renee

Nope, not really. I don't think it is a nutritional issue. They have all got Budgie Breeder in the aviary and then soft food in the Holding Cages plus broccoli plus bottle brush. They got Soluvet early on in the drinkers as well as Calcivet and Iodine plus Moulting aid. I have ordered some Vitamin B12. But maybe it is a physical thing. I am very careful when I check eggs but I do have a lot of cocks in the nest box. I am open to suggestions. As things stand I am not checking the newly changed nests. I will wait till Saturday and then I am going to take a leaf out of John Kobilanski's book and in the nests that are showing fertile eggs only look every 5-7 days till hatching time.

Not a good day today. I had a close look at the Cobalt Dommie Pied nest I have been expecting chicks from and found a DIS plus 2 Addled eggs. Still 3 eggs left but I will be surprised if I get any chicks at all now. Same story in the Cobalt/Sky hen nest .... 4 eggs left but 3 look Addled now. In fact same story, same story, same story ... Then I checked on the Lute nest and found one of the chickies dead. Hard to tell whether it was one of the Sky/Cobalt or the Sky DP's chick. Any way that made up my mind and I have fostered the remaining 4 chicks. The eldest that I rung yesterday went into the Violet split Opaline nest. Fingers crossed for that one. As I was emptying the Lute nest I checked a dodgy egg and was just about to call it DIS when it peeped at me. Turns out it was just shy of hatching so I popped it in with the Grey DP nest as his JK Cobalt hen is very experienced. The Lute hen got another 3mls Lincospectin and she will stay on that for another 5 days as well as in the drinker. I am concerned about my chickies not growing as much as I would like, specifically those chicks I fostered today. I am assuming it is 'cause of the Lute hen. Any way I hope they do well in their new nests and put in a growth spurt. The Spring wild grass has arrived and I am busy plucking the tips and giving clumps of it into the nest boxes of hens feeding chicks.

I love your Spangle! Well Done You!

4 more chickies arrived today! A third to the DP Grey nest (assisted), a third to the LG Spangle, a second to the Green/RP nest (assisted) and a first to the Grey Spangle nest. She is the daughter to my Super DF White boy, any way she hadn't fed it yet so I popped it into the Sky nest and swapped it for one of the chicks there - not for long, I'll check on her in a few hours and probably swap then back again. I'm a bit concerned about a few more nests ... I'd like to see chicks hatch soon in them. Also that Violet split Opaline nest .... I wanted 6 chicks from him and currently only have 2 .... I'm thinking that 'cause it is a top nest quite close to the roof it will be receiving more heat than other nests. So this morning I popped the remaining eggs into my mouth to moisten. Yes, I'm sure you think that is disgusting! And I did think of following PJI's advice and spraying the hen instead - but this was quicker and less stress on the hen. Also I am worried about the Lute nest with her chick and 4 fosters. They looked way too pale for my liking. I have seen this before and to my understanding it is an indication of the hen passing on something (viral infection?) to the chicks which affects their liver. So I gave them all some extra virgin Olive Oil, they did colour up after that, and a 3mls solution of Lincospectin to the hen direct to the crop as well as putting it in the drinker. In the past I found the most effective way of overcoming this was to foster the chicks out till they were almost 3 weeks as this seems to affect them most at the 6-10 day mark BUT while I can conceivably do that with the foster chicks I think maybe her chick is too big to be accepted. A dilemma. I will have to monitor and wait and see. Moving on .... Today is my first Stat report on a chick. He is now 7 days old and weighs 13g.(before rings were put on) Photo taken after Olive Oil to the beak. The hen is nibbling the down of these chicks. Here are his parents ... not a good photo and they look a bit scraggily but I think she's a better bird than him.

