chrissy0705

When you said trick of the camera, I checked all the babies again to see if I can get a better look at the colors... and the one that appeared to have one blue wing and one yellow wing doesn't. But what is weird is that the bird appears to have dark grey and yellow all over it's body???? Instead of it appearing to be a cobalt or mauve bird like some of the other chciks this one looks mauve and has yellow pin feathers.... I do have a yellowface 2 greywing cock as one of the parents is it possible that this one chick is a YF2? I'm confused now... Here's a picture of the bird today.... next to one of the other chicks... you can clearly see one has white and the other has yellow??? How do I have a yellow and grey AND a yellow and white?? Here's the one with yellow... Here's the one with white... And here they are side by side...

No, they will just think another egg hatched... and really they are not counting... all they care about is feeding when they hear crying... so they will feed it just as it's own chicks. And just remember not to overwhelm the foster mum with too many fosters. If she already has chicks or still has eggs to hatch keep in mind the total number she will have with her bubs and the fosters. If you have one with two chicks but she still has 5 eggs to go keep that in mind, but if you have one with 2 chicks and she has no more fertile eggs give her the bubs that are closest in size to her own chicks. Please let me know what you do...

Hi and Welcome. You will learn a lot here. Hope to see pics of your flock soon.

It should be to a pair that has babies hatched out already. If not foster one of the smallest babies out to a pair that is due to have chicks hatch any time now. Wayno I just did this last week myself. I had one hen with 8 fertile eggs and one with 4... 8 was going to be too much on one hen so after several hatched I took the 6 largest babies and gave them to the one mum and gave the other mum the 5 smalles babies and the one egg still due tonight to hatch. The hens don't even know the difference, especially if you foster chicks that are comparison in size to the chicks they already have. If you foster the smallest to one that already has chicks it could get steped on or not fed because the larger chicks in the nest are too demanding for mum to feed the tiny ones. If this hen still has more chicks to hatch yet, foster the larger one out to another mum. Just put them in there and keep an eye on them. You will be surprised. I checked in on them several times and listened for signs of distress of the chicks. All went well. So your best bet is pick the foster mum, look at the size of her babies and pick the babies from your hen you feel are close in size to the foster mums bubs. Give her one or two and see what happens. You have to take the chance, if not you can lose the mum because she is overwhelmed and all her babies. Better to try with one or two and have sucess than not try at all and lose more than just the cock.

Wondering how you are making out with your one chick? Did dad pick up the slack for mum and feed your bub? Most males are good about that and will take over if mum is gone. I had my cock raise a solo chick because mum was starting to get aggressive before the chick was ready to fledge. So I took mum out and dad raise him for the last two weeks before going to the nursery. I'm sorry to hear about your hen that flew off. Has she come back by chance or has anyone found her? Hope to hear a report of good news. Please update us.

I agree with JB.... DO NOT introduce a new cock... he may not accept the chicks and could kill all of them. The hen will be able to care for the chicks, but it's going to be hard on her. You need to make sure there is plenty of fresh soft foods for her (e.g. egg/veggie mix, etc...). This will make feedings easier on her and the chicks. If you can foster some, go for it, any help she can get will help. But as JB said, foster the olders first if you can (they are more demanding) unless the nest you are fostering to has much smaller babies, then foster the chicks comparable in size to the chicks the foster mom already has. I was just given this same advice about fostering and it has been 100% effective for me... have 11 chicks and have not lost a single one. Best of luck and please update us. I am so sorry for your loss.

This photo is just so adorable If you are desperate to know the sexing I do what people do to pregnant women with a needle on a piece of cotton. You turn the budgie upside down making sure you keep the legs out of the way hold the needle on the cotton over the vent and if it swings back and forth then it's a boy and if it goes in circles then it's a girl. I have had 100% success rate with this method and yes I know how stupid it sounds but it works :laughter: That is too cool... I've never hear of it. Now you have me wondering... I just might try it ;)Does anyone want to comment on chick #2 having one blue wing and one yellow wing? MB thinks it's a normal green? Just wondering how and why both blue and yellow on this bird? Could it be a YF2 like it's dad?

The difference a sentance can mean over an ocean... :budgiedance: JB... you crack me up. :laughter: :laughter:

Amazing MB... I don't know how you do it. I told my husband what your post reply said and said "isn't it amazing how they know these things"... he said "it will be amazing if she's right!!!!"... I am anxious now to find out!!! I can't wait to see them all grown up... :budgiedance:

Good luck, let us know how you make out.

The little ones sat wonderful... more worried about "safety in numbers"... LOL :budgiedance: But the older ones sat for two seconds and then they were climbing all over each other.

