jaznjj

My experience: I expect to see some kind of action within a week (and usually it happens). If it doesn't I put them back in the flights and put in a different pair. I select birds to put down in cabinets to breed when they are in top breeding readiness. I can't afford to put birds in a cabinet and wait for them to come into condition. In fact I think it's detrimental to leave birds for weeks or months in a cabinet waiting for something to happen. I like them to be in a breeding cage the absolute minimum because I like them to be able to fly and forage. When you release a dud pair to the flight after they have been boxed up for a week they have got to know each other and that often means they will go straight to breeding together when you try them a month or two later. How do I know if they are interested? I load the nest boxes with clean litter such as eucalyptus bark. As soon as you see the litter dragged out onto the floor you know you have a goer. It also replicates natural conditions somewhat in that the hen has to excavate a breeding space, just as might occur in a native tree. Some hens clean out the box with surgical skill, others chew the some of the bark into crumbs which makes a natural aerated bedding.jaznjj I couldn't have said it better. That is exactly how I do it. The season is short May/June to January / February for some, and you don't want to waste time on pairs that won't breed. 21 days is my limit to see if there is any action. I started in mid May and I have stopped pairing now. I have 16 pairs down and will let them go though their clutches. 2 if they have good ones, 3 if they have had small and the hen is strong. But then they will be pulled down for the season and the cabinets removed and cleaned ready for next season.Daz, I try to finish up with all chicks flying by Christmas. That is to do with the heat and the fact that I am then on holiday for a few weeks. The birds deserve a rest and so do I! Then, once I've caught my breath, it's time to sort, evaluate and cull as well as doing those annual chores such as cleaning and maintenance. I usually start in May depending on condition of the birds. In 2009 I plan to put the birds down in May and have cabinets clear by October as I will be going overseas for three weeks and don't want the friends who will look after my birds having to do extraordinary work. Might consider another round on return from OS depending on condition of birds and the weather. Usually run 20 cabinets. My experience: I expect to see some kind of action within a week (and usually it happens). If it doesn't I put them back in the flights and put in a different pair. I select birds to put down in cabinets to breed when they are in top breeding readiness. I can't afford to put birds in a cabinet and wait for them to come into condition. In fact I think it's detrimental to leave birds for weeks or months in a cabinet waiting for something to happen. I like them to be in a breeding cage the absolute minimum because I like them to be able to fly and forage. When you release a dud pair to the flight after they have been boxed up for a week they have got to know each other and that often means they will go straight to breeding together when you try them a month or two later. How do I know if they are interested? I load the nest boxes with clean litter such as eucalyptus bark. As soon as you see the litter dragged out onto the floor you know you have a goer. It also replicates natural conditions somewhat in that the hen has to excavate a breeding space, just as might occur in a native tree. Some hens clean out the box with surgical skill, others chew the some of the bark into crumbs which makes a natural aerated bedding.Good info jaz. It sounds like you breed them for sale?I agree that its not fair to keep them in a small cage until something happens, I'm somewhat lucky in that my "breeding" cage is larger than the average breeding cabinet. I am trying a couple of the suggestions here and if it doesn't happen in a week or two I'll put them back in the flight cage. I'll be moving about the middle of April so I don't want barely hatched chicks at that point, I either need them fully hatched and in the flight cage or not at all. I do like your bark suggestion, I will have to give that a go!I breed for show. The need to sell your surplus birds can be a nuisance but the money comes in handy! I have a couple of reliable outlets and I always look after them by supplying robust, healthy birds, so they look after me in turn. The bark does work though it makes the floor of your cabinet look messy when they chuck it out. It is like sweet music to hear a hen yanking the bark around as she makes her nest ready. You can also use other litter such as rice hulls or shavings but that's not chewable like bark is. Rice hulls "breathe" and the hen forms her own concave. Don't allow it to be too deep or hens can lose their eggs if they startle and the litter is scattered around. I've heard of people using lucerne hay but I would have concerns about dampness and mould. Hope you have success with the bark! Another advantage: it's free!

My experience: I expect to see some kind of action within a week (and usually it happens). If it doesn't I put them back in the flights and put in a different pair. I select birds to put down in cabinets to breed when they are in top breeding readiness. I can't afford to put birds in a cabinet and wait for them to come into condition. In fact I think it's detrimental to leave birds for weeks or months in a cabinet waiting for something to happen. I like them to be in a breeding cage the absolute minimum because I like them to be able to fly and forage. When you release a dud pair to the flight after they have been boxed up for a week they have got to know each other and that often means they will go straight to breeding together when you try them a month or two later. How do I know if they are interested? I load the nest boxes with clean litter such as eucalyptus bark. As soon as you see the litter dragged out onto the floor you know you have a goer. It also replicates natural conditions somewhat in that the hen has to excavate a breeding space, just as might occur in a native tree. Some hens clean out the box with surgical skill, others chew the some of the bark into crumbs which makes a natural aerated bedding.

