charlie2479

an update on my babies, baby 1 and 2 are fine and growing nicely, I often see them with their little heads sticking out of the box to have a look around and demand dinner, very cute However yesterday I noticed baby 3 had developed the same problem on her tail, then today her wings were looking really ragged, so off to the vet we went. the vet said it could be 2 things, french molt or a diet problem but mostly the first, the first to babies must have had a real mild case and may not have lost their tail feathers if I had not pulled them to stop the bleeding but baby 3 is losing feathers left right and center, not just wing and tail but body feathers to, they just drop out. the vet said the only thing that I can do is watch and wait. one of the problems I have with this is that the other day I was watching the birds and noticed the dad shaking his wing, as I went to check it out he gave himself a shake and blood went everywhere. I caught him and fixed him up, it looked like a few wing feathers had broken off a couple of mills from the base, since then though he has been fine. It's all fun and games this breeding business

hey Bes, I have to agree with the others on this. As for the leg ring, they have a 7 year cycle, Green is '07 but if you have had her longer than that then she would be an '01 bird so is definatly to old to breed, check the ring and see what it says it should have a couple of letters then a symbol and a number and right angles then a 3 or 4 number code on it, the letters a usually the state, then the symbol and the number are the year it was rung, then the code is for that perticular bird.

but they are just babies, would it be okay to take them away from mum?

the youngest one does have tail feathers, about 2/3rds the length of the others (altough now his are longer ) and so far no danage to his but I will be keeping a close eye on him, it came up real quick cause it wasn't there yesterday. I might take the feathers to the vet for testing and see what they say.

hey Kaz, the only damage was to the shafts themselves, there is no swelling around the base of the feather or the follicle it came from, it took a little while and some pressure to stop the little bit of bleeding after I pulled the feathers. when I first noticed it it looked like little bubbles of blood coming from the shaft, then they started to burst and bleed. MB's suggestion is an interesting on but it happened to all the main tail feathers and there is no sign of them being attacked anywhere else.

I have never bred either bird before so I can't tell which it comes from, niether seems to have incomplete feathers. I ended up asking my nieghbour to hold them while I pulled the feathers to stop the bleeding, I now have 2 stumpy tailed but so far alive budgies, fingers crossed that they stay that way. here is a picture of some of the feathers so you can see what I was talking about I rang a breeder that lives nearby and he said he had never heard of this before and to try cutting the feathers but I did 1 and it bled more so I had to pull them in the end, do you think they will grow back?

If it helps, I took another look and cleaned away most of the blood and it seems that the "cysts" are in the shaft of the feather, not under the skin. the oldest one has 1 one on all her primary tail feathers, about 7 and the other one has about 5.

okay these are the best I could get cause I am on my own, they are not very good but you can kinda see some of them it looks like the base of the shaft has like a blub, some have split open already which is where the blood is from I guess

I have just been in to check on and handle Jordans babies, while checking them over I noticed blood on the oldest ones tail so I took a closer look at it , it seems that there are several feathers with cysts at the base, I checked the other two and chick 2 also has them but chick 3 seems to be okay. What do I do???? any advice would be really welcome right now

Hey all I would like to introduce the 2 new boys that I picked up the other day Blaze and Rocky I love Dom Pieds so had to have Rocky and while I was watching him Blaze came running over and introduced himself before chasing off after a few of the girls, he seemed so full of life and was so cheeky I had to have him too.

ahhh I can't believe I didn't know that Mack is an opaline, I will try to get some more pics without the flash, my camera has a hissy fit wheneveer i try to do this though so I will see what happens, so you think I have 2 opaline hens and a normal green or grey green cock, is that right?

Opalines???? that would mean dad is split for it wouldn't it??? here is a picture of dad and one of baby 3 front on just ignore little Zac :question:

okay I haven't been on much these days but I thought that I would give you an update on Mack and Jordan's 3 chicks chick 1 (16 days old) Chick 2 (15 days old) and chick 3 ( 10 days old) he seems to be a bit camera shy so far I think all will be greywings, which means mum is split for it, chick 3 seems to be darker in skin colour than the other 2, I don't know if that means anything, I guess I will have to wait a little longer to see if they are more like mum or dad. All are healthy and happy, mum is very good about me handling them she sits just outside the box and squeaks abit but thats it then goes back in and checks on them as soon as I have closed the lid. Ohh and here is a group shot just cause it is cute

Hey Liv your babies are very cute I can't wait to see them when they get feathers. Sorry to hear about the lost chick, it is always sad when things like that happen. Keep us posted with lots of pics :question:

He's not sick just really quiet, has been since I got him, has never shown any real interest in any of the ladies or toys for that matter. I have to give him extra vitamins in his water cause he will only have the occasional nibble at the veggies and he wont touch the mineral bells that I put in all the cages, so I was just looking for something that might pick him up, thats all, if he doesn't show any interest then I will give up and retire him to the aviary.

okay now I feel silly, I went back and had another look and found the dose rate so will give in a go and see what happens, I hope it works cause I would really like some chicks out of this guy but if he keeps sleeping like he does then nothing is going to happen

I have put Jack my normal grey cock 4yrs in with Penny albino hen also 4yrs (I know this is abit old but I spoke to her breeder and she only just turned 4 and has no problems so far) Penny has shown some interest in the box but Jack is pretty much ignoring her like he does with every other budgie. I read in a post from MB that he is having the same problem and someone suggested soluble iodine, so I went to get some today but can't find anywhere that says how much, the chemist said 1 drop but in how much water?

LOL trust me I was screaming, it hurt like the devil. I have some drops to put in, just had some and it is really sore so I am hoping that no problems crop up. I have to go back if it's still causing me pain, ohh and to have a tetnus shot

okay here is something that I realy suggest you avoid at all costs, I was sitting outside yeaterday watching my birds when I felt something tickling my left ear, i stuck my finger in to stop the itch and it suddenly got alot worse , then an explosion of pain oh my god there is something in my ear, I jumped up an ran inside to find hubby screaming "get it out, get it out, it hurts" my poor hubby tries to calm my down to tell him what is wrong and I manage to get out "something.. arrrr...in...arrr...ear....biting arrrgghh...me" so he grabs the keys and bundles me in the car, whips my down to the local medical center, i have tears streaming down my face, a roaring in my ear and frequent waves of pain going through my ear drum and down my neck, the doctor came scurrying in said okay lets see what we have here and proceeded to flush warm water through my ear, the little critter grabbed on for dear life before succuming to the tidal wave and allowed it's self to be washed out in to the little bowl, sadly it passed away in the watery grave So what was it you might ask that can bring a grown woman to her knees in agony? Well I will tell you > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > AN ANT

wow I am sooo jealous, I would love something like that, I think my hubby would laugh me into next week if I suggested it though you are very lucky and have done a great job, I hope your birds will be very happy and produce beautiful babies

Well Jordan is now the proud mum of 4 healthy chicks and a great mum she is, for a first timer she is doing a wonderful job, ohh and I can't forget Mack he is great to, helps her feed the babies and stays in there to keep her company. here is a picture of little bubs the youngest (hatched yesterday) is snuggled in under the rest is now a good time to put in the wood shavings I bought or is the youngest to young yet?

Hey Pearce congrats on you chicks, I agree with Kaz it sounds like mum has done her job and fed her baby already,

Hey liv congrats on your new bubs I am hoping that you have lots more to come, can't wait to see pics

Woooow it sounds like you have yours hands full, good luck with all your pairings I hope you get lots of little bubs :feedbirds:

yes I had thought of that and I am hoping that I have at least 1 other pair down at the same time (I might have to get some more hmmm don't tell hubby though )