renee

Of course but at this stage it's not too bad. So is the heat treatment the best way to go? Any birds I have who are "under the weather" for any reason get the warmth of a lamp or hospital cage so YES...you have done the right thing. What a relief. Thanks for that Kaz!

Of course but at this stage it's not too bad. So is the heat treatment the best way to go?

One of my hens has cut her foot and it was a bit swollen. I have cleaned it out with Benadyne, squeezed the puss out and rinsed thoroughly. I have crop fed her 1ml of Baytril and popped her into the hospital cage. Is that the best place for her, ie. heat treatment? Has anyone else dealt with an infection like this and what did you do?

I've heard really good things about those whirley ceiling vents, wouldn't it help with sucking up and expelling feather dust?

Great thread Pearce! Have you tried sexing Tiny?

First chick hatched last night to Magic's Mum and Champion Opaline Grey! Nice big chick and is already well fed .... photos later- Kaz and I have a Show to go to today!

My October and November chicks were affected last year and yes at that time I did notice some lice and treated them all with S76.

okay, time for a quick update. I was quite discouraged about this year's first round, mainly because I was putting my birds down earlier than usual to suit my timetable not theirs and partly because all indications pointed towards my hens being just a tad past their best in fertility terms. :rofl: So to be honest I haven't been checking on them too much just making sure that their water is fresh, their seed is topped up, they get their daily soft food and that their breeding cabinets are clean. A couple of days ago I decided to meet my fears head on and check on egg numbers and fertility and I have been pleasantly surprised! :rip: So here are some highlights: Blue Greywing pair are on 7 eggs and 5 are fertile. Sky Clearwing hen and Cobalt Normal Cock are on 6 eggs and 4 are fertile Violet Clearwing pair are on 5 eggs and 3 are fertile Sky Clearflighted Pied hen (Magic's Mum) and Champion Opaline Cock are on 6 eggs and 5 are fertile Normal Green Pair are on 5 eggs and 3 are fertile (they're still laying) Lutino Pair are on 4 eggs and 2 are fertile (they're still laying) Normal Blue pair are on 3 eggs and 1 is fertile (I hope they're still laying) Opaline LGreen Spangle hen and Rec Pied cock are on 5 eggs and 4 are fertile Rec Pied hen and Violet Normal cock are on 6 eggs and 5 are fertile Lutino hen and DGreen Opaline cock are on 4 eggs and 2 are fertile Champion GGreen hen and DF Yellow cock are on 4 eggs and 3 are fertile I have about 5 pairs that have just started laying so it's too early to tell. :rofl: And then some disappointments- :rofl: Violet hen and Magic - some clear eggs, not encouraging Top Spangle hens and their partners - no eggs DF Yellow pair - no eggs In fact I've discovered a pattern. I have some "special" cabinets I had made specially a couple of years ago and to be frank out of the 4 cabinets during these past 2 years I've only ever had 1 pair successfully lay and raise chicks and even then it was after 2 dud rounds. To add insult to injury I've always put my Best pairs in them 'cause they are roomier than my average cabinets. I have come to the inevitable conclusion that the nest boxes are not secluded enough for the hens to feel safe. So today I have asked Daz to flat pack me some of his nest boxes and I will ve making the necessary adjustments.

I can understand that. however, Speaking for myself, and possibly others here. Many of us are new to the breeding and "sending birds to god" is something that is easier said than done. Our flocks are small, our hearts are young and we see the individuality in each bird. Hence we get saddened when they get sick and want to make them better. I know many seasoned breeders like yourself Macka, who are far more casual about life and death. These things come with time, experience that lots of us are yet to have. I think Liv that Macka's point is that he rarely has deaths at all and has built up a good immunity in his birds. Not that he is casual towards death in his birds, rather he rarely has to deal with it. Also implicit in his comments that perhaps quarantine could have been more thorough.

I thought Calcium inhibits the antibiotic intake. I don't know about that. But I do know the sugar content in Calcivet is a good energy boost that helps the birds. :rip:

MB I am so sorry you are experiencing the devastation of an outbreak of a killer disease. I'm not so sure about the wisdom of open water dishes, how about a drinker placed on the floor nearby? Heat and carbs are vital so adding Calcivet to the water would be good, though you'll have to replenish it regularly. For all the ones huddling around looking crook I would crop feed them a mixture of calcivet and protein powder every 6-8 hours.

Well I give my birds S76 for Worms, Lice and Mites once a month- typically in the week before showing (in fact they're on it right now :yellowhead: ) but after reading the article again I've decided to give them all another treatment early next week.

Have you taken one to the vet for diagnosis? Are you giving them Doxy?

Well I've read Bob Smith's website with great interest and he has determined that FM is more prevalent when there's the presence of lice. He treats the parents and the chicklings before they've even got feathers. He says since he started doing this he hasn't had and outbreaks. Here's what he says: French Moult You would be wondering why I use so much Ivermectin on my birds. As mentioned I own a microscope. A couple of years ago I was checking a French Moult chick’s feathers and found it was full of feather mite. In the same nest there was a normal chick which had hardly any mite on it or the parents. I proceeded to go to another nest which had two French Moult chicks and one good bird. As in the first nest the French Moult birds had mite and the good bird had very few so I administered a dose of Ivermectin to all birds in the stud and I thought that would fix the mite problem. After checking the birds each day for four days (the mite took four days to die) I thought that was it. A week later I decided to check the French Moult birds again and to my amazement I discovered they were covered with mite again. I repeated the process and to this day I do not have any mite in my aviary and so far touch wood I do not have any French Moult birds. I have set myself four years to examine the birds to see if there is a connection between French Moult and feather mite. I know that a lot of knowledgeable people in the hobby say that French Moult is a virus. I was speaking to Jeff Attwood from England at the Nationals in Caloundra and he informed me that there is a lot of opinion in the UK which suggests that French Moult is not a virus. After discussing my findings with a few people in the hobby they sent me feathers from French Moult young ones and they also had feather mite. I believe you have to break this cycle in the mite. That is why I believe inside of seven days you must repeat your program again.

As I mentioned in the previous posts, it was a couple of hens whose feeding methods were suspect and were obviously passing on the affliction. I managed to save quite a few chicks by fostering them to other hens. I think it must be something to do with the crop milk and the vulnerable age of the chicks as older chicks were not affected. I treated the suspect hens with Lincospectrum but had negligible results, mainly 'cause I didn't know what dosage and how long to give it to them. What dosage are you giving it to them, Baytril or Lincospectrum?

Do you put probiotics in the soft food every day? What about the protein powder or whey powder, does that go in the soft food too?

Yes 10ml to the soft food every morning. Well as of today I'm going to add the Calcivet to the soft food too. I've become increasingly dissatisfied with adding it to the water, I think it makes it too sweet and the risk of bacteria forming is increased.

Daz, I note in the 'new' feeding regime there is no reference to Calcivet. Do you add it to the soft food?Daz, I note in the 'new' feeding regime there is no reference to Calcivet. Do you add it to the soft food?

Good Luck Sharon with your breeding!

Very informative and well written~ Thank You Gina!

Well done Kaz! Why was Cec getting rid of Clint Ault and Watson birds? How old are they?

I would put Caesar to a longer hen.... the hen you've chosen is okay but doesn't add anything. I think he deserves better.

Doxy is a treatment for bacterial diseases - and you don't have that. Don't do doxy now.

Excellent post Kaz! Please post more pics with reasons for the sexing in relation to the ceres. Am I correct in assuming that hens have more bulbous ceres?

You say they are from a well known breeder,is he haveing any problems' with his birds,if not,you mentioned pet shop birds,one of them may of been carrying the virus,& has come under stress & spread it to the others, I think you are best to clean them all out & start again,you could finish up chaseing your tail,trying to get on top of the problem.Just bite the bullet & start again,it might be cheaper in the long run. As heartless as it may seem AV, Macka is probably right. I spent all last year 'chasing my own tail' trying to eradicate the dreaded pooey bums and subsequent deaths that was plaguing my flock. It took forever and I spent a small fortune on preventative meds regimes. In fact, the top shelf of my fridge and the top drawer are dedicated to every possible budgie treatment known to me. And I was just trying to eradicate pooey bums, or pasting of the vent as it is also known - You, unfortunately are facing the triple whammy of Cocci, Mega AND Canker ....