Jen144

So putting it past its ankles it okay? I'll do that then, that'll probably make it easier for her to stand up. Also, about the cuttlefish, I put crushed up cuttlefish in their seed so they didn't have much choice but to eat at least a little. But maybe the mum can't process the calcium very well as you said...she is 3 years old and this is her second clutch this year so maybe she's getting worn out? If that is the case, does that mean she shouldn't really breed again? Or at least only one clutch next year, I was planning on stopping her breeding after next year but maybe this year would be better for her...And on that subject, maybe that is why so many eggs died in early stages of development this clutch..is that a possible reason?

Okay the mum has fed it again and doesn't seem at all bothered by the pipe cleaners on her baby's legs. I'm pretty sure it isn't a calcium problem, because I gave the birds cuttlefish and liquid calcium in their water before and during the egg laying etc..I don't even think it is because the nest is slippery, as I have used that nest every time for their clutches and no problems before...So I'm stumped as to what the reason is.. But just in case I'll give the baby some liquid calcium as you suggested. Just one drop per day, the instructions are to put a particular amount in their water, but one undiluted drop won't harm the baby will it? Also, because of her legs being tied together, the baby finds it very hard to stand up (though she is only 5 days old and so isn't very good at standing up at all yet) and just lies on her front. This is okay?

Okay thank you very much. I've put pipe cleaner around her legs (rather hard to get it on and keep it on her tiny little legs) at what I hope it close enough together? I did a pink pipe cleaner, because it matches her colour the best and maybe will help stop the mum from picking at it or anything. Just thought it would help, better than using a brightly coloured and more noticeable one. I'll have to check on her every day won't I, especially to make sure it stays on and doesn't get too tight? How long will it take to be fixed?

Does this baby have splayed legs? Her left leg is pretty much okay but her right one is red and slips out from under her all the time. She is about 5 days old. If it is splayed legs what can I do to fix it and what could have caused it? Will I need to handfeed her? Also, the second baby of this clutch died at day one, was discovered fed and warm but dead. Out of the 8 eggs in total, many were DIS and it seems only 3 babies will survive now. What could be the problem, I do not want a repeat of this!! What can I do, what am I doing wrong? And another question, this was the pair's second clutch, but because there will be only a few babies..once I can fix whatever the problem is would it be alright to let them have a third clutch in about 6 months? The first clutch only had one baby, and it was healthy..unlike these other eggs apparently.. Maybe I shouldn't really breed anymore, it keeps going wrong..this pair is the only pair I have ever bred but they usually lay about 5 eggs and only raise 1-2 chicks, the most they have ever raised was 4! Almost every clutch in the 3 years they have been breeding (same mother each time, but different dads) has only had one baby fledge. I don't even know why so many don't make it to hatching..I try to do everything right but it obviously doesn't work. Need replies asap please, I need help with this..I really don't like so many babies not making it :rip:

Yes, unfortunately (but not unexpectedly) the baby died inside the egg sometime after I had candled it.. :rip:

Wouldn't if you put hydrogen peroxide on the birds, that would kill them and very much damage their feathers?

The first chick might be Cinnamon but I'll try not to get my hopes up until it starts getting feathers. But the second chick hatched yesterday, and look at what I saw!!!! This is not black or plum eyes, this is red eyes, right? And seeing as neither of the parents are Albino then this baby is a girl! I sure hope that the dad is split Cinnamon also, that would make for some very pretty chicks.. Also, I'm just wondering, are you able to make Lacewings by not getting a Lacewing bird but breeding with Cinnamons and Albinos or is that not possible?

Out of 8 eggs from my budgie pair, 3 were either infertile or DIS at a very early age, and one might have been DIS but I wasn't sure. About 3 days ago Storm, the mum, threw that egg out of the nest (it is about 16 days old today). I put it near the other 3 eggs that weren't alive ontop of the breeding cage, for some reason I didn't chuck them. I candled them all today right before I was about to throw them out...and 3 were dead, as expected...but the fourth one...was strange. I saw the baby inside (I assume it was the baby, a big dark spot around the egg) and it was moving..there were veins and all and the baby inside was moving!! There was even a big crack in the egg--though nothing was leaking out--from when Storm threw it out of the nest! Here's what it looks like, very weird, but something inside is definitely moving. See that dark strip up near the air sac? (not the black thing that is poo on the shell)That's what is moving. How is this possible, that egg was out, not being incubated for 3 days or more!! I don't think Storm was really incubating it when it was in the nest, whenever I looked it was normally out in the corner while Storm was sitting on the others in the middle of the nest. So...I put the egg back in the nest with Storm...It was due to hatch in 2 days from today, so I just wait for 2 days and see what happens? I should wait a bit more though, in case it was slowed because of being out in the cold every night.. I don't really have any questions other than how on earth did this egg survive!!! It has been quite hot during the day, so much so recently (the last 3 days!) that Storm hasn't been sitting on the eggs as much as usual, so that might help, but it still gets cold during the night!

Okay thanks libby. While we're on the subject of Violets, I might as well make sure...are these two girls Mauve Violets? The first one was from a Mauve: (this was the father, who might or might not have been violet also?) The second one is her sister from another clutch, same parents. (same mother as the two previous birds, Banshee and Tori) The two birds: (The second one is also a Cinnamon Spangle so that changes the colour a bit)

Wow..Okay I've got to revise what I recorded my birds as!! I seem to find out more and more about my birds as I go! She's now a Cobalt SF Violet Clearflight Pied Spangle Greywing..that's quite a mouthful lol. If she's Greywing also that would explain why she looks Sky violet but is Cobalt SF violet..and also means all her offspring are split for Greywing as it is recessive right? And Banshee is a Sky SF Violet and Tori is a Cobalt DF Violet and that is why they look so different... Alright thank you for answering my questions!

I have no idea...she is a Spangle but I really don't think she is a Greywing (it never even crossed my mind)..Here's some photos of her back, is she actually Greywing too?

I would do that, except I've found that my males don't reliably feed their babies, especially if they are busy calling to their mate. (as I can get them out of eyesight but not out of earshot of the other birds)

Then Storm really looks like a Skyblue Violet, but she can't be, right? She was paired with a Mauve, as I mentioned, and got 100% Mauves. Therefore she must be a Cobalt SF Violet? And her partner now, the father of Tori, is a Skyblue SF Violet I think...he looks Skyblue I think (he is a YF so it is hard to tell) but he got a DF Cobalt Violet chick so he must be SF Violet too?

Yes, the reason I don't want her to lay a third round is that she then starts picking on the babies until I have to take them out of the nest and either handfeed them, try and get the dad to feed them (doesn't always work) or hope they are old enough to feed themselves and their younger siblings.

Really? I always thought he was Cobalt SF Violet..Here's some pics of him (and his tail, it isn't turquoise as described in skyblue violets I think). Here is his mother, I know she is a Cobalt SF Violet (though she does look Skyblue)as when she was paired with a Mauve she had all Mauves and Mauve Violets, which would not be possible with a Skyblue. And she looks a lot like Banshee..Notice how there are patcthes that look Cobalt Violet, and also patches that look Skyblue...

Look at these two birds. This picture shows their exact colour, and you can see the huge difference in the violet between the birds, even though the one on the right is still quite young and so his colour is not as bright as it will be when he moults. Why is the difference so huge? As far as I know, Banshee, the one on the left, is a Cobalt SF Violet..his dad was a Violet Skyblue and his mum looks just like him, so I'm assuming she also is a Cobalt SF Violet. The one on the right I think is a Cobalt DF Violet, his dad was also an SF Skyblue Violet and his mum was the same as Banshee's. (they are half-brothers) Is it because their dads were different so Tori (the one on the right) might have inherited a darker more vibrant violet colour from his dad, therefore making this DF Violet look a lot different to the SF Violet? As far as I remember, Banshee's dad (he escaped a year ago and I have no pictures of him) was a Violet Skyblue, but he had less violet colour on his body than Tori's father has. It was restricted to near his neck really, while Tori's father has a violet wash all over him. So, is it because Tori inherited a more vibrant colour of Violet, plus being double factor? Is it because Banshee is Pied, I have noticed with his mother who is also pied, it seems the pied affects the violet..Sort of the violet is pied too, there are patches of Cobalt and patches of violet, amidst the patches of white from being pied. Is it possible the pied is making some of the violet disappear in patches too? How is the very bright violet trait (like Tori) inherited by the way? I am trying to get true Violet birds so I'd like to know how I can get more birds like Tori and even more purple than Tori. Any help is appreciated, thanks..I hope what I said above makes sense, it is kind of confusing!

If a hen has 1 baby and four more eggs to hatch, would it be safe to take the dad and put him in the aviary and leave her to incubate the eggs the last few days and then raise the chicks? Especially if I took the older ones sometimes a fed them then put them back to help her, and/or permenantly took 2 of the chicks when they were older and handfed them? Would that be alright to do, and not stress her or make her work too hard? I mainly want to do it because I don't want them starting a third clutch and if the dad is still there she may start laying when the youngest chick is only 2 weeks old, that is usually her custom. And thus abandon the chicks the pay attention to the eggs. So, can I take the dad out now and it would be okay, or wait until all the chicks have hatched, or not do it at all? Help please, I'm just worried whether making her raise the babies all on her own would be harmful for her. Thanks.

laughed and said,

Alright here took another few photos and in this one the colours all look accurate. So, plum or black?

I'm not very good at recognising whether a budgie chick has black or plum coloured eyes, so maybe someone can help me. Does this chick (it was hatched yesterday) have black or plum eyes? Pictures from today: And the day it hatched: Thanks in advance, replies soon would be great. Also, looking at the sticky thread on red, plum and black eyes, I notice this baby's eyes do look identical to the plum eyed chick's eyes..confirmation on that please?

I finshed giving Ashley the antibiotics yesterday..Her eyes are improving but I haven't seen any improvement in her breathing yet. When should I put her back in the aviary (considering what she has may be contagious)? When she is breathing normally again? How long should I wait for improvement before I get worried?

I still have some questions: 1- What sex are the babies (not a very urgent question) 2- Are Yellowface DECs possible, and if so, are those two babies DECs? (more important question which I really want an answer to) Sorry for repeating this, I've given it a couple days since I originally asked it and no one has replied for a definite yet, so I figure I'll mention it again. Please answer!

If the colour of their cheek patches mean anything, the cheek patches are white like described in the definition of a DEC..Daz come read this topic... Yeah that's why I was breeding this pair specifically, at least their offspring could have DEC's when paired to the right bird, but was not expecting it in this generation! They are very pretty aren't they..Can't wait til the chicks feather up and we get to see for sure what they are.

You sure? I think you can get a yellowface DEC...I mean, you can get YF Albinos and everything..

Fair enough. Here's some pics of their ceres however, because even if we are wrong we can still guess what sex they are! I'm still thinking that they are a YF DEC, Pied, YF Pied, and another YF DEC.. #1 Comparison between 1 and 2 #2 #3 #4 My guesses: Female Female Male Probably female? Kaz, you're good at this sort of thing, can you tell me what genders they are?