And on a more positive note End of Week 4 Chick Report - In alphabetical order: Albino Sat Grey split Albino - Amazing long feather. Fostered to Sky hen nest. Painted with nail varnish ... she picks it off Blues - Cobalt / Sky Wed Good feather. Fostered to Lute hen nest. Thurs Good feather. Fostered to Lute hen nest. Fri Good feather. Fostered to Lute hen nest. Sat Good feather. Dommie Pied/Normal Green split Blue Thur Fostered to Lute nest. Dommie Pied Greys split Blue Sat Very pink. Sun Very pink. Lutes Mon Green split Lute split Cinnamon? Recessive Pieds Sat Green split RP Sky Violets split Opaline? Thur Good Feather. Fri DIS Sat Good Feather. Sun DIS Spangles / DF? Fri Very pink. Sat Very pink. So 14 chicks so far. 2 DIS in the Violet split Opaline nest ... not sure what's going on there ... both chicks just looked like the couldn't pip through, the yolk sac almost entirely absorbed. Other than that I am happy that all hatched chicks have been fed well and at this point I can't see any issues - TOUCH WOOD.

Okay so it is now End of Week 4 and time to do a stat report, focussing on the Clear Nests So, in alphabetical order - ALBINOS Super Albino to 11 DF Daughter: Laid 3 - 1 Fertile - added 1 Fertile - 2 Clear - 2 Addled early on. Nest Change. Albino to 11 DF Albino: Laid 8 - 1 Fertile - 3 Addled early on - 4 Clear - Fostered Egg. Nest Change. 11 DF Albino to 08 Albino: Laid 7 - 1 Addled - 6 Clear. Nest Change. Splits 08 Grey split to 11 DF Albino: Laid 5 - All Clear. Change Cock. 08 DF Grey to 11 DF Albino: Laid 4 - 2 Funny air bubbles - 2 Clear. Nest Change. 08 DF Grey to 11 DF Albino: Laid 6 - 1 Addled early on - 4 Clear - 1 Hatched. DOMMIE PIED GREENS 08 JK GreyGreen to 08 JK Grey: Laid 3 - 1 Broken - Stopped laying - All Clear. Nest Change. 09 Grey to 09 GreyGreen: Laid 5 - 1 funny air bubbles - The rest Clear. Nest Change. DOUBLE FACTOR WHITE SPANGLES DF White Spangle to 11 Daughter - Laid 8 - All Clear - Nest Change. 11 Grey Spangle to Grey Spangle - Laid 6 - All Clear - Split pairing. DOUBLE FACTOR YELLOW SPANGLES 09 DF Yellow to cousin 10 DF Yellow - Laid 5 - 1 Addled early on - 3 bubbles in eggs - 1 Clear. Nest Change. COCK IN NEST. Super GDA DF Yellow to LGreen Spangle - Laid 6 - 1 bubbles in egg - The rest Clear - Nest Change. GREEN LINE 11 Green to 11 Green: Laid 6 - All Clear. Nest Change. 10 Green to 11 Green: Laid 5 - All Clear. Nest Change. RECESSIVE PIEDS Splits 08 JL Green (sweet talker) to 11 RP: Laid 4. All Clear. Nest Change. 10 RP (sweet talker) to 09 Green: Laid 4 - 2 Addled early on - 1 Clear - 1 Fertile (for now). COCK IN NEST. 09 Grey split RP to 11 RP: Laid 6 - 3 or 4 Addled - The rest Clear. Nest Change. VIOLETS 11 Violet to 08 JK Cobalt: Laid 6 - 4 Addled - 2 Clear. Nest Change. COCK IN NEST. I should add that there is some discrepancy in the fertile egg count as quite often I thought an egg was turning fertile only to count it as addled a few days later.... TOTAL EGGS CHUCKED TO DATE: 114 There you go! I've always thought of it as 21 days from the date the first egg is lain .... but then I checked with The Challenge and it clearly states 18 days .... but then again I don't pay too much attention to the date eggs are laid any way!!!!