I've just come home from work and my birds are hot and so am I. A cool drink for me and some water to play in for the birds in my flights. I use what I think are called "puppy dishes" which I bought from the Reject Shop years ago. Stainless steel, wide, shallow. I usually plonk a few leafy plant tops, such as amarynth on one edge. The birds love it. Yes, it gets dirty quickly so in less than a half an hour the dishes will be removed. In the name of hygiene, one possible option is to put something like KD7 (from Rob Marshall - vet) in the water they bathe in. I figure it's alright for them to drink, it's okay to use it to clean their utensils so it should be okay to bathe in. Any bugs that get into the water should be zapped. Haven't actually done this but can't see why it wouldn't be okay. Jaz I agree with the spraying. Just a little extra info and that is the spraying encourages the preening, and the preening waterproofs the feathers as the bird is spreading the oil from the preen gland located above the tail. Anyone not sure about this have a look at a roast chicken, particularly the "parson's nose" and you will find the preen gland. Don't eat it, it's pretty yuk. A bird which is used to being sprayed in the summer and which becomes pretty water-proofed should also be able to be sprayed at other times as the water will not penetrate beyond the waterproofed outer feathers (unless you dunk it in a bucket!) With birds regularly exposed to natural rain and/or spraying the down feathers should remain dry. Like wearing a warm jumper under a raincoat. Jaz

Half dom Pied, half normal. As MB said this is the case unless there are some recessives - maybe sex-linked varieties such as opaline or cinnamon carried by the cock - or recessive factors carried by both hen and cock such as fallow, rec. pied, greywing etc. This latter would be a bit of a fluke, but it is possible. You could get all greys if the hen is double factor for grey. You could get cobalt if the grey is single factor and being carried on a cobalt or mauve bird - you might even get a violet! Best way is to see what pops out in the nest.

I'm pretty sure that some of those vegetables won't survive freezing and defrosting unless you blanch them first - they will just turn into moosh. Something to do with break-down enzymes in the vegetables which are deactivated by blanching. Two ways to handle it, first, try it and see what works; secondly, have a look in a freezer book which usually has lists of vegetables suitable for freezing and whether they need any special preparation. Jaznjj

More on scaly face. Before I used Ivermec I used vaseline. I started off with cooking oil but it messes up the feathers something fierce, the vaseline is much cleaner. What you are doing is smothering the mites so they suffocate and die. Don't forget to treat the feet and particularly under the ring if the bird is carrying one. Ivermec is the treatment of choice but I do have concerns about its environmental impact. My aviary waste is composted and used on garden beds. Ivermec kills worms and the googling I have done to find out about its life in the soil hasn't yielded any unambiguous information. People have lost all the worms in their worm farms by adding horse manure from horses which have been wormed using Ivermec-type worming treatments. I usually treat with Ivermec once or twice a year and always provide branches of lemon-scented t-tree which, reputedly, is a natural wormer and antibiotic. I have had no signs of scaly face or worms for many years. If we are handling the substance while treating birds we are probably also giving ourselves a worm treatment! Jaz

Hi BB, it is to be 20 cabinets - but I will have an overflow capacity of another 12. I have an outside construction which holds wire cages. It looks old and yuk and is not as secure as the new birdroom - it is wired all around and has an alcanite roof which means the cages are exposed to light, wind and weather. However, the birds breed very happily in it, I venture to say, more happily than in the proper cabinets. But mostly I'll stick to running 20 cabinets. Jaz

What supplements do you use in your water? Does anyone know what the red powder is that breeders put in the breeding cabinets? Have seen this at a few breeders and cant remember the name of it. Is it needed the whole way through the breeding process or only when they have babies? Hi BB (Jaz here) The red powder is possibly Livermol which I think is dried meat extract - high protein. Available Petbarn and produce stores. I use it in small quantities when I mix my seed, maybe a teaspoonful to a bucket of seed - but then I put in a whole heap of supplements into the seed, not just the Livermol. (charcoal, f-vite, canunda grit, sea weed granules, lucerne pellets etc ) Very small quantities but in almost every feed. I believe it gives variety and the birds will seek out the nutrients they need in the mix.

