melbournebudgies

Despite his ugly lost feathers he stood out in the sale cage because is massive. He is almost as big as my smaller tiels!! If nothing else was going for him I probably still would have taken him just for the size. Hopefully he breeds well. That first photo I had them on the table outside to try and get a photo in natural light but it's windy today and he fluffed himself up because he didn't like it In light of the new info on him I will probably put him with an opaline hen I think.

I actually thought that too TB. The brother is identical but a bit shorter in the wings and also has a better head so would be a better bird in general Here he is, he's missing half the feathers on his head after the attack and his tails pretty batterred as well but you get the idea.

Here is a slightly better photo, ignore the missing feathers.

okay I understand what your saying now. The reference to them being 07 birds was the top two birds, not the grey Can I also add that these birds are all on quarantine at the moment and only came home today, so I have no expectation of putting them in a breeding cage tomorrow or anything like that. The question was actually a genetic question not whether they were in breeding condition. Libby to answer your other question the injured cock was put in a holding cage with some other birds when I went to look at them and they laid into him. He was actually the pick of the bunch though and the bloke offered him to me for free on account of his injuries so I figured it was worth taking him anyway.

Why do you say that? How do you put a closed ring onto an adult bird?

I don't understand what is wrong with the hen? She looks great, enough meat on her, bright and alert - maybe it is the photo... I checked the cock and he does have plenty of meat on him too. He lost LOTS of feathers due to the hen plucking him in the nest and many didn't grow back at all. He is missing a line of feathers on one side of his chest so maybe that's what makes him look skinny. As I said in my other post he looked great in the sale cage but I got him out of the box and he raced around like a nutter and wouldn't stay still for a nice photo. They are both 07 birds

I am pretty sure the normal isn't split. He is from a breeder who puts coloured split rings extra on all his chicks so that he can keep track of which ones are split and what for. He and his brother(the injured one behind him) have no split ring so shouldn't be carrying anything too unusual.

okay well does that change how I should be pairing her? I was going on some 'research' I had done which basically said to improve the spot and wing markings I should be pairing to a normal but I obviously haven't got my 'eye' yet. The other option is a grey cock.

I don't think she is opaline Kaz, just badly marked. He had opaline spangles as well and their wing markings were clearly different. She has the same markings as my badly spangled pet types. He is actually in pretty good condition just permanently missing quite a few feathers.

I am thinking about pairing the two birds shown below. The hen has some reasonable bullseyes but I'd like to increase the quality of the spots and also get the spangles all black as they are partially body colour on her. The blue normal cock is a HUGE bird and he did show very nicely in the sale cage but cracked it when I put him in the quarantine cage at home and wouldn't take a nice photo, but he's a lovely bird. He's missing some feathers that didn't grow back after he was plucked in the nest. I am aiming for spangles from the clutch so it is all about increasing the quality of spangles, any normal chicks will be 'excess' but if they turn out to be nice birds that will be a bonus. Comments, advice...? You can be blunt but don't make me cry

Well I can't put him with the green girl for atleast another 3 or 4 months so you can have him for a while if you want.

The thing that I am most annoyed with is that I bought a green spangle hen to put with a grey spangle cock I bought earlier in the day and now I have just realised that they were both hens Here's the grey spangle hen, I quite like her, what should I pair her with to try and improver her 'bullseyes' and improve the colour of her spangles? This blue is I swear the biggest budgie I have ever seen in my life! Plus I got the crested guy next to him, neither of these guys would stay still for a happy snap. Here's the green spangle: Unco fluffbird photo: And wing markings: 'Dirty' opaline dark green hen 'Dirty' opaline dark grey boy at the front And a grey boy I got a few days ago:

Also at that age I put one or two celery leaves in the nest box so they get used to them, I find it makes it much easier to get them interested in other fresh food later and they almost all will chew on that whereas other veg I have tried at that age they aren't so interested in.

More good news! I got poss some fresh Callistemon tips this afternoon when he came out for a drink and he is currently stuffing his face Interestingly he isn't interested in any of the 'treats' (apple, broccoli, etc) that I gave him, just wants his fresh leaves Here's poss:

Some good nes this morning, he still isn't thrilled about food but he got up this morning on his own and had a drink out of his dish (previously I have had to offer him a dropper in his box) so hopefully that is a good sign and he might decide to eat today. Out to cut him some fresh native branches before I head to the bird sale

He is taking glucogin dissolved in water regularly so we aren't worried about his fluids and the glucose should help to keep him going until he does start eating. We have good vets in Melbourne and quite a few are willing to do wildlife work pro bono or atleast cheap so he's in good hands

It's a nearly full grown little fella. We have done everything in our power to help him, its now up to him to fight through and to start eating. He seems a little stroner this afternoon, he was curled up on the floor of his cage when we got home from the shops and woke up and climbed back into his box on his own.

I wouldn't worry if you only put them in there today, they will need some time to ge interested in each other.

I have tried that once already but it didn't seem to make any difference, that's why I'm starting to look for other possibilities.

I have two pairs who have been in and out of the nest box for about 3 weeks but aren't laying anything and another two pairs who seem to like each other but they're happy to just be friends

Just wondering if anyone has found the ideal 'climate' to encourage their birds to breed? I have four pairs who have been in their boxes for a number of weeks now and really aren't showing any interest so I'm trying to work out if it is their environment that's the problem.

The main time when seal can be good is if you get creepy crawlies coming onto your house, a seal discourages pantry moths, cockroaches, mice, etc.

Hanging in there. He got out of his box twice last night but couldn't get back in so I popped him back in both times. He's still not interested in food but hopefully tonight he might eat something. I'm hoping some apple and banana might entice him.

Well I have a tendency to be able to picture what I want it to look like in my head but never be able to achieve what I can see in my minds eye As a result I tend to always feel like if I had blended one bit differenty or done something else it would have been better, I'm a perfectionist