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Just a quick update. Another chick has arrived to the Cobalt Dommie Pied nest, the third. I have moved the Cobalt and Grey Spangle chicks into the Kindie Cage - Mum wants to go down again but I am removing eggs as she lays them. So far no aggression at all to the 2 remaining chicks. I have also moved the eldest chick from the DF Maidens Albino nest into Magics nest, so that makes 3 there now. This afternoon I am doing a whole scale clear out of nests, details later.

I coulda told you that ................ and maybe I did Hmmmm. Yes I do believe you said something about that. Well if I've learnt anything it is that there has to be a happy median and I will try that next season.

Well tragedy has struck. I have just finished doing the soft food and found 2 dead chicks in the Breeding Cabinet. Of course it would be to my Green line series birds, the only 2 chicks I was expecting. Both were newly hatched, nice sized chicks and had not been fed. It would appear the hen simply tossed them out of the nest. I cannot tell you how pissed off I am. I have been checking the nest box. Never in my wildest dreams did I think to check to cabinet. Neither did it occur to me to count the eggs. You live and learn. I have come to the conclusion that the "hands off" approach has serious downfalls.

Mmmmm. They are all right, I'm not complaining. My money's on the Cobalt Spangle but it is so hard at this age to gauge blowability. The Cinnamon Recessive Pied's Dad (Medusa's son) has a nice blow but I really don't see any real evidence of width across the cere in them .... Really I won't know till they all go through their first moult in a few more month's time.

Well it's been a busy day! This morning another little chickie arrived to the DF Maiden Albino pair, that's the fourth. But most of today I spent clearing Breeding Cabinets and recording details - if you hadn't figured it out already I did not record ring numbers when I put the birds in and the reason for this being that I only remembered half way through and then I figured I would be making changes any way ... yes, yes, say no more. I have created a Chickie Kindie cage in the top 3 Cabinets of the bank of 9 and moved the following chicks plus Dad's into it: LGreen Spangle nest, Violet split Opaline and Cobalt Normal. In all 11 chicks. Tomorrow I'll clear all non-fertile nests give or take and start releasing birds into the outside aviary. But here are some photos of some more little ones, mainly out of focus, apologies for that. Normal Cobalt from the Cobalt & Sky nest (the other 2 look just like this one) Cinnamon Recessive Pied from Mudusa's son & Cinnamon Recessive Pied nest (featured earlier) Cinnamon Recessive Pied from Mudusa's son & Cinnamon Recessive Pied nest (featured earlier) Normal Grey from Grey Spangle and Cinnamon Grey Spangle nest (I think they're both split Blue) Cobalt Spangle from Grey Spangle and Cinnamon Grey Spangle nest Grey Spangle from Grey Spangle and Cinnamon Grey Spangle nest I'm very happy with the chicks to come out of the Grey Spangle nest, they look much better than their parents and that is encouraging.

Just one mistake! You're doing well My journal is littered with typos and mistakes ... But I know what I mean - even if no one else does

And that's why you are so appreciated

Every country has its own Standard .... evidently this is an example of the UK Standard.

I bet your student give you plenty of lip!

Okay Tariq, here's the thing. This is a question that you can find the answer to yourself!! The Search option is your friend, use it and it will reward you with a wealth of information. I appreciate this may not be the answer you were hoping for but generally speaking when nobody posts a reply to your topic it is a pretty good indicator that it is a much asked question and they don't want to repeat themselves However ..... Budgies mate all the time prior to laying, not every mating is successful and will fertilize an egg.

Time for a Miscellaneous Update. Lately I seem to be spending a lot of time popping chicks back into the nest box which has prompted me to reassess my Chickie Kindie Cage set up. I have one nest that are all out and a few more that will be by the week end. In the past I have used this Holding Cage, it is 3 tiered and I add swings to make it more chickie friendly. The only problem with this is that if you look you will see it has quite a deep lip, at least 5cm, and because I know I am late this year with my breeding and will have to deal with some hot weather I am reconsidering whether I should use it again. The problem I have with it is that in the hot weather the lip prevents air flow reaching those chicks that are not up on the perches. Here is the alternative: It is a new bank of Breeding Cabinets I bought in early August. As you see no lip and the cabinets, which themselves are very roomy, can be opened up with the removal of the perspex dividers. Now for some reason I have had scant success with this new bank, so bad in fact that out of the 9 cabinets, only 2 have provided chicks. I have my theories about this and next year I will be making alterations. But in the meantime it means I can open up a few cabinets to convert into a Chickie Kindie. Wadyathink?!

Hey it's a free country. You like him, good for you!

I see you've used the steel wire wool. Yes, I used boxes and boxes of the stuff but so long as it doesn't get rained on I found it to be very effective

Nah I won't be breeding anything like that! But on the off chance, I'll keep you in mind!

Oh I don't think you need worry about that Dave. I have noticed that some European countries reward disproportioned birds but not here in Australia. Not for now any way

owww ouch care to elaborate? Don't take it the wrong way I just don't like it. Does it have any backscull? What about width across the shoulders? To be honest I don't think the photo does it any favours. It's hard to see if it has any width in the forehead area either.

Well I for one am glad it is not in my aviary. I don't like it at all.

Cool! There's hope for Quiche yet RE AI, have you got the DVD that Mario Carpasso made? You can order the artificial insemination kit and DVD from him. It offers a very good explanation.

Another 2 chickies arrived today A second to the Cobalt Dommie Pied & Sky hen and a third to the DF Albino Maiden's nest. I had a good look into the Violet boy's nest and I'll be surprised if I get any more than just one more chick from these two. C'est la vie. Neither are much to look at but I was hoping that genetically they would click. What I will say is I have observed that the little ones under the age of a few days that are bright pink (like with the LG Spangle nest) went on to become very big chicks. But the paler pink ones (like the one in the Violet boy's nest this morning) did not. Happily the latest chick to the DF Albino Maiden's nest is bright pink, so we will see. I will be doing just one more Egg Check this week and then pulling all non-fertile nests on the week end, leaving just a couple as back-up fosters. Out of the 37 pairs, 14 have failed (give or take). Not good statistics I'm afraid and the major disappointment has been the Albinos and Green lines. I will be doing a comprehensive analysis once I have compiled all the data.

Yes a few of my birds have had those. Maybe if I was putting them into a Show I'd pull them out. otherwise I just ignored them!

Sorry to hear that Dave. I have had tailess wonders fill eggs, but never the no flighters. I think there is something vital about the wing feathers, the way the cock bird extends them for balance when mating. When did Quiche lose his flights? If I remember rightly he still had them when he got to your place, didn't he?

Oh you misunderstood me. I breed DF Spangles so I have no problem breeding Cinnamon Opaline Spangles! Just not in my Green line and not in my Blue line .... even though I have a bit of Opaline in the Violet series As I have said earlier, it is almost impossible to not breed either .... they are very pervasive!

You're doing a lot of hard work there Splat. Looking Good!

$28 from Big W. Why, do you think they're out? Nope......I just thought maybe I should buy some Yes, they're all right. I have yet to see something that really excites me. Maybe I'm too fussy. I want a big bird with lots of feather, and I want to see it now! There's a few coming through that I have my eye on .... we will see.

$28 from Big W. Why, do you think they're out?