Pearce

I got the idea from KAZ's post and I to have no idea where it is now. Clear perspex doesnt let any air through does it? Thanks

If you change seed type some birds will not eat the new introduced seed and they will starve, I have read that you can change seeds but keep the old seed in the cage for a while until they get used to the new seed, then you can remove the old stuff.

Welcome to the forum, it is full of great information for everyone to use. Have fun.

Thankyou very much Maesie. I listen to all opinions and take everything onboard. I have nest boxes with sliding doors that you can take on and off. Now I have made some very small 3 mm square bird wire into sliding doors that I can use instead of the wooden ones. This way the babies can get lots of breeze during the day and they can see outside. At night they will be switched to wooden ones to keep the nest box warm. Also, with hulled oats, do the birds crack them and take the insides like sunflower seeds or do they eat the entire seed? Thanks all.

okay Thats excellent thankyou KAZ Update:The cockatiel babies are doing very well. This time I have 1 black with yellowface, 1 fully black and 1 white with yellowface. This will be the last time the cockatiels breed till mid next year. budgie babies are all doing well and starting to wander around the nest box. I have added millet spray and seed as their bedding. The birds are all in the new breeding room now and I'm suprised how much breeze they get, more than what they had under the patio. I bought this insulation its about 1 inch thick and its better than polystyrene because it can get wet. It is working very well and keeping the avairy cool. okay Maesie because these new ones only sit about an inch in the breeding cage, the rest of the tube is on the outside.Thanks all

I know some breeders from the uk use birds from 6 months old but theirs always a big risk that they could smash eggs, kill babies, leave the nest and not incubate, dont feed the chicks etc etc. I have also read that sometimes younger parents cant cope with all the babies so they either die or neglect the chicks all together. I would wait till 12 months old for both parents, better to be safe than sorry.

Hi all I have new drinkers but they are alot different to the ones The birds are used to. The ones the birds are used to are just big open water drinkers and the new ones are like gravity feeders. I'm just wondering how I would go about introducing the new ones? Will the birds know how to use them? I dont want them dieing of dehydration. Thankyou.

okay Thankyou very much KAZ. This will be the last round of breeding for all birds until mid next year, its getting to hot for them at the moment.

Thankyou very much KAZ Do you know which calcium bell has iodine in it and which has charcoal? I have pink and white ones. Thanks again.

If you mean get another male and remove the female yes you can do that But if you mean keep the female in the breeder cage with 2 males wouldnt they fight? Especially if their was a nest box.

Hi I have drawn up a food/supplement plan. would anyone like to take a look and see how it is and make comments on it? They have daily acess to: Iodine and calcium bells Charcoal and calcium bells Water Seed Hulled oats The above will not be mentioned in the plan. Sunday Feed at 3 pm. Corn on the cob Plain water Monday Feed at 4:30 pm Soft food - corn on the cob, bok choy, carrot, hard boiled eggs, some sunflower seeds and millet seeds Avi cal in water Tuesday Feed at 4:30 pm Silverbeet Apple cidar vinegar in water Wednesay Feed at 4:30 pm Egg and buscuit mix Normal water Thursday feed at 4:30 Corn on the cob and carrots avi cal Friday Feed at 3 pm Normal water soft food Saturday feed at 3 pm Avi cal in water egg and buscuit mix and soaked seed Millet spray Does this plan sound good? can it be changed for the better? Also, I bought 30 pink and 30 white calcium bells today, one colour is charcoal and the other is iodine. The problem is I forget which is which so Is someone able to tell me which colour is which? Thankyou.

okay Sorry I will take a look now.

okay Thanks very much KAZ. May I ask what is in your soft food and how you prepare it? Feel free not to answer, Thankyou everyone for the great help.

Hi all I went to a show breeders house today and bought alot of different things. He treats his red mite with a product called skatta-7. I just put it under the nest box concave and it will kill all red mite. I also bought a few water drinkers, calcium and iodine bells, a product called avi-cal (similar to calcivet???) and a 25kg bag of hulled oats. I have never fed the birds hulled oats before so I'm just wondering how Id go about it. Do I feed it to them as a treat? or have it available to them 24/7? Do they still get normal seed? Thanks all

okay Thanks Kaz I wont use sealent. Thankyou.

That sounds exactly like my budgies. `During the day, the bird sleeps often and appears to be exhausted and depressed. * In some cases, evidence of feather damage is evident So maybe the 3 babies in neon and thunders nest had red mites? Thats why they had loss of feathers? The bugs That are here at the moment have 8 legs and can fly. Thankyou. Can I give the babies a drop of iverctmin on the back of their necks? I am going to seal up all crevices with sealent.

Hi I contacted aristopet and they said the product I have should kill the mites within 7 days. So obviously I need somthing that can kill the mites alot faster than that. I am going to take a look at coopex and A.I.L and hopefully someone stocks one of them. I am going to take pictures of the bugs to see if anyone on here can identify that they are definitly red mite. Thankyou. CAN REDMITES FLY?

Their are no mites in the steel cage, just the wooden one. I am not even 100% sure they are mites, I dont know what they look like so I cant identify them as mites or not. I used aristopet bird mite and lice spray which should have done the job... It clearly says on the bottle that it gets rid of all feather mites and lice. I am going to ring aristopet and see why this lice and mite spray is not working. Thanks all.

Hi What is A.I.L and cant it be bought from a shop or do I need to go to a vet? By the time I can get a hold of the product it might be too late for the birds.. And If I do spray the entire cage wont it stink and if the babies inhale it they will die? Remember the cage is fully wooden so it could rot or produce bacteria when wet. Thankyou all/.

Hi What are the chances of summer still feeding her babies if I move them all to another cage? The mites are back and they are obviously breeding in the wooden crevices of the cage, and I cannot get to them. If I were to move summer and the babies to a metal cage, and put the babies in a tub on the floor during the day and put them in the nest box at night for warmth, do you think she would feed them? Any opinions on this would be greatley apreciated.

Thankyou Kaz and **Liv** I moved them this afternoon and both females are still incubating the eggs, which is excellent.

A very neat and great looking avairy with lot's of enjoyment for the birds. Well done. I've never seen those feeders before, they look good.

Hi Their is a christmas party at the house on thursday and I dont want my bird where they are at the moment ( they are right where we will be sitting). My breeding shed is finished but it has different light conditions to where they are now. At the moment they are under a patio that gets no sun light but gets filtered light and shade. In the avairy they will get filtered light and shade but it is a little bit darker than the patio. The avairy has one full side mesh and thats where the breeze comes from and the wind. Can I move the breeding cages with birds? Some have eggs and some have babies. They wouldnt be stressed by moving them because the cages are very light and they wouldnt get shaken about or anything. Should I or should I not.

Hi Babies are all doing very well, not pale anymore and they are all full of energy. All babies have now been rung and I had no problems with that either. 2 of neons youngest babies were released into the avairy yesterday and they are doing well. The eldest is still sprouting feathers but I'm confident he will eventually be able to fly. I got a very very cheap garden shed thats about 6 years old, and remade it into a breeding room or flight im not sure yet. Its definitly not the best but its good enough for me. Its rat proof with insulation I bought from bunnings. All I need to do now is cement a slab and bolt it into the ground and it will be ready. Thanks all.

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