renee

Go SOLAR! :bump: I mean, isn't there a system whereby you can set up solar power and 'sell' it to the grid so as to offset the cost off running major appliances like the air con. I think the way it works is that during the day when the solar unit is in full swing if it's generating more power than you're using that goes to the grid as credit and then you can draw on that when you have the air con running. And aren't individual air con units cheaper to run than fully ducted? I know we have a unit in the bedroom and it's a much cheaper option, also since we insulated the roof the inside temperature is cooler by 5C in the summer and warmer by the same amount in winter. Any way good luck with your research!

I don't know about you but I find that when I put branches into the aviaries they dry out pretty quickly, sometimes within days. Yesterday I had a brain flit :bump: I had a bucket which came with a lid and asked my hubby to drill a hole in the lid so I could place the branch into the bucket. Previously I had discarded the idea because without the lid the budgies might have been attracted to the water and fallen into the bucket and drowned Here's what it looks like:

As a control tomorrow I'm going to scrub out my second aviary and Retirement Village and add sand on its own.

I've tried buying it online with little success. For now I get it in 150ml bottles from City Farmers or my local Pet Store. I use it instead of Calcivet so, 2-3 weeks to my flock prior to putting my birds down to breed; 5 out of 7 days for the breeding pairs; 5 out of 7 days for my babies right through to 6 months (maybe longer). I put 2 drops apple cider per Litre 5 out of 7 days except when I'm doing treatment of some kind. Raspberry cordial is a 'natural' cure for worms, along with eucalyptus leaves (I think).

Hmmmm ..... I've heard Breeders say they breed FOR fertility and in the short time I've been breeding I've seen evidence of sons behaving just like their dad's in the cabinets. Of course the diet and supplements you give your birds play a big factor too.

I've been shown how to do it and seen a step by step guide online AND I have a perfect candidate for it but have refrained, for now. The thing is fertility seems to be genetic and in this guys case he just has a tiny vent, not much sperm and no desire to do the job. If I did go ahead my main concern is that I'd be breeding more of the same ... But in the case of 'disabled' birds who have had an unfortunate accident, I'm all for it!

I did that last Summer but then I heard all the horror stories about bacterial growth from damp patches .... Maybe an irrigation system on top of the aviary? I think the pvc piping is called Arizona Mist ... and you can set it up to run on a timer for forecasted scorchers.

Well the mesh we used is mice/snake safe and it's on the sides and roof. The base is on cement pavers and we've cemented all along the sides so no chance of visits from little nasties. As for the replenishing of the lime and sand ... I'll have to see how it goes. What I do take away from Saturday's chat is that it does need to be replaced if it gets wet, not such an issue during the dry summers here, more of a Spring/Winter issue ... but as I said, I'll just have to play it by ear.

Yep, I have a 4 month albino cock who is chatting up his kindie playmates and trying to jump 'em ... Just like his Dad who is a super breeder, it does run in the family!

Exactly! I've switched away from Calcivet to Avian Science Liquid Calcium Supplement for 2 reasons: Calcivet has added sugar and can turn the water off quicker in hot weather and secondly the dose rates for LCS is half that of Calcivet so it is more efficient. The calcium rate for LCS is 22mg/mL.

Chin up Liv. It's so horrible when this happens, especially as it's so easy to get very attached to the little ones that are battling the odds. Hope the other little beauties stay well!

No, no, no. I'm not advocating cleaning a few times a year! But what I do hope to be able to do is rake off the poo once a week as opposed to scrubbing the floor once weekly.

If ONLY!

I'm increasingly influenced by the opinions of a couple of the top breeders of here who advocate using as little of medications as possible. They advise to let your budgies build up a health immunity system. So come summer-time I'm going to try and switch to 'natural' meds. I'm currently doing monthly treatments of anti-parasites and Carlox HOWEVER once all my babies are out in the aviary I will switch to raspberry cordial and plentiful sprays of AIL throughout the summer. As for the use of Carlox, this is only because I've had persistent odd cases of cocci/enteritus for the last 6 months and decided to interrupt the cycle once and for all. I'll stop this in December and see what happens in the following month. I'm also going to start giving the birds other branches besides Eucalyptus ... maybe some Bottle Brush, Gravillea ... we'll see. I'm still going to keep adding apple cider and iodine to the water as these supplements help keep bacteria at bay, so very important in the hot weather.

Congratulations! Sounds like a win-win solution.

I'm afraid so ... your name and year you win is added on a little plaque on the trophy but after a year it goes back to the Club.

Good luck with your budgie swapping! It's a great way improve when you're starting out. Are you going to split the chicks of your Show Budgies? Alternating rings? Or are you getting out of Show Budgies completely?

I'd definitely take Mum out for about an hour and then put her back in before night-time. Good Luck!

Excellent, informative post Kaz! Thank you.

So we had our club meeting on Sunday(SWBC), numbers were down, only about 95 birds benched - but over 50 were in the Novice class. I was glad my main competitor rocked up as it's no fun competing against yourself and we enjoyed a playful banter while we waited for the results. I did okay, a few birds took out Best Variety and one of my nicest Spangles took out Best Novice. But anyway, the point of this post is to share my trophies with you as I'm going to have to start giving them back soon .... unless I turn around and win them right back .... I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky! :bliss:

So today I've spent scrubbing the aviary. First off scraping all surfaces free of poo, then scrubbing with soapy solution and finally scrubbing and washing again with concentrate KD solution. Here's the grille that goes below the perches: When it all dried off this afternoon I laid 1 inch thick Dolemite Lime on the floor: Tomorrow I'm getting a trailer of white washed sand delivered and I will lay that on top of the lime, a couple of inches thick. I had thought of using clumping cat litter but decided against it as the sand can easily be raked and if seed blows out of the seed catcher it will be harder to clean as it could fall between the tiny pebbles.

Pair One: Lutino and Olive - Lutino is continuing to lay : total 2 eggs

It gets pretty hot in Perth, Australia. Today was abnormally hot for this time of year, the hottest October day on record at 35C or thereabouts, and does not bode well for the upcoming summer. Usually it heats up around mid-November and peaks over Christmas through to January at 40C+. Anywhere over 35C and the budgies get heat stress so it's important to set up your aviaries to keep them as cool as possible. In the past we have set up shade cloth about a foot up over the roof of the aviary so that the heat is reflected off and air can circulate in that space. But even so, on the hot days were out there every half hour hosing the roof to lower the temperature. So for those of you who live in hot climates, what do you do to keep your birds alive in the scorching hot summer?

Well we had the BRASEA Show on Saturday and whilst I was mostly occupied with the stewarding I did manage to sit in on an open forum about budgie maintenance. One of top breeders was advocating using garden lime on the base of the aviary, about 3-5cm thick which is then covered by sand or clumping cat litter. I've heard mention of garden lime before as a preventative measure against cocci and other diseases but what made me **** my ears was when the breeder in question said he cleaned his aviary only a few times a year .... :hap: Currently my hubby cleans our aviaries at least once a week! Not that I'm advocating cleaning the aviary so little but the idea of maybe raking it once a week as opposed to scraping the floors on bended knee .... well, it sounds a lot better! Also he did mention that if the base gets wet to scrape off the damp lime and add more.

okay Neat, I agree with what you've posted HOWEVER I do not believe in treating your new arrivals for everything especially if they're not showing any symptoms. For example, you bring in a new bird and place it in your quarantine area. And then you watch it for 4 weeks. If it's not showing any symptoms I would not treat it for canker, cocci or mega. Why administer antibiotics ad lib, you're only going to knock it's immune system around? In my case, my birds are treated regularly for cocci and parasites and mega as part as their normal routine. First couple of day of the month: S76 for parasites and then around the 15th 3 days of carlox which interrupts the cocci cycle and is preventative medicine, and naturally apple cider in the water daily for mega control. All birds are given a 45 day Doxy treatment in the summer. If a couple of birds that look a bit off chances are I'll separate them and give them Doxy for a couple of weeks. Sometimes a bird will be a carrier of something and not show any symptoms, and that has happened to me before I introduced the monthly preventative treatment routine, but it's impossible to tell until birds around it start to come down with whatever it is.