Awwww shucks it is 18 days from go to whoa Taylor !!! Don't know what I was thinking

Further Information from the Exhibition Budgerigars Facebook Site - To all, Questions have been asked of the potential to this out break impacting budgerigars. I have extracted from some of the reporting that is out and about to show a SUGGESTED POTENTIAL from this reporting and previous reporting re the potential of impacting other birds (Budgerigars) without trying to create panic – the intent is for fanciers to be vigilant, precautionary and sensible in the area of husbandry, aviary management, closing of aviaries to external birds plus notification of any changes in bird health. Note that whilst the European (inclusive of the UK) outbreak was on and after the BS put together a BioSecurity Policy for shows, I was travelling and judging in the UK, Switzerland and Germany. Outside aviaries for all species were ‘closed’. Plastic sheeting and other ‘protective’ coverings including verandas were placed over the external flights to ensure wild bird droppings (or contact) was removed, the verandas extended a reasonable distance forward of the front of aviaries allowing the visiting public to at least view the birds but minimised the risk of wild birds making contact. Nigel T. As a comment, I still am not sure that the UK outbreak was fully identified, but Dr Baker suggested the following in 2003: He (Dr Baker)has indicated the disease is very probably caused by a paramyxovirus infection (PMV), however, he still awaits confirmation of this. There are at least 9 types of paramyxovirus and in many of these there are a large number of subtypes, all of which can infect birds. The classical type affecting budgerigars is type 5 (also known as Kinitachi virus) which caused high mortality in aviaries in Japan in the mid 1970s; there was also a small outbreak of this in the UK in 1993. Budgerigars are also susceptible to PMV type 1 which is the cause of Newcastle disease- there is a subtype of type 1 which affects pigeons; homing pigeons have to be vaccinated against this if they take part in competitions. Two fanciers have independently commented on the large number of domestic pigeons around at the time of the outbreak but this may just be coincidence, PMV2 and PMV3 have also been seen in psittacine birds including budgerigars. Dr Baker has also confirmed that the disease is transmitted "bird to bird" and it can be carried on shoes and clothing.

21 days give or take .... but that is from when the hen starts incubating and the weather also plays a part in it - hot weather less and cooler weather more. Well I always thought it was every other day for eggs laid every second day and that is assuming all eggs are fertile ... but then I have this Cobalt & Sky nest now in which the first 4 eggs have hatched out every 24 hours .... SO I guess what I am saying is IT DEPENDS!!!! I mean it really all hinges on fertility and whether they get addled or not and hatch successfully.

No nothing random about it She laid 8 eggs with 100% fertility. 4 have hatched and 4 more to hatch

Yay another 3 chicks have arrived! A 4th to the Cobalt & Sky hen .... 4 down and 4 more to go! A second to Violet split Opaline boy and his Sky hen. and a surprise - A one and only to an 08 DF Grey and 11 Albino hen. I have fostered this last chick to the Cobalt & Sky nest for now. It will be Grey split Albino. I am hoping that pair will go down again with a better fertility rate this time. Their stats for this round were 6 eggs - 1 Addled - 1 Fertile. Tomorrow is Full Moon and I have heard around the place that chicks born at this time are somehow especially big and beautiful .... Here's hoping that is true!

Taylor Addled is the term used to describe when a Fertile Egg Dies .... it can be due to nutritional deficiencies or physical damage - such as in the case I was describing the cock bird was in the nest box and got startled and scattered the eggs so that they scrambled and the little chickies inside died. Show Budgies have a lot more feather than the Pet Shop bird and as a result their long feathers at the base of the tail around the vent can obstruct the cock bird's sperm reaching the vent of the hen and result in lots of clear eggs. I just pull them out ... many Breeders prefer to use scissors and trim them. Before taking any course of action I would inspect all your bird's vents and decide whether the feathers are thick and long enough to get in the way of successful mating.

Tripple C is brilliant! It is my medication of choice if I see poopy bums.

Mmmmm. Afraid not. I had a good look at the Sky DP & Green hen nest this arvo. 1 possible egg still viable, 3 completely addled only days from hatching. It appears that the cock bird did in fact scramble those eggs when I checked on the hen feeding the foster chick at dawn I made the tough decision to transfer the egg and split that pair - the hen was right out of condition and has gone into the Holding Cage. A real shame as they were a lovely pairing, at least I have one chick from them in the Lute nest .... well I'm assuming I do, I'll know for sure in a couple of weeks when it feathers up. I have given him yet another Cobalt hen that was in the Holding Cage. Just as well I bred enough of them last year! Another tough decision ... I have split up my 3rd DF White pairing and retired the hen to the Holding Cage and gathered up the 3 Grey Spangle cocks at my disposal and popped in the 2 hens I got from Gary Armstrong as back ups. No one has fallen in lust yet .... I will give them 48rhs and see what then. I don't know what is going on in the Violet split Opaline & Sky hen nest .... one chick .... one DIS ... 6 more eggs to hatch but no action. But 3 chicks did arrive today A second to the LightGreen Spangle & Greygreen hen. A first to the Grandson Grey Dommie Pied & JK Cobalt hen and another first to the son of Medusa, 11 Green split Recessive Pied and 08 RP hen.

But overnight? That's a really good tip Thank You GB! I'll be doing that in future

Just a quick update to keep abreast of the goings on .... Good news and some Bad news. The good news is my Greygreen Dommie Pied hen (daughter to JK Granddadie) is on 3 eggs and 1 is definitely fertile The bad news is that I had my first Dead In Shell to the Violet split Opaline cock bird AND I am pretty sure 2 eggs were scrambled this morning when I checked on the Green hen .... And I just can't find that chick that hatched out yesterday to the Green hen, the one I marked with a felt pen on its head and little claws ... it has got to be somewhere and I can't believe the markings would have disappeared. I am sure I popped it into the nest of the Cobalt cock and Sky hen last night and then transferred both chicks that hatched yesterday this morning into the Lute nest .... VERY careless of me to lose it.

Just earlier today I received an email from the SWBC Club regarding the Paramyxovirus that is affecting pigeons. The following message was enclosed - MESSAGE TO THE POULTRY INDUSTRY FROM DEPUTY CVO VICTORIA < A paramyxovirus not previously reported in Australia has been detected in hobby pigeons near Shepparton and is the likely cause of pigeon deaths in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is undertaking investigations to determine possible links between the properties and to detect other affected properties. Affected pigeon flocks have experienced high mortality associated with lethargy, gastrointestinal and neurological signs. There are currently no reported unusual disease events in Australian commercial or backyard poultry flocks, nor in wild birds. As virulent paramayxoviruses isolated from pigeons are capable of infecting poultry, producers should reinforce their biosecurity measures to ensure industry's standard biosecurity measures are in place. As part of these measures, producers should take action to prevent contact between poultry and wild birds or pigeons, both directly and indirectly, for example via feed and water. Owners of commercial flocks should ensure the currency of Newcastle disease vaccination, and workers should be discouraged from keeping poultry, fancy birds or pet birds, including pigeons. The National Farm Biosecurity Manual for Poultry Production provides advice on biosecurity standards relevant to all poultry industry sectors, and includes information on sound everyday biosecurity practices, and a range of useful resources and links. The document is freely available on the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) website at www.daff.gov.au/birds or hard copies can be obtained by contacting DAFF on 026272 5283. If you notice similar signs or high death rates in your flocks please either contact your veterinarian or call DPI on 1800 675 888 so that an investigations into the cause of death can then be undertaken. Regards, Dr Andrew Cameron DPI

