Daz

The Flight is about 2 meters x 2 .2 meters. Half is a suspended type.

Update two new chicks this morning

Best of Luck

Give the birds a chance. Don't cull as Hath put it.

What a magnificent hen... you must be so proud

Hi Karen I used British Paint 4 Season Low Sheen Exterior Acrylic in White. It has a P.S.D.S on liquid for inhaling and skin contact.

It's Saturday and the work for a breeder is never ending. This morning all the breeding cages had to be cleaned and the nests with chicks had there shavings replaced. The avairy swept out and the feed restocked. We in Australia are heading towards Summer. That means in Brisbane temperatures over 36deg C. In the avairy thats 40 plus. Not good for breeding. So most of my breeding has been through Winter. Average temperature in the avairy has been around 22deg C. Coldest morning was 4deg C. Not too bad. With the Breeding season winding down in a couple of months there are chores to do. I am now up to 9 breeding cages. 3 Doubles and 3 singles. I have taken out one of the duals to recondition. It was my first one I ever got. Cage with Breeding going on. Breeding box striped down to refurbish. First thing I did was to scrape and sand the interior and exterior. Then gave a coat of exterior paint. This is so that I can wash it and disinfect it as required. The two Trays are also given a coat of paint. and the fronts are sanded and sprayed with nontoxic rust proof black. All the paint is non toxic. All surfaces are given two coats for protection. Tomorrow - New Perches and new Nest boxes for next season. More Photos to come.

You should have added "Both" to your poll. I have 3 inside and 30 something outside.

That makes her a hen. Genes Yellowface type I Greywing Grey factor on green I would say yellowface greywings in green, grey green and posibly blue. Green is dominant over blue but you sill could get some. You could also get yellowface greys because of the grey factor on blue. Now if the chicks are not greywings they could be split to greywing. The other thing is what are these birds spilt to??????

Way to go.. A new beginning. I think Hath can relate to that... Keep us up to date on the progress.

If I only knew .. Would save cleaning up for a long period. Get it over and done with quicker. Can't breed when they are moulting. Too stressful.

Type I yellowface Sky blue Opaline Male. Very beautiful. how about stripe.

I was thinking the same. If there is others like him they would have to be tested. 4 week old chick is supposed to look like this. This is a 19day (nearly 3 week