Yes, the Blacktown club would be good for you (so would we!) but it doesn't hurt to rub shoulders with some of the more experienced hands such as the Hills members. I've been breeding and exhibiting budgerigars for many years with mixed success - a few good places but no grand champions. I'm in the hobby as much for the social contact as for exhibiting. I have just had a boost to my interest and enthusiasm with the erection of a new breeding room and the acquisition of some new, good quality birds. I have had a wonderful breeding season and am waiting for all the chicks to moult through so I can do a proper job of selecting the birds to keep for next season. I have a great many varieties but my main interest is in black-eyed yellows. I haven't yet acquired the skill of posting the images to the forum but will have to do it soon. I would like to photograph ALL my breeding birds individually and have the photographs as part of my breeding records but that's a project I don't have time for at the moment. Violet yellow-faced dominant pieds would be beautiful! But I might suggest you try the Australian YellowFace (or Golden Face) for the best colour contrast (however, body colour might be cleaner with the other type). Maybe we'll cross paths at a show sometime. Jaz

whenever i use my camera the pictures are always to large, so i was thinking this would probably be the case again, and i dont know how to make them smaller. I imagine the Hills people are looking after you with lots of advice so I'll limit mine to one suggestion - don't put all those birds down in one go, stagger it a bit, maybe a week apart each batch which will lighten the load and give you more options when moving birds around. With 30 (or 60!) nests ringing chicks could be a nightmare and you don't want paperwork errors. It also eases the load on your baby cage and gives you a chance to assess the chicks in batches instead of hundreds at a time! However you choose to do things, have fun. Jaz

My second reply. I have been told it's okay to tell others about clubs and meetings. I'm a member of Riverlands branch of the BSNSW and we meet at the Neighbourhood Centre at Emu Plains on the 2nd Friday of each month at 7.30. Next meeting is our Christmas party so come along BB and meet the crowd. Even if you don't join our club we welcome visitors. Jaz

Hi BB, sounds like we're almost neighbours. 20 cabinets is plenty for me. Because of extraordinary circumstances this year I ran 40 and found the workload much too great when working full time. A lot depends on your work commitments and if there is anybody else to give you a hand. Also the layout of your cabinets and the routines for feeding and cleaning are important. Specialisation is good. Something of a miracle for you to have secured a large number of good hens - usually you have to start of with whatever you can get, and built up from there. Come to our club and have a look too, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to advertise a club or meeting on the forum so will wait for advice. Good luck, Jaz

Oops, apologies MB, nearly right but not quite. Violet can be single and double factor, both are visually violet when they are on a COBALT bird. A skyblue bird carrying one violet factor looks much like a cobalt and yes, that's when you see that violet shimmer near the neck. That violet skyblue is capable of producing violet chicks if mated to a cobalt or mauve bird which produces cobalt chicks, then it is the law of percentages which says whether those cobalt chicks will inherit the violet factor. A mauve bird with an added violet factor is a beautiful bird which usually looks like a very intense mauve/grey colour. It too is capable of producing violet birds and the best mating to produce violet chicks would be to a violet skyblue which would give 100% cobalt chicks at least half of which would be violet depending on how many violet factors are added to the mix by hen and cock. Happy to explain at greater length if necessary. Jaz

Hi Chrissy, in my opinion cinnamon light green. Second photo shows a slight bluish tinge on the green which could make him a dark green cinnamon. Jaz

Chrissy, are the body markings black or dark cinnamon? If they are cinnamon (brown) markings it could possibly be what is referred to as golden face as cinnamon tends to take the edge off the colour. I think of the two types as Creamface and Australian yellow-face with the Aust Yface (golden face) having that brilliant buttercup yellow and the Creamface (yellowface) being much more wishy washy. Type-wise the bird looks like AYF (golden face) but a bit hard to tell from the colour of the mask in the photo. Yellow colour also floods more readily into the body colour and the wings with AYF (golden face) but in both types it will be paler in the wings if it affects the wings. Another spot to check is under the tail where an AYF may have brilliant yellow feathers on either side of the main tail feathers. An exhibition yellowface should have no yellow anywhere other than mask and tail. If it happens to be a golden face I encourage you to breed more like him because it is a beautiful variety which is often neglected. Jaz The sea foam colour Neville refers to is probably the yellow washing down over skyblue (I think that's the same as Neville said but in slightly different words).

Hi Eliza, as you are a show breeder most likely your chick has a ring on its leg. Check under the ring in case something is stuck there or if the ring has rubbed and caused an infection.

Hi Maesie, lots of cool things for budgerigars you can grow in pots or in a small space. Endive or chickory can be picked leaf by leaf, silver beet and the other beets. My favourite native for my birds is lemon-scented ti-tree. I've never had to grow it in a pot but I imagine it would be okay. I've seen them pruned and shaped in gardens. Mine just grow like Topsy and I keep cutting branches to put into the aviaries where they love to chew the bark and strip the leaves (supposedly a natural wormer). Eucalyptus also consider but probably too big for small spaces - plus there's plenty available just growing wild in reserves etc. I tried millet etc in shallow trays but shifted to deeper pots because there wasn't sufficient root space to support growth and the trays dried out too quickly once the plants started to grow. Jaz

Sounds like you've settled in for the long run with this pair. If you know what greens etc they were fed when they were in an aviary it might give you some clues what to offer them that they'd be used to. Could I suggest that if they are happily eating millet sprays that you try some of the wild seeding grasses that are abundant at the moment. Just a caution if collecting from the roadside that you collect seed heads that have not been exposed to exhaust fumes or road dust and that your local council has not been spraying. There might also be grassy weeds popping up in your garden you could use as well even if they are not actually seeding. Budgerigars will quite happily chew the stems of grass runners such as kikuyu. They also relish branches of lemon-scented ti-tree - they chew off the bark and nip off the leaves. Jaz

Hi, take it easy with that silver beet, it contains oxalic acid, so small quantities only and not every day. Grow your own so you can give them new leaves which will be less acidic. Endive is probably a better green to give them which can also be grown in a home garden or pots and cropped leaf by leaf. I'm experimenting at present with growing wild seeding grasses in pots and putting a pot at a time in the aviary. The birds crop it to ground level, but it comes good again quickly. Chickweed is also a good green in season. Anything you can grow for them on your own premises has a better chance of being chemical and disease free as well as being fresh. I'm not real sure about the broccoli as It seems to be a general rule not to give them anything from the cabbage family. I also don't feed lettuce but am starting to wonder if this "rule" is an urban myth but don't want to risk my birds by experimenting. Jaz

Key phrase is "being aviary birds". It's a bit like putting a wild bird in a small cage. A baby bird that grows up in a small environment gets used to it and feels comfortable and secure. These birds, in my opinion and from our description, ARE scared and not likely to get over it easily. I certainly would not let them loose in a room. Do you have an aviary you can put them in? And maybe get yourself a baby you can hand-rear. I think you and the bird(s) would find it a less stressful experience. Jaz

No you didnt muck up those quotation marks....just the ones from the previous poster. Thanks, Kaz

Hi Folk, As a breeder of exhibition budgerigars I think of English birds as the birds bred in England for many generations in isolation and which are the result of selective breeding. The same diversification happens naturally with bird and animal populations as the result of geographic and other change. The expression "English" is used pretty loosely - birds were imported back to Australia for only a limited time and people refer to their "English" birds when sometimes they have little knowledge of the actual bloodlines. They refer to German birds similarly. The owners of birds which can be referred to as "English" would have pedigrees showing their origins. Most exhibition type budgerigars in Australia (I believe) would have a significant number of imported birds in their pedigrees but there is a tendency for many breeders to refer to any big showy bird as English. I think it's better to drop the expression completely - it's outlived its usefulness as a descriptor. As others have said, there should be no problem breeding the two types together. Jaz Did I muck up the quotation marks? Sorry. It should be that the first use of the expression has no quotes, and every time it is used thereafter it is in quotation marks. I really had to dig deep to remember that!

Hi Folk, As a breeder of exhibition budgerigars I think of English birds as the birds bred in England for many generations in isolation and which are the result of selective breeding. The same diversification happens naturally with bird and animal populations as the result of geographic and other change. The expression "English" is used pretty loosely - birds were imported back to Australia for only a limited time and people refer to their "English" birds when sometimes they have little knowledge of the actual bloodlines. They refer to German birds similarly. The owners of birds which can be referred to as "English" would have pedigrees showing their origins. Most exhibition type budgerigars in Australia (I believe) would have a significant number of imported birds in their pedigrees but there is a tendency for many breeders to refer to any big showy bird as English. I think it's better to drop the expression completely - it's outlived its usefulness as a descriptor. As others have said, there should be no problem breeding the two types together. Jaz

I have found the best way to photographic Merlin is in the sunlight next to a window and at an angle not directly toward the window or he will come out black. and the window bright and you don't want to put on the back lighting on the camera because that is another type of flash. You might try photographing without flash under a special fluorescent bird light, usually purchased from the same companies who manufacture and/or distribute fluoro lights for fish tanks. The give out levels of UVA and UVB similar to natural sunlight and are used by breeders who breed indoors (or SHOULD be). Might be no better though than just photographing the bird in sunlight. Perhaps worth a try. I think the difficulty in photographing violets is the reflective properties of the feathers carrying the colour. Jaz