I don't know about you guys but at this stage (rapidly approaching D-Day) my pairings fall into 4 categories - There are the nests I am happy with The nests I'm okay with - I suppose The nests I'm disappointed with - but remain hopeful about and then there's that select group that give me the shits ... And this afternoon I dealt with 2 major pains in the buts Top of the list is the best daughter to my Super Albino - she has fantastic feather and I really want chicks from her. I had put her to a Split Albino Grey Normal cock ( I have referred to him as the curiosity) and all up she laid 5 clear eggs. He was the culprit who insisted on incubating the eggs too. So I chucked him into the Holding Cabinet and replaced him with a Back-up DF Grey Normal cock. BUT it has been a disaster He has shown scant interest in her and she spends all her time in the nest box .... and yes, I did close up the nest box for a few days to give them an opportunity to bond but finally I have had to accept that this pairing is not working. So I decided that what she really needs is an experienced cock bird (the other 2 are Maidens) to grab her by the scruff of the neck, jump on her and then promptly escort her to the nest box! There is only one breeder I know who produces cocks like these and fortunately I have in my possession just one of them. Who else but a lovely Gary Armstrong 09 Sky Blue Normal. Obviously not my first choice as I prefer to pair DF Greys to my Albino line but in hindsight my wonderful plan to breed these DF Greys (but not use them last year - that was a mistake) is producing very mixed results. He had been a bit crook with a dodgy eye so missed the initial pairing and selection date but he has since come good and I have had him on stand-by. I can already tell that it will be a good pairing as as soon as I popped him into the Breeder Cabinet she started flirting with him. FINGERS CROSSED!!!! The other pair is just a headache. The trick is trying to find the right hen for my Wayne Retzlaff Cobalt cock. Yes, he is a bit short in the body but I really like his head and mask. The first hen, a lovely 11 Sky Blue, you may recall shat all over her eggs so I replaced her with another 11 Cobalt hen but she is the one that put a great gaping hole in her egg the other day. Such un-mortherly behaviour I am prepared to work around in a Super hen like Medusa but today I have decided I have neither the time nor inclination to faff around so close to D-Day. So she is gone and has been replaced by the 11 Cobalt hen who was initially down to Magic. Only time will tell.

Yeah I hear you Splat For the most part I can focus when required and enjoy the odd "light bulb" moment but then again I do have absolute scatter-brained moments where everything goes a bit haywire I have found that at those times I put things down and can't find them, I get all mixed up and most importantly I lose my rings!!! SO, I figured that if I worked everything ahead of ringing and allocated rings per nest then I just might have less hassles.

2 more chickies today! A third to the Cobalt & Sky pair ... I thought they were supposed to hatch every second day? .... well not in this case! and a first to the LightGreen Spangle boy and his nubile GreyGreen hen - who I am very happy to say fed the chickie with no hassles Last night I checked on the Green hen and she hadn't fed the substitute chick so I swapped it back to its nest and popped the eldest chick of that nest - it is a couple of days old now. Any way Good News insofar that I set my alarm clock and checked on it at 5am and it was being fed. And here is where the best laid plans go awry because I marked the chick that was born yesterday afternoon (a dot on the head and to make sure I painted its little claws) before transferring it so I could swap it back BUT this morning when I checked on it I couldn't find ANY distinguishing markings at all. Grrrrrrr. So it is in the Lute nest now and I will have to wait till it feathers up to recognize it. This is a real pain 'cause this year I intended to do my ringing differently. Up until now I have rung chickies in chronological order BUT this year I am setting aside rings per nest. Just an experiment really.

Okay so time for a stat report on my top most favourite pairings .... and what a sorry reading it will be So in alphabetical order ..... My Super Albino had a hen swap and so I introduced his daughter (the one who looked most like her mother) and on 3rd Sept she had 3 eggs of which 1 turned Fertile. Since then - NOTHING! and here was I getting all excited that she was going to keep laying ... The Violet boys are doing fine (previously included in the Blue line) and I hope to get 12 chicks from them. The Blue Normal line .... hopefully 8 chicks from my 09 Cobalt cock & 11 Sky hen but no joy from my lovely other boy. His first hen was the one who was pooping in the nest box (a disgusting habit) so I swapped her for another 11 Cobalt hen but today I found an attacked egg ... I am going to pop a falsie in tonight at lights out .... and MONITOR! The Blue Dommie Pied line ... well really there is only 1 pair as technically the other 2 are Grey split Blue DPs - a small detail and in any case all good and I hope to get 4 chicks from that nest. Moving onto the Grey split Blue Dommie Pieds. the Grandson to the Super JK Greygreen boy has done the biz and I hope to get 4 chicks, maybe 5, from this nest. The other is my beloved Magic to the Grey hen but they have only been down a week and no eggs yet. The Double Factor Whites .... my gorgeous boy is down to his daughter started in week 2 but alas all 7 eggs were clear. The same story for my Double Factor Yellow top pairings ... started in week 2, the hens laid 6-7 eggs ... all clear. The same story for my GreyGreen Dommie Pieds. The super JK boy's 08 JK Grey hen laid 4 clear eggs and I gave her a nest change at the beginning of the month and she is currently on 2 eggs. I am hopeful His daughter is down to an 09 Grey cock and had the same experience ... laid 3 clear eggs before I gave her a nest change at the beginning of the month. She is on 3 eggs and I think maybe one is beginning to turn fertile. The Green Dommie Pieds comprise 2 pairings and 2 are split Blue. The first split pair had their 1st chick hatch today and I hope to get 4 more. Alas the other Cobalt Dommie Pied brother was paired to a Green hen but she just camped out in the nest box and refused to lay eggs so I swapped her at the beginning of the month and the new Green hen is on 2 eggs. I am hopeful for this pair as when I popped her in there she immediately started bonking The Green line .... well my top 09 Green boy's hen is on 2 fertile eggs (better than nothing I suppose) but his son has not filled a single egg. His hen was on 6 eggs and today I gave them a nest change. My other DF Green pair had the same experience as the DF's and GreyGreen Dommie pieds .... started laying in the second week -but all clear so yesterday I gave them a nest change. Interestingly I do have one Green split Blue pair and they enjoy very good fertility and the hen is on 5 fertile eggs. The Recessive Pieds .... well in total Medusa laid 5 eggs, 2 were transferred of those remaining 1 is fertile and started to show on 30th September. I don't want to risk moving this valuable egg and I still want to give Medusa a second chance so I have come up with REHABILITATE Medusa Plan!!!! I have decided that on the 18th I am going to introduce a chick or 2 and hope she gets the hang of things ... well that's the plan so far! That "Sweet Talker" RP boy down to my best Green hen has filled 2 eggs out of 4 but both addled very early on. The son to my best Manno line RP had a hen swap (his was the one who kept on rolling the eggs out of the nest) and after a couple of changes I put him down to a very nice RP hen ... his cousin. They went down at the end of the month and she started laying last week, currently on 2 eggs. SO, what I have observed is that those pairs which started laying in the first week of going into the Breeder Cabinets have on the whole enjoyed very good fertility and their chicks are starting to hatch out this week. You may remember that I found that most of the cocks vent feathers had grown back by the end of Week 1and had to do a whole scale feather pluck there and then. Most pairs that started laying in Week 2/3 produced Clear eggs and have undergone nest changes and are starting to produce new eggs now. I am hoping that with the little chickies hatching out now the sound of their peeping will stimulate all other pairs into producing fertile eggs.

Yes Pride I just love this stage of the Breeding Season! And another little chickie hatched out this afternoon (unusual as most of mine hatch overnight) This time a first to 10 Sky Dommie Pied cock and 11 Green hen. Its little crop was filled with air so I surmised that the hen hadn't quite got the hang of feeding so I popped it into the nest of the Violet split Opaline cock and Sky hen and switched their chick that arrived last night into the Green hen's nest. I'll give them a couple of hours and then check on them and if needs be I'll do another swap around, this time with an older chick. The chicks peeping stimulates the hen to feed but sometimes a Maiden hen takes a little time to get the hang of things and if you're not onto it quickly the tiny chickie gets weaker and weaker and its peeps get increasingly softer so the hen ends up not feeding it at all. So to stimulate the hen you want a noisy chick to help her out. Mmmmmm, yes I feeling a tad overwhelmed but then I got into the whole routine of it all so it is not too crazy - for now.

2 more well fed chicks today!!! A second to the Blue & Sky pair and a first to the Violet split Opaline and his Sky hen. I have moved the chick that was born yesterday into the Lute nest and as new chicks hatch I will continue to move them on till there are just 5 or 4 eggs left. The Lute hen is an experienced mother hen and in a super large nest box. A further note on that Lute nest .... I am thinking that maybe 1 egg is still okay so perhaps another chickie will hatch. It's very disappointing and I don't know why those eggs have addled. It's like the hen just stopped turning them and it seems to be happening all over the place .... but maybe that's 'cause I'm just feeling despondent. I will have to start making notes of this and see if I can find a pattern.

I just adore that Jungle Gym you have built for them and your chickies are gorgeous too!

Well Ratzy I can see the iris ring as you said but it really looks like a Recessive Pied to me