renee

Spark is a liquid form of elctrolytes and carbs, it is a Vetafarm product. It's very useful for before and after showing birds as a 'pick me up'. You should be able to pick it up from your local club on the accessories table. I do not have any experience with Megabac-S so cannot comment. I purchase 90% of my meds from Rob Marshall and Fungilin is the product he supplies for Megabacteria. It works for me. However, in Gerald Bink's The Challenge he refers to Megabac-S as a not entirely effective treatment for Megabacteria. In fact he goes on to say that nutrition plays a huge part in effective treatment of Mega, in particular Vitamins A & D plus the B complex. Which is why a plain seed diet is simply not enough. For this reason I give my breeding pairs 1 day of Vitamin B12 and add Apple Cider Vinegar to Calcivet. Mega is a fungal infection and by adding a couple of drops per litre of water the vinegar raises the PH value, in effect the acidity, which is a 'natural' way of combatting any fungal infections. Doxycycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic used specifically for Chlamidia Psittacosis but is also useful for knocking any other bacterial infections on the head as well. I think you'll find Sailorwolf put a post on it somewhere (although from memory she doesn't subscribe to it's use as a preventative meds regime ) Many breeders put their birds on a shortened course of up to 10 days before putting their birds down to breed as it improves fertility. I personally put all my birds on an annual FULL course of Doxy every year just before breeding- it works for me. :hap:

Yes, Pearce, we've discussed this previously and you know what I think. The biggest danger of the wait and see approach is that some birds are carriers and do not exhibit any signs of illness. It's only when you introduce them into your healthy flock that the problem becomes painfully apparent - and by that time you're facing an uphill battle to save your birds from imminent death. :hap: You've probably posted this somewhere Renee but do you have a specific procedure you follow when you quarantine your birds? Like which meds to give and when to give them etc. thankyou. I receive the bird/s and they go into a holding cage far away from my other birds. 1. A couple of days of Spark 2. S76 for Lice and worms 3. A couple of days of Probiotics 4. 7-10 days of Fungilin for Mega 5. A couple of days of Probiotics 6. GT Wormer for nasties not covered by S76 7. A couple of days of Probiotics 8. Course of Doxy (6 days on, 1 day off) As a rule I don't treat for Canker unless the breeder I've got the birds from reveals they've had it in the past 6 months- I've personally never had Canker: Touch wood.

Yes, Pearce, we've discussed this previously and you know what I think. The biggest danger of the wait and see approach is that some birds are carriers and do not exhibit any signs of illness. It's only when you introduce them into your healthy flock that the problem becomes painfully apparent - and by that time you're facing an uphill battle to save your birds from imminent death.

That's what I 've done this year. Also I give them 7 days of Fungilin for Mega followed by several days of probiotic. I can safely say that none of my birds have Mega anymore. I still get the odd case of pooey bums but I just give them probiotics now and they seem to pull through alright. After recurrent and persistent deaths last year I am happy to report that the last deaths I had were when I got back from my hols at the end of December. I haven't lost a bird since. :hap: Now I guard the health of my flock like a dragon- after all the preventative medication regimes I did to get to this point NOTHING is worth risking it all again.

I am a convert to the whey powder but I cannot see myself serving up meat- cooked or raw- to my birds. Budgies may occasionally eat meat in the wild but I cannot see how it could form a regular part of their diet.

I guess I'm old school, my soft food mix is the following: 4 carrots & 2 apples blended Liberal sprinkling of whey powder Mixed herbs (parsley, basil, rosemary, mint) 3 cups of Hulled Oats 1 cup of black sunflower seed My birds get their soft food mix rather late, at 6pm so they eat it at night and finish it off first thing in the morning.

Wow! I'm so impressed ~ What a great set up! Gone are the days for you of filling up drinkers daily .... One day for me too!

Well done Splat!

I give soft food to all my birds daily so every day I gather them up and wash them with washing up liquid followed by a thorough rinse. I use the upturned jars as seed hoppers and they get cleaned every 2 months or so.

