On a brighter note though - I believe that she IS flying free with all the other beautiful birds who have left our world, but never left our hearts :hap: :angel1:

They look lovely Kaz. Ming might be a pet type but she still looks like a very nice bird . Cant hardly wait to see what the babies look like.

Thanks Kaz, it was her time. I new it was coming, and I was really worried she was going to suffer. I'm so pleased her end was peacful . She was a little toughy. She was always a small bird and in her years she went though 2 lots of egg binding, she was bitten (and almost eaten) by a dog, and she has moved house with us 4 times. She was a Very tough little cookie

I'm sure Houdini will be very happy in his new home. Well done for rescuing him . It is very sad and rewarding at the same time to see an animal get re-homed. Well done!! (((((HUGS)))))

My 14 year old Whitie passed away this afternoon while i nipped out to the shops. She must have wanted to be alone, and I thought it was unusual that her Toy Boy was leaving her a lone this morning, as he never normally leaves her side. She was peaceful and remained free from illness (no runny poops etc.) - it was just her old body that couldn't keep up any more. I find comfort in knowing that she is a peace now and she has gone before the cold weather has come . Whitie