chrissy0705

My answer may not help cause I live in the US and I also breed indoors, but I breed all year round... rotating my pairs out. To be honest, I had more success over these past winter months than late summer early fall last year. But I do agree with everyone else... if the tempatures and shelter are right and your birds are healthy... go for it.

I agree with needing better pictures (without flash). But so far it appears they are young, maybe a few months old. One is a Yellowface SKy Blue, I'm thinking a boy. The other is an Opaline Greywing SkyBlue, I'm thinking a girl, (may even have a vilot factor) but until we get better photos of the front and wings without a flash I can't say for certain. Look forward to seeing new pics.

if he was a sky blue (no dark factors) you would ONLY get sky blue chicks - when matched to skyblue hen If he was cobalt (one dark factor) you could get both sky and cobalt chicks - when matched to a sky blue hen if he was mauve (two dark factors) you would ONLY get cobalt chicks - when matched to a sky blue hen too check you could next breed him to a mauve as the above would be reverse: skyblue - only cobalt chicks cobalt - both cobalt and mauves chicks mauve - only mauve chicks Thanks Nerwen, that was exactly the answer I was looking for! You were a great help!!

Cory I just have to give you a pat on the back for simply knowing what is and isn't good for your birds. Although you were able to clean up the cage and make it even more safe for them with the advice of the members here, I have to say that the best step started with you having knowledge of good and bad... and not doing anything until you found out more. Some would have been so excited about the new cage or eager to please the uncle who made it, but you did what was best for your birds before any thing else and I'm proud of you. :fear Good Job. Hope all works out well for the birds in their new cage.

I wish there was an avian vet near me in general let alone one like this!! Good for you, great find KAZ.

I think # 3 and # 10 are very disturbing. The #3 conscerns be becuase those face nose rings they are talking about are attached to your face through the use of magnets. Everyone knows that if a magnet is ingested it can be very dangerous.... !!! And #10... how does any living thing survive wihtout water??? That's scary to know that people are actually serious when they ask questions or make comments like this. Child or adult... WOW.

This was a great read. After I saw this post KAZ, I went on to YouTube and did a search for bird mills and stuff like that... there are a few videos on there that were so disturbing. People who worked at PetSmart and APET (an animal supplier for PetSmart, WalMart, PETCO, etc...) showed secret footage of the conditions these animals live/ship in and the mistreatment they go through. Worse of all were the non-vets (average Joe) doing procedures on amimals that weren't even doctors. The worse one I watched was of a baby Goffin Cockatoo that was put through over 35 days of suffering without real vet care before dying. I couldn't help but be so upset after seeing some of them, but I can tell you this... I will be one of those people that speak out against large chain pet stores in regard to their pets now. I wanted to cry seeing all that and reading about this. If you feel like a good cry visit YouTube and see what I'm talking about. SO SAD. But good for you KAZ for putting these thoughts in the back of other peoples' minds so that they too can spread the word. If enough people stop buying from places like this maybe a pet supply store will be just that and not be able to sell pets from the store one day??? I hope so.

I also agree. She is a Yellowface Opaline Spangle Sky Blue Hen. Also note that she is young... I'm gonna guess maybe 4 months at the very oldest. MUST SAY BEAUTIFUL !!!! :fear I'm thinking a YF2, but not sure, maybe YF1 someone else should clear that up for you.

okay so a sky baby and a sky mom means dad can be sky or cobalt? If I get a cobalt baby next time does that mean dad would have to be mauve or could he still be cobalt? I guess what I'm asking is what color chick(s) would I have to get from this pair to figure out what dad's dark factor is? I know a sky and mauve make cobalts. I know a sky and a cobalt make skys and cobalts I know two skys make skys, etc... But so far I have albinos and a sky from albino and sky parents.

Just wondering if this chicks is showing signs of Sky Blue does this mean that the dad's color is sky blue? Mom is sky blue dad is albino and since the chicks is turning out to be sky blue...? Or does that not mean anything?

That's too cute... amazing what a mirror can do for a solo bird. By the way you do know your "Charlie" is a girl, right?

I agree with Pearce. It is a hen (not in season). Not sure about leg band or color, but from what has been really pushed on me about telling age is the iris. There is a clear iris on this bird, but it's not crisp white yet, so for it to be almost 2 years old (based on a green 07' leg band) I'm not sure? I'd wait for experts on the age... I'd say about 12-15 months old or so at the most????

My budgies don't seem to be fond of many fruits either. I started by introducing all my birds to an egg mix first. It's something they already had a taste for since mum and dad fed it to them in the nest and they seem to take to it well. What I do then is start adding a particular fruit too. I don't mix the fruit in the mix I set it on top or around the edges of the plate... some take to it others still don't. I wouldn't get upset if they don't just try other things and do stick to the healthy things you know they will eat (not to miss out on anything while trying others). Good luck, hope it works.

This is an excellent idea Maesie... I thought of a mirror but not as a prjector. I agree with this thought and think it is worth the try well dealing with the situation at hand. It can't hurt any can it?? Good advice.

I agree with Nerwen on this one. This appears to be a Recessibve Pied Light Green Cock... not a blue series bird at all let alone yellowface. And as for the leg band to make it simple US or AUstralian... the band colors you have do not match the ABS charts, simply meaning that your bird is most likely from a private breeder who bands their birds with their own color and number system. But if you got it from a pet store, here in the US, you can almost count on the bird being at or about 2 months old when in the store. So I'd say this bird is a young male about 3-6 months old at the most. Hope this helps.

Oh my... I hope everyone and their families are okay? You all must have been scared to death. I've never experienced one... worse I've been through is a huricane.

This is such a sad thing to hear about. Isn't it a shame what the drink can do to a person. And no doubt he will get off without the penalty deserved. It so bad thinking of the pain this bird had to go through... I can only hope that the poor thing's neck broke on the first throw and he felt nothing from that point on. RIP little one. So sad!!!

The ring color is actually Iris not purple. Cory - You are in the US and he color chart that KAZ has provided will NOT be the same for us over here in US as it is in Australia. I have one Normal Blue Hen that has a purple leg band on her leg reading TF 07 and she is an 2007 bird. In the second set of pictures you posted the band looks to be the same purple color as my hen's. I can't say for sure because I am in PA and we are not in the same state, but I do know that 08' leg bands in US, PA are mostly black and a few dark blue. Is there any other numbers or letters on the band?? The colour chart KAZ posted is the usa one, it is different to ours. I realized that this was a US chart. My only point was that the colors on this chart don't seem to match even the US birds. I was stating that I have birds that have black bands in 08', blue bands in 08', blue bands in 07', purple bands in 07'... and as pointed out these may not be from the ABS... another point I'm making is that the US doesn't seem to follow the banding systems as faithfully as Australia.... I have yet to own one single bird that has fallen into this US banding color. So unless the band it's self has the 07,08,09 year on it the color alone doesn't seem to be of much help here in the US.

thanks libby, I'll try that if I need to. I also have another hen with chicks... if she doesn't feed I'll try to see if the other hen will feed it ... ? fostering and swapping chicks has been a life saver for me... a wonderful lesson learned on here. )

The oldest chick in the clutch was born on Feb. 25th and the youngest was just born this morning. There were 7 eggs, 1 infertile, 1 died, and there are 5 chicks in the nest. The one that is "overfed" was born on Mar. 1st, the one that died was born on Mar 3rd and the one she is not feeding was born today Mar 5th.

I'm not a big rat fan either, but I have to admit these are cute. I've never seen "pinkies" before besides the dead frozen ones you buy at feed shops to feed your snakes and all that. I don't think I would ever want to own one, but the pictures are sure cool to look at. Good for you!!! )

The ring color is actually Iris not purple. Cory - You are in the US and he color chart that KAZ has provided will NOT be the same for us over here in US as it is in Australia. I have one Normal Blue Hen that has a purple leg band on her leg reading TF 07 and she is an 2007 bird. In the second set of pictures you posted the band looks to be the same purple color as my hen's. I can't say for sure because I am in PA and we are not in the same state, but I do know that 08' leg bands in US, PA are mostly black and a few dark blue. Is there any other numbers or letters on the band??

me too. i haven't been able to access it for some time now. That is not a bad site actually. Terminology is a bit misleading in some cases but at least most of the mutation pictures are accurate. I agree that is why I mentioned this site... the pictures alone are very helpful even if I don't understand a word other wise... I've been able to identify alot of my birds just by looking at pictures of some of the birds on there and comparing them to my own birds.[/b] </b> I disagree Kaz. Although this site does have a lot on information it is not all correct. The photos in the mutations topics contain photos that are not always photos of birds for that mutation topic. Beside lean2078 was asking about a book. One should always have books around as for some people they are more portable than a computer and they are always online. KAZ, I know we like to keep as much traffic as possible on here and this site is wonderful all in itself, but other sites, books, and contacts that can be very helpful at times. They don't have to become a member of the other sites, but the public info on the main pages are just as helpful. If anything it helps raise questions to discuss on here if someone found information that they don't agree with or is contradicting to that of what we learn on here. That's what I do... I'm not a member, but I browse them... and if questions arise I ask on here.

I'm sorry about the spangle thing... I meant to delete that from the post. I meant just a Sky Blue Dilute Fullbody Greywing. But as I stated I was just taking a guess... so listen to the experts. Those were just my guesses.

Is it possible for a hen to "overfeed" her chicks to a dangerous level? I have one hen that seems to be overfeeding her one youngest chick to the point there is NO NECK left and the chick is unable to roll over or sit up. I'm worried that she is going to aspirate her own chick? And on the other hand she is not feeding the last hatchling at all?? What can be the issue here?? Advice would be appreciated. I've had about 10 clutches total and I've never come across this matter yet??