So, she isnt an opaline and you say she looks just like her Dad..................have you got a photo of her dad ? okay, on closer inspection she has his shape but is not the same variety, he is definitely an Opaline Light green Spangle. Now the reason I think they're both Opalines is that neither have striations on the back of their heads like my other Normal Spangles.

Aha! That's interesting Thank you Kaz.

No, I'll try and get a better photo of her.

No, I'll try and get a better photo of her.

I don't see Opaline in this Spangle hen. You state she has washed out markings. Washed out markings is not an indication of Opaline. The Opaline effect is such that body colour is represented in the wings making the bird appear mostly green. Is the cock split Opaline? If not you will not produce any Opalines with that pairing. She is definitely an Opaline, she looks just like her Dad

Renee ? Bear in mind different shire councils allow differing things with how many birds you can keep etc, so look into all that if you move suburbs. Down our way the birds you can keep is unlimited. Well it's still early in the piece, but it looks like we'll just be moving down the road. I've already rung Freo Council and they're fine with what I've got. But as I said, still early days- I've yet to see inside the place BUT there's a huge brick shed and plenty of back yard garden (on a bit of a slope though).

Yes, bad photo, she's got very washed out Spangle markings I'm doubling up on the gene pool, their chicks will go to the Opaline Spangle and Cinnamon's chicks

I think she means masking, as in if you could see the markings they would be spangle but seeings as it is an albino you can't... does that make sense?? Yep .....sounds about right to me Yes, that's exactly what I meant, Thank you Jimmy for the translation!

Oh My GOD! How did this happen?

Welcome to the beginning of my new breeding season. Over the next few months I will be breeding my Red Rungers (09 birds). This year the ring date was brought forward from 01.10.10 to 01.09.09 so we have a limited breeding season. As you should know by now, I'm pretty **** when it comes to taking photos, but I have persevered and tried to get as many pairs on film as I can. Introducing some of my birds: No pics of Magic and his Violet darling (she was in the nest box at the time) Better luck next time. 06 Opaline Cinnamon Lightgreen Hen and 06 Normal Greygreen Cock (both cousins to Carl Alder's National winning Normal Green) 08 Lightgreen Opaline Spangle Hen and 07 Cinnamon Greygreen Cock (I want some Opaline Cinnamon Spangles out of this pairing) 08 DF Yellow Spangle and 06 DF Yellow Spangle (Fran McLoughlin's beauty) 06 Albino Hen split Spangle and 06 Grey Spangle (Zylstra birds, I'm hoping for some DF White Spangles) 06 Lightgreen Spangle Cock (my foundation Spangle) at the door of the nestbox, his daughter, 08 Greygreen Spangle inside ... Magic's sister, 08 Greygreen Clearflighted Pied Hen and 07 Opaline Sky Cock (cousin to Carl Alder's National winning Normal Green) 08 Greywing Sky Hen 08 Greywing Cobalt Cock (they are not interested in the nestbox so far....) 08 Greywing Cobalt Hen and 07 Normal Sky Cock (neither are these guys....) Of course there are other pairs down, but they wouldn't stay still and pose!!!!

Yes, you are all right, I'm cutting it very close BUT they've already paired up, been in the cabinets for almost a week and in the holding cages another 10 days prior. I don't know how long it will take me to get another breeding room up and ready so it's all steam ahead for the Red ringers.

I got the news on Friday that I'll be moving in 3 months .... so I promptly opened up access to the nest boxes! :sad: Most of the hens I originally pulled from the aviary some 2 weeks ago were 08 birds born in May-June and alas they are a bit slow to get the hang of the nest boxes ... but my 07 and 06 hens have gone straight in. Of particular note, I've paired Magic up with my Violet hen (you may recall she was VERY slow to get the hang of feeding her chicks last year when I paired her with Kaz's Spangle) and to my delight she is raring to go. Now lets hope Magic is a quick learner and does his bit! I'll take some photos and open a new general topic under Budgie Journals. :doh:

What's the news in Caesar?

Good Luck Liv!

Fantastic progress Liv and 007! Way to go!!!!

Ignorance is bliss! :yes: