renee

Much, or should I say, all of my success with my show birds is because right from the beginning I bought from the top breeders in this state. At the same time I learnt from observing their set ups and have implemented many measures I witnessed first hand. The past year I identified a couple of breeders who are in Intermediate grade and have had birds selected for the National team and who are on the verge of moving into the Open grade and stocked my aviary with 10 birds from one and 8 birds from another. Of course Stewarding has been invaluable and the skills I've learnt has helped in purchasing good birds. I'm having a very good breeding season and if most of birds look like their parents then I'll be very happy. Of course I'm hoping to "fluke" a few beauties too. Next year I hope to take the next step and get my pairings better .... oh and my deplorable grasp of genetics should improve too.

Love it, love it, love it!

Neat, please listen to me and listen well: You will NOT build a stud of any quality with $10 birds. You already have the experience of breeding budgies so you do not need $10 birds to "learn" with. Do yourself a favour and visit the top breeders in your area and buy 2-4 birds from each. These will be your foundation birds. Spend 18 months to 2 years building your show budgies stud to the point that about 30 birds are top birds (you may have up to 80 in total). It is worthwhile to invest in your foundation birds. When I say invest I mean do not purchase less than a $50 birds from a top (Open) breeder. Even if they are what he/she considers "novice" birds they will still be better than better birds from lesser breeders (if you get my drift). It will save you time and money on the long run. You only have to ask Kazza about this and she will confirm.

Ummmm. I really wouldn't tell any 'white lies'. :question: If I was a vet and you told me usually got it from Rob Marshall my response would be 'Why have you run out and why don't you get it from him?' Aside from the obvious fact that there are few avian vets and most of them know each other ..... it's a bit like the show budgie fraternity: everyone knows someone who knows you. Lies have short legs and you will end up looking like a ...... :laughter: Tell the truth, it's easier and simpler. Besides which, seeing as you have advertised your intent, sooner or later you're bound to get dobbed in.

Touch wood, never had to use it. :question: But is is the product recommended by top breeders over here.

I have Turbosole in my Medicine Cabinet. I ordered it from avian vet Rob Marshall of Carlingford Animal Hospital with guaranteed next day delivery. Try ringing first thing tomorrow (Monday) and maybe they can post it immediately so you can get it in the afternoon. Tel No: 02 9871-6036/7113 100g $35.00 Or else log on to: www.birdhealth.com.au Good Luck! :question:

Just wanted to stress the importance of getting the temperature right. Over the winter I ran a heater every night to take the chill out of the air and had 99% hatchability and survival. Currently the nighttime temperature has risen by about 5 degrees C but I hadn't adjusted the heater temperature. Unfortunately this has contributed to a spate of dead in shells this week.

I Love the aviary mesh idea!

Thank you very muchly Kaz

You can pick it up from your local pharmacy. It has to be water soluable iodine (not Benadine or the like). The one I have is Aqueous Iodine Solution APF and this is the equivalent of Lukaults (or something that sounds like that). Best keep it in the fridge.

Sounds just like my magnificent Green boy. Great poser but never seen him jump anyone. Try the iodine in the water to perk him up.

I feel for you! It's so frustrating when you think you've found the 'perfect pair' and they don't pay each other the slightest bit of notice .... It pays to put them both in a show cage beforehand for half a day and see of they start kissing up. If they attack each other within minutes you have a fair indicator that it's not going to work ... again if they turn their backs on each other you can assume it's not going to be love at first sight. But it sometimes depends on whether the hen is really ready to go down. Sometimes she won't be too hot on the cock but faced with no alternative she can fall in love belatedly! I had a pairing that weren't too keen on each other but they were my best greygreens and I determined not to give them a choice. It took time ..... 5 weeks, but eventually they paired up and gave me a few of nice chicks.

I guess it depends on how much you like the pairing and how patient you are prepared to be. You can try increasing the iodine levels to 2 - 6 drops per litre of water. You can try giving them a dose of vitamin B for 3 -5 days .... If you have another cock ready to go just go ahead and swap them. But be careful. Sometimes if the hen is already bonded she will attack any new cock birds you introduce so it pays to swap breeding cabinets and give her a 3 -5 day rest in a holding cage on her own beforehand.

Thanks for the photo tips Elly

CCongratulations! You have done so very well against stiff competition. These results will energise you and keep you hopelessly addicted to your darling budgies

The Mum's Y/F Grey Opaline and the Dad's Dark Green Opaline ... I'm wondering if it's a Y/F?

They look very good Kaz! If only I had your patience and skill when it comes to taking the pics!!!

This is a really good post. I recently had some budgie friends over and after hearing about all the bad luck they had had I offered them some budgies out of my retirement village. They were happy, I felt good about being generous and that was the end of that - NOT! A few days later a little present arrived in the mail and when I rang to say thank you I was huffily told that 'the budgies' were covered in mites, did I know? .... NO! Of course not and I apologised profusely and promptly treated. Goes to show, No good deed goes unpunished!

Yes, the parents are opaline. Can you see anything else?

Apologies for the poor quality of photos: Little one can't grip the perch yet.

Well I stand corrected then. What I mean is her Mum was an albino (pair number 3) and her Dad was Dark Green (pair number 2). I don't really care what we get, although if the Gods smile kindly on I'd like a couple of violet/cobalt spangles and some olives (as they are rare). But really it was a case of Kaz putting forward her best cocks and me putting forward my best hens. When I say best I mean Kaz's cocks weren't being used and I got down on my knees and begged her to use them so she said, "okay, let's do it together!" As it happened my lutino hen had had a couple of rounds of clear eggs and I suspect the cock bird was a bit clueless, my greygreen hen is as fussy as they come and has resisted bonding with 2 previous partners, and my violet hen has gone down already but had a round of clear eggs and I suspect her mate was just too tired to do the biz (he'd just raised 3 rounds). So I am not holding my breath by any means. Also I will wrap things up by mid-December as I don't like breeding in the heat. Having said that there is no reason why we shouldn't get lucky.

If this hen does the same as before and has that many too, this time she can keep all eggs to incubate. The cock helps her do that. Last time I moved eggs and the foster mum threw out the eggs with chicks in them. This time she can incubate and hatch them all and I, too, will move chicks only. Here is chick two. perches well enough for the Unbroken Cap show on Sunday so I will take it Here is the youngest chick from this pair but in the foster nest...coming up well. I will make sure I don't whisper in the Judges ear when I do the stewarding ....

Yep, very true. Photos of my cock birds at Kaz's: Normal Grey Normal Green split Rec Pied Dom Pied

Here are 3 pairs of birds that Kaz and I are breeding with. Kaz supplied the cock birds and I've supplied the hens. I'm keeping them at my place and hopefully we should get a round out of them. Pair Number One: Lutino Hen and Olive Cock Pair Number Two: GreyGreen Normal Hen (split Dark Green) and Rec Pied Cock Pair Number Three: Violet Normal Hen (split Albino) and GreyGreen Spangle Feel free to critique and ask questions.

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