Hens can lay eggs without the presents of a male... why would it matter that there is only one bird? I've had solo hens lay eggs before. Not fertile of course, but they still have laid. Like I said it was just my guess because I've had similar poops from my birds without the hiccups though. Hanger, listen to KAZ though, there is MUCH MORE experience on her end. I was just trying to throw other thoughts out there since there were no other signs of illness. One other thing you said Hanger was that she has been chewing on her nylon string... is there any possibility that she ingested a small piece of it? And the "hiccups" she's having is actually a reflex to a small piece stuck? Again JUST A THOUGHT... I don't know. Just trying to help.

Thanks KAZ. I'm like a proud mama right now. I just don't want to jinx my self. But every one has good legs, full crops, clear eyes and good color so far. And the parents have been wonderful... both mums and dads of both clutches. Now I just have to watch the hens don't start to act up because the two pairs and their clutches all share the same flight.

Does her vent or belly look swollen at all? I'm not sure about the hiccups though? I would think respitory if she had discharge from the nose or other signs of illness. How long have the hiccups been happening?

Sounds like eggs poops??? Are there any other signs of illness or just weird, big poops? Is she puffed up or anything. I'd say she's gonna lay an egg soon... but thats just my guess.

Here are the 6 oldest chicks from my two clutches that hatched a total of 11 chicks so far. The parents of the one clutch were a Green Opaline Cock and a Green Dominant Pied Hen The parents of the other clutch were a Mauve Opaline Hen and a Sky Blue YF2 Greywing Split to Recessive Pied Cock So any guesses on sexes and mutations on the chicks or are they too young still? Chick # 1 Chick # 2 (confused about this one it has one blue wing and one yellow wing????) Chick # 3 Chick # 4 Chick # 5 Chick # 6 Here's front shots of them... Here is a picture of the 5 youngest (of the 5 one is albino and one is lutino, red eyes)

As promised here are pics of the bubs... alive and doing well... and one more addition this morning... so now there is 11 and 1 more egg to go. :thanks: The 5 smallest of the two clutches (mixed) The 6 largest bubs of the two clutches (mixed) I will have another post in mutations to see if anyone can tell what some of them are yet. Happy Happy Joy Joy... I am THRILLED

I just wanted to say thank you for all your help on this topic. I am happy to report that all 10 chicks that have hatched out so far are alive and doing WONDERFUL :laughter: ... I am hoping to take some pics tomorrow and post them in the mutation or what am I sections... they are looking good though, even the lut and ino are thriving and getting bigger (still naked, but bigger). I still have two more eggs to go... and God willing they will hatch and be as healthy as the others... and that will be 12 babies out of 13 eggs... I couldn't ask for anything more. I am in my glory right now and if I didn't get the advice I got on this post, I may have lost a few. So thank you. Pics tomorrow after Christmas shopping.

Here's another "frame" I did of my hand raised chick Bubba.

It's on a site call http://imikimi.com I use it all the time for MySpace account. But it's not just for myspace... it gives enable code just like photobucket and you can save it as if it was a regular photo just like your camera pics. It has alot of nice frames you can do... everything from family, to pets, to love, to memorials.... You can even make magizine covers... it's really cool.

Just wanted to share my flock again... it has grown quite a bit since my last post. 30 keets and counting (plus 10 bubs in nest boxes now), 4 tiels and counting (9 eggs in nest boxes now), and 7 finches. http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch.../fPI1-10L-1.jpg

I agree 100% with MB on this. I made this mistake myself when I first started... because the basic "blue is boy" "brown is girl". I don't know if it has anything to do with it or not, but I notice almost all of my blue series hens look like this when they are not in condition... when they are in condition the blue fades and the whole thing turns creamy white and crusty. I try to think this way now... if I see blue on the the cere but the nostril area is white... I lean toward girl until proven wrong. I agree two hens for sure.

I'm gonna take a guess and say it is a Sky blue YF2 Opaline Hen. I have three nursery birds just like her, all hens, but one is cobalt and the other two are mauve. As for hens being a "pill" I have noticed that almost all my hens pack a much bigger punch than my males when it comes to biting, but give her time and keep working with her and she may calm down (that is if you keep her as a pet bird and not a breeding bird). She is cute... I love YF birds.

I must say that for someone that "thinks" she isn't getting her message across or that people don't understand... you did a wonderful job explaining your feelings on why you wish to leave the site. Some times the knowledge of members on this site is overwhelming but there are many members that will spell it all out for you in detail if you just ask. I too have felt like an idiot at times, but if you simply say in the post, "I'm sorry I don't understand this can you explain"... almost anyone that answers will explain and give you more detail than you expected. Please don't leave. There are members of all walks of life here, ages ranging from 13 to 67 years old, housewives, professionals, etc... and no one person will have the same knowledge or the same ability to ask or say what they are trying to say without doubting themselves at one point or another. Don't doubt yourselve or the members of this site... we can all help each other. Don't go.

I did not get all four of these from the same place. The one cock I got from a pet store and the other I adopted from a women that could no longer care for him due to the unexpected arrival of her third child. With their genetic make up could they even be brothers? An Green Opaline Cock and A Sky blue YF2 Greywing?