Jen144

Okay then thanks. What sort of temperature changes are okay or too much? So I know if I do need to buy one or not..

Well it does get cold at night here so the brooder would get colder too..but the temp it is at during the day is about 33 degrees or so (I'm having the temperature for about a 2 week old budgie, I'll change the temp if I need to use it for a younger one) and during the night it drops to about 30...Would that amount of difference be okay or should I really get a thermostat? I'm not completely sure as to the exact temperatures though I will check tonight to be sure..I turned on the light at about midday and I'll keep it on til midday tomorrow and tell you how the temp changes if that's okay? Where could I find one and any idea of the price range for one?

Update: Storm now has SEVEN eggs!!!! I was so not expecting that! I know that 5 are fertile definetly, I couldn't see the 6th when I candled a few days ago as Storm was on top of it...but I suspect it too would be fertile. And now seven, of which 5 are fertile and the other 2 may be as well! Storm always did have a lot of fertile eggs..lol.. Are seven babies too much for her and her partner to take care of or should I foster 2 to another pair? The other pair are inexperienced and I am not sure how they will go, it is both of their's first clutch (mum and dad) so is seven okay for Storm or should I let the other pair have 2 of the babies.. I will of course see how they are with their own babies before I foster any more, but I guess I just need to know if seven is okay or should I risk letting the other pair that I am not sure of having more?

Lol you are looking at the right bird. She is Clearflight Pied as you can see in these pics, she has the head spot and clear tail feathers, and her front has the white 'frosting'. She also has had 3 babies in all, 2 of which were obviously Clearflight Pieds. I'm not certain if she is Opaline but she does have colour through her wings..but I will be able to tell you for certain once her son has babies, he is paired to a normal female so if he is split Opaline I'll have some normal Opaline girls..I find Opaline Spangles are always confusing.. Here she is, and you can see the back of Cinder.. And an old one of her front:

I don't get what you're asking? I would the lamp on all the time to keep the temperature the same..and I can easily change how hot or cold it is by how much of the top I cover, etc.. Oh, and the light is dented, that is all. Not the best looking lamp but it works perfectly. :rofl:

Anyone?

I've decided I might as well make a breeding journal for my breeding pair here..hopefully people will read it lol. So, the parents are Storm and Cinder..this is their second clutch altogether (one last year) and first for this year. Storm is a Violet Continental Clearflight Pied Spangle Opaline..and Cinder is a Normal Mauve split for Rec. Pied. Storm is on the bottom left, Cinder the top right. So far they have 6 eggs, one of which is an egg fostered from my other pair who are also breeding at the moment, the other five are theirs. I candled them today (the 7th, if it will be laid, is due tomorrow) and 5 are most definetly fertile. One I'm not sure of, but I think it is as well though it is probably the one laid yesterday an therefore too young to tell. Storm always lays 5-6 eggs (out of 3 clutches she has had in total-one infertile as the partner escaped- she has had 5, then 6, then 5 eggs) Anyway, here's hoping everything goes well, I already have a person wanting 2 of the bubs, and I can, and want to, keep the rest! Will post daily pictures of the babies when they start hatching (first is due from the 11th-14th of this month..though Kyra, from the last clutch, hatched at 16 days so who knows) and updates.

I have two pairs breeding at the moment, and just in case of an emergency I have set up a homemade brooder for any chicks I might need to handfeed. I've used a large plastic storage container, made a lid with mesh on top for air-flow..put a heat-lamp on the top of the lid and used a fishtank thermometer for the temperature..inside is the thermometer in the middle of the brooder, and a towel on the bottom.. I'm testing it at the moment so everything will be set up if/when I may need to use it. The thermometer says the temperature is around 35 degrees Celsius (about 83 Farenheit) but it feels only a bit warmer than room temperature..is it right, I have the lamp at one end and the thermometer at the middle.. Here are some pics, keep in mind it is not finished.. My main questions are, is what I have set up okay? What should be improved? Would the temperature be accurate with what I am using (I think it is meant to be used underwater in a fishtank) or should I get something better? I have researched how to handfeed a lot and watched videos of it on youtube. Is this good enough for an emergency when I have to handfeed for a short amount of time..I'm hoping for a short amount of time, if that is somehow not possible would that amount of experience be alright...or should I get a vet or someone to show me how as well? I have handfed baby birds before but not for the whole time until weaning, and then only once with budgies...

Does this other pair have eggs at the same age or stage as these eggs ? I believe a combination of the hens inexperience and your initial anxiety and overchecking may have conditioned this hen to become anxious/nervous...hence the egg eating. Yes they do, in fact a new egg was laid a little while before I put in the other pair's egg. (on the same day) Yeah what you said seems to be the best explaination..and I believe you are right. She will calm down now though, she is left in peace (and has been for the last week or more as I have mentioned) etc so she will be fine if I let her raise her own clutch once she seems to have settled down? I've left her with her marble so she can't actually eat it (funny, it is larger than any budgie's egg and has a bit of colour on it-it was the best thing I could find at short notice-and she immediatly accepted it because it 'must be an egg, it's round and white..ish..lol) and she is happy to incubate it..I think I will foster out her second egg as well, but let her keep her third and any others she lays? Would that be enough time so she might stop eating them?

1) okay well I can't have been doing that, I have left her alone since the last post was made here about checking once in the evening and once in the morning being too much.. 2) The reason I think she is, is because her cere is a light brown all over and turning darker and she has been chewing on everything. She has cuttlefish, calcium supplements, egg and biscuit food, and veges all the time.. 3) She is 2 years old (turning 3 late this year) and has never bred before. 4) Well she incubated them great until suddenly she decided to eat them. 5) I have one cat but she cannot go near where the birds are. The cat makes so there are no mice..I don't know about bugs, and there is no abnormal amount of noise recently. So what do you think the most likely cause is? I think it is because she is inexperienced, that seems the most likely option...but I don't know so any help is really appreciated. Also on how to get her to stop if she ever does it again..(if she doesn't, I'm going to give it a few days and put in a fake egg again, if she hasn't stopped I will simply take out the nest and give both birds a nice long break.)

Is anyone able to help? I'm sorry if I'm being impatient but I really need to know why this is happening and what I can do before she lays her next egg. I don't know why she is doing this, she is in breeding condition..is undisturbed..has plenty of calcium..etc.

While I was waiting for a reply the budgie laid her egg. She didn't appear to do anything with it that I saw but I quickly put it in another pair's nest. (who are proven to be great parents) I'll foster out 2 more eggs she lays, then let her keep the rest and try to raise them..if she has stopped. This egg now was a bit early-I'd give her longer to prove she isn't going to eat more-so I fostered that one. The next two I'll give to other parents so if she does kill her eggs (if she does I will take out the nest and give her a nice loong break) then at least they will have some offspring. Still, I need to know why she is doing this, what more I can do to stop it, and if she is okay to breed from ever again? (or if I just can't trust her to actually keep her own eggs) Thanks.

I have left this pair alone for the last week or so..but..I checked a few days ago and egg number 3 (which was her last for the clutch, she didn't lay any more) was gone. All that remained was half the egg shell and yolk. Then this morning the other two were completely destroyed in the same way, which tiny pieces of egg shell all around the nest. I didn't know which parent did it and how, so I put in a fake egg to see what happened. (don't worry, I did not bug them and they did not realize I was there when I did check, before anyone worries!) The female tucked it under her for a little while, then she put her foot on it and began gnawing on it and kicking it around..eventually she cracked it and began to try to eat it. The egg I used was an infertile one from a little while ago I had emptied and boiled in case I would need to use it. I don't know where any topics are one what to do with an egg-eating hen, but I think I have read somewhere to put a marble in the nest, and if she tries to eat it she will fail dismally of course, and it might stop her from eating the rest of her eggs? I did that and she tried to eat it for a little while then gave up. But she is due to lay another egg today, (and has very obvious 'egg bum') so what do I do? Did I do it right putting the marble in the nest, is there any other way to stop her, and why is she doing this anyway? She faithfully incubated them but the oldest was due to hatch in 5 days when she killed it!!

Well I suppose it would help if I knew what AOSV Opalines were lol...But I think I get what you're saying, they are 3 mutations of the same sort of type, so they do have things in common of course. But, is there such a thing as DF Clearflight Pieds? Would it be possible that there are, and they look like Df Dominant Pieds? I mean, they have a lot of similarities and the bar across their front for Dominant Pieds and the clear flight feathers vary a lot..so how would you tell if your bird is Clearflight Pied or Dominant Pied, if it has both, a patch of white on the front and clear flight feathers? Or..how do you know they aren't actually the same mutation? If they occured in different places there's a chance they could be the same mutation but look slightly different because of the fact they appeared in different places, so how they appeared is different..or something..if that made sense! Just a few questions, lol.

He is yellowface2, could be grey but with two dark factors? Are his cheek patches silver..or purple?

Now that I look at him again I don't think he is grey...mauve, or Violet mauve, is much more likely.

Gorgeous parents!! I hope the rest of the babies hatch successfully. You have a grey Yellowface..(type one, I think) and a Sky Blue Dominant Pied girl..So.. 50% Yellowfaces 50% Dominant Pieds 50% Normals (as in, some could be Dominant Pied yellowfaces, normal yellowfaces, normals, and dominant pieds) And half will be greys..the other half blues..probably Cobalt?

Yes, my thoughts exactly! And why Clearflight Pieds have hints of a bar across their chest too, like Dominant Pieds..

Is it possible to get a completely grey bird (or close) by breeding albinos masking grey with a lot of suffusion to eachother? After a few generations would you get a grey bird? With no markings, face mask, cheek spots, etc though. Or (I have no idea about this one..) a dark-eyed clear instead of an albino, to get a grey bird? Not necessarily grey, but even blue..

Why is it that Clearflight Pied and Dominant Pied both are very similar? I mean, Dominant Pied has the patch on the back of the head and the bar of white across the body, and a lot of Dominant Pieds I have seen have clear flight feathers. Also, one of my Clearflight Pied birds has white on either side of her body, so if there was a bit more white there would be a bar across the front of her body, as well as the clear flight feathers and patch at the back of the head. You can sort of see what I'm talking about on Kyra, in my signature. So why are they so similar, and yet you can get DF Dominant Pieds but I have never heard of a DF Clearflight Pied? I can understand why you might'nt get DF Rec. Pieds but Clearflight and Dominant Pieds are so similar.. Thanks for any help, this was just a random thought that popped into my head today.

Okay thank you.

Alright. How much water?

Okay. Just put it in a dish in their cage or do you have to do anything with it?

Hi, I just bought some egg and biscuit mix for my birds that are breeding. Problem is, I don't know how you're supposed to feed it to them and when? I mean, when they start laying eggs or when the chicks start hatching or the whole time..or what? Thanks.

That's what I'm asking, whether I should or just leave it..it doesn't seem to hurt him or catch on anything at all, so I might as well leave it, then?