dragonwing

Thanks Nevillle, I will post new pics in a week or two - so it will be clearer. I appreciate your help. Valerie (Dragonwing)

Thanks Dave, What is your guess on Baby 4?I think the way I put the pictures of the babies on is a bit confusing. I put the picture link of baby 1 in my second posting. In my first post the picture link is about the baby number. The one remaining picture (not link) is baby 4 - as I noted under the picture. Sorry for any confusion.

Here are pictures of my last clutch, before retiring my hens. Any idea of the sex of these guys? My daughter wants one and I would really prefer it be a male. She likes Baby 1 and 4. I would appreciate your thoughts. This is Baby 1 - Sorry it's a bit blurry! http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu103/V...pg?t=1257438400 This is Baby 2 http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu103/V...pg?t=1257438453 This is Baby 3 And Baby 4 Thanks for your thoughts!

Thanks - I'll just leave her to do her thing and see what happens.

The fifth egg appears clear. The sixth and seventh appear fertile.

One of my hens has laid a clutch of 7 eggs. Four have now hatched and I keep finding the other eggs pushed to the far corner of the nesting box. I have been moving them back with the four chicks, but it just occurred to me that she may be doing this as she dosen't want any more chicks! Question - should I leave the eggs where she puts them or keep putting them back with the chicks? They can't be far from hatching, so leaving them seems a bit barbaric! Thanks.

Final update on this old saga - She is a she and I could tell as soon as she went in with the boys! I moved her to her own cage until my egg obsessed hen Stewie calmed down. Just as a side note - the exact same thing happened with Stewie and another female recently that were in the same cage and I know for sure that that bird was a hen! Any know a good bird psycologist or perhaps a budgie whisperer????!!!

You guys are amazing - you were right - he is clearly a male! And a very amorous one too!!!

Hi all - right again - she is a girl - although not much of a breeder - she rejected my prize male! He's in therapy with a bruised ego!!

Hi everyone - Here is an update on the babies (Sorry it took sooooo long!)The older chick is a femaleBaby #1 is a maleBaby #3 is a maleBaby #4 is a femaleBaby #5 is a femaleBaby #2 Neville thought was a female - I have not seen the bird since it left for it's new home but here is the only picture I have of it, and it seems to look like a male - I hesitate to question Neville as he seems to ALWAYS be right, so please let me know if I am imagining things. Here is the picture.Great job everyone - I can always rely on you!

Just to let everyone know - turns out you (and I) were right - she turned out to be a girl - with quite an eye for the boys!!!!!

Sorry, I was afraid the picture wasn't good enough - I will try to get a better picture and re-post. She gets a mixture of seeds, fresh greens and fruits, millet weekly and egg/veggy casserole on a semi regular basis. Her diet has not changed for ages.

My oldest and dearest hen, Stewie, has recently had her feathers around her beak start growing in towards her beak. The feathers are also discoloured, although they became that way when she was raising her last clutch (approx. 6 months ago), and never really recovered. She is quite happy and active, eating well, etc., but I am concerned the feather growth could be a sign of something more serious or will cause problems with her beak. Here are some pics - not the best - clarity wise, but the best I could get. Hope you can help!

Woo Hoo......maybe I'm catching on.....looks like I got one right! :reading:

No, with my camera I find that it changes colours.

I'm venturing a guess on this one......girl??????? What do you guys think? :hug:

Thanks for the help (as always!) I really appreciate it I will update everyone once my little darlings have matured.

Hi All - I am trying to develop my skills at determining the sex of my babies. With my last "crew" of three - I was right with the 2 boys - their ceres are now blue - but the new owner of the third baby says she thinks it is a boy and I think it is a girl. I should mention that I am using their behaviour and personality since hatching as the main factor - as I am still not very good at determining sex from the cere. Here are two pictures of the third baby, which is now 4 1/2 months old - what are your thoughts? Also, I have a new clutch of five and have (I think) a pretty good idea of the sex of three, but am unsure of the other two. Would you mind giving me your opinion on all five? I am also following the tip of taking pictures of the babies and making note of my guess, based on the cere, and checking the pictures again once the sex is positively determined, to help develop my skills - thanks for that great tip! Baby 1 - I think it's a girl (the babies are about 3 - 4 weeks old) Baby 2 - Boy? Baby 3 - Boy? Baby 4 - This one has me stumped! Baby 5 - Another difficult one! Thanks!! :fear

Hi again - here are pictures of two budgies that I am considering purchasing. I really don't need any more males, so I am hoping these are females. I would appreciate your opinions on both. Thanks.

Here is a new addition to my flock - I am hoping it's a girl - that is my guess - although I am still very new at this so I am just guessing at this point - opinions? Please excuse the carrot juice beard!

Here is a new little addition and I have no idea how to define it's colouring - what do you think? Please excuse the carrot juice beard!

Well, back from the vet (avian) who examined him and after a careful look at his vent, said that there was no more bleeding (she used the teeny tiniest q-tip I have ever seen to check!) and showed me some bruising just above the vent. Since there were no other symptoms, no plants nearby, no free flying in the house, no new toys, no food changes - she ruled out poisioning. (She also asked if he had been masterbating :hap: - none of that either!) She thought he either injured himself or had a polyp (based on the bruising - although after checking she found no evidence of a polyp. So he is back home - a bit unhappy with orders to stay warm and fed well, by himself for a few days to allow a good chance for replacement of lost blood. If there is any more bleeding or he is straining more when doing his droppings, they will need to check inside Hopefully that won't happen and this is the end of it!!! Just an aside - she told me to change their metal millet clips with plastic ones as she has seen injury from the metal ones. You learn something new everyday! Thanks for the advice again!!!

Thanks - I'm calling right now!

One of my budgies began having droppings with red (not black) blood in his droppings yesterday afternoon. He seemed quite happy though and was still eating. I removed him from his cage mate and placed him in a quiet place at a temp of approx. 85 degrees. This morning, the blood seems to have subsided and he is chirping and eating (millet). None of my other birds (10) have shown any signs of a problem and are behaving normally. Here is the question, well questions - any thoughts on what it could be and should I still take him to the vet. I only hesitate because he is quite a shy bird and I worry about stressing him if it is not necessary. Thoughts?