renee

Further information about Megabacteria copied from the MBC Forum, courtesy of Jeff, Leigh, George and Gary: What is Megabacteria? (George) I don't claim any particular expertise in disease names but according to a presentation by Professor Phalen to the World Budgerigar Organisation at the Grand National, Las Vegas Nevada in October 2005, the name of the yeast is "now officially Macrorhabdus ornithogaster." I know it was called Avian Gastric Yeast for a while. That name along with the earlier Megabacteria is still used by many people. How does it kill? (Jeff) Mega is ever present. It is a secondary disease. It will take over and kill your birds if they are weak or not cared for. Generally, if we treat for Psittacosis, Canker and Cocci all will be good. Once Mega has ravaged a bird it is hard to salvage the bird. How can it be treated? (Leigh) I DIDN'T know that Megabac was a yeast, I thought I had read in a post somewhere that it was a Spherical Bacteria, and there was also mention of a Gram- Rod. This is why I was more than a little confused when the Vet gave me FUNGILIN to treat the birds. Fungilin treats Fungal blooms caused by Yeasts. I have always known this and using it to treat what I thought was a true Bacteria had me scratching my head! This now answers the about the use of cider vinigar, Yeasts will always bloom in the absence of sufficient acid, thus the need to keep their environment at a low pH which Cider Vinegar will do Any preventative measures? (Gary) I used to add only two drops of apple cider to the drinking water (1 Litre) and the PH was LOWERED to 6.4 on the acid side. (Jeff) I use KD in the water two days out of 10. This is a Marshall Product. See the links in All things Budgerigars. (Leigh) The treatment the Vet gave me for the Megabacteria is Fungilin Lozenges crushed in suspension which is administered orally via syringe (not crop needle) at the rate of 0.2 ml twice daily for twenty days. This is not a cure for Megabac as there is no real cure, it is to hold the Megabac at bay long enough for the Doxy to have a proper effect. Once the Psittacosis has been eradicated from the birds system, the immune system should be able to keep the Megabacteria at tolerable levels.

Yes, he is! I just couldn't accept his death, I knew I'd taken excellent care of him and I wanted to know why he died. Especially because he had been lent to me by another breeder and I felt responsible for his well-being. Fortunately we have reached an acceptable compensation agreement without recriminations ....

You may recall that I put Magic's Dad into the outside aviary early last week Here he is, a picture of health ... or so I thought Imagine my abject horror when I discovered him dead as a door nail in the seed catcher on Sunday morning. Fortunately my good friend Gary Armstrong had previously offered to conduct an autopsy should I have any suspicious deaths. Here's a step by step guide of the autopsy performed this morning: 1. External examination of the dead bird .... sharp keel bone and dark brown feacal matter 2. Pluck the feathers, if they come out easy a sure sign of unnatural cause of death 3. Shallow incision from under the wings along the rib cage 4. Peel back the rib cage to reveal internal organs. 5. In this case the heart, liver, kidneys and testes were in healthy condition 6. A sample of the lower intestine was taken but the microscopic analysis proved negative for cocci and inconclusive for megabacteria. 7. The gizzard was dissected. Instead of being a healthy ocher colour it was dark brown in colour. The gizzard processes the digestion of seed and has little tentacles that grind down the seed, in this case there were no longer any of these. 8. A sample of the gizzard was taken and megabacteria cells were observed. Autopsy Conclusion: Magic's Dad was introduced straight into the breeding cabinet from another breeder in May but was hosting megabacteria which was exasperated by the stress of breeding. His immune system was low when released into the outside aviary and on his last legs. Cause of Death: Megabacteria.

Well done Aaron! Cute, confident and with plenty of personality .... what an irresistable combination! :hap:

Thank you Libby! Your step by step guide is amazing and yesterday I put it into practice - with excellent results! :hap:

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now that you've pointed this out to me it does seem obvious.

Neat, I know quite a few people who have had it and didn't give up their birds. So long as you don't kiss your birds and wash your hands after handling them you should be okay. Here's hoping it's just a bug that's going around! :hap:

Indeed! Mum and Dad Magik's Mum Baby Number 4 Why Oh Why is he a Single Factor Dom Pied. He has Recesive like markings!!! Surely he is a Double Factor?!

No Mum is definitely Dom Pied, I shall post a better photo of her tomorrow.

Not very good pics I'm afraid .... still working on it. But here goes: Magik's parents: 2 Dominant Pieds - Dad Mum - Looking a bit worse for wear Magik's brothers: Dom Pied Grey Green 2nd hatched, the photo does him no favours Opaline Grey 3rd hatched, Dad attacked him ... Double Factor Dominant Pied 4th Hatched .... sooooo much smaller than the others

Some more pics of the Nursery. Full View July/August's chicks in the top half The bottom half revisited This time with clean Fussy Litter and this week's fledgings

Today I rung my 80th chick .... the Nursery is overflowing with little ones and it's time to move the older ones outside. I have checked the forecast and night-time temperatures are supposed to stay around 10 degrees C. Here's what I'm talking about: The Nursery http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp297/r.../TheNursery.jpg Moderator’s Message this picture is oversized turned into link This is a view of the bottom half (the top half is even fuller with chicks) The Young Uns Outside Aviary I don't think you can see it in the photo but it's protected by a big pine tree so it stays nice and cool over the stinking hot summer months. The chicks will stay here from age 2-3months till I start culling, around March next year.

okay Neat. I genuinely believe that for your breeding cabinets you will be best off with either the small droppers (100mls approx sold for guinea pig/mice/rat, etc) or 200 ml drinkers. It all depends how often you want to change their water. Stay away from open dishes as they really get messy quickly. For any main aviaries go for the 1L water dropper. I adopted the 200ml drinker simply because they are sold cheaply through our club.

Well, well, well ... whadyaknow. I have a couple of DF Dom Pieds :hap: (previously identified as Rec P :hap: ) One of the pairings that Gary looked horrified at (LOL): Magik's parents are both Dom Pieds and in both rounds they produced 1 DF. Currently on their third round and 4 chicks hatched out of 9 fertile eggs, chicks distributed to fosters and today fertile eggs moved to foster on clear eggs.

Well the judges don't care because they don't know which birds belong to who. But the judging process itself takes about 2-3 hours for the whole show so it's always an anxious wait for us! :hap:

Hmmmm, Having problems with this one. Maybe if you post a Rec Pied along side and do a comparative analysis.

okay, so even though the show standard indicates that Recesive Pieds must have less than 30% markings it is the lack of eye rings we need to focus on. So basically it's a Recesive Pied that you should NOT show. I can see how I approached this the wrong way, as a steward, and not as a discerning evaluator!

BUT rats and mice climb brick walls.....so the mesh you choose to use is also important. Very true! Actually the mouse proof wire mesh is cheaper at Bunnings than the regular aviary mesh. :hap:

oh Jenene, I'm so sorry you have lost your darling Jemma. It's so sad when a beloved pet passes away and you will need time to grieve her loss. Have you had a special burying service for her? Sometimes formalizing the good bye helps in the process and if you lay her to rest in a special place you can always go back and visit when you miss her.

The best aviary set ups I've seen have concrete floors and brick wall, a couple of bricks high, around the perimeter. 100% rodent proof.

I dunno Kaz, maybe I have a few more good birds, it's debatable. The truth of the matter is I don't know what to do with them - yet. I went from budgies to show budgies within 6 months so don't have any experience to fall back on. For all you non-show bird breeders: you are gaining a wealth of experience that should you ever decide to breed show types will put you in excellent standing. I think if you talk to any breeder they will tell you that what keeps them going is the enjoyment of looking after their birds, winning prizes, well that's just the icing on the cake.

Ho, ho, ho! Well, no surprise Gary thinks most of my pairings suck LOL but then so do I. Frankly, of the 33 cabinets there are only about 8-10 top pairs - of which 7 are breeding for me :hap: Basically I don't have enough quality hens to put to my quality cock birds, so I am relying on the best hens I can breed to get the results but it's not going to be an overnight success for me by any means. Also I'm short on some basic varieties to complement my breeding program. I guess I will have to save my pennies and try my luck at the upcoming SWBC Auction in September. I've been hearing whispers that I should be put up to Intermediate next year but I am fighting it tooth and nail! As I see it, when I can win on the bench with birds that I have bred myself .... well then I'll be ready to move up, but I need more practice at pairings (I think he may help me next year). Also, I'm **** at genetics so need to start hitting the books on that front. Gary has given me some pointers regarding introducing hulled oats into their diet through the soft food. And interestingly he recommends administering the Calcivet to them via the soft food mix and not in the water. However, I'm not entirely convinced as some of my birds won't eat the soft food. At least when it's given to them in the water I am confident they are getting their required Calcium quota. What do you all think? Of course he did mention that Kaz had picked up a significant number of his birds lately and intimated that she'll be giving me a run for my money but when I innocently said that she hadn't offered me any of those he chuckled and reminded me that I was the competition. For all you non-Perth BBC member, Kazza and I go head to head every SWBC Club meeting on the Novice bench .... and this year, like last, it's neck-a-neck!

okay, I didn't know that. And today Gary said that actually I don't do the deep litter method, so go figure! :hap: What I do is fill up the bottom of the breeding cabinet with 3-4inch of Fussy Cat Litter and because the poop clumps I just pick out the clumpy bits once a week. The same sorta goes for the nest boxes, except when the chicks have hit the 2 week age I throw out the old Fussy Litter and replace with new stuff on a needs be basis. It is soooooo easy I pity anyone who has to spend hours changing the trays every week :hap:

Well done Matt for posting your pics in a bigger size so we can really admire them! :hap:

Well pippi congratulations on you little budgie chicks! :hap: Isn't it amazing that when they want to go down budgies really don't care where! I read that Daniel Lutoff's first budgies bred in a shoe box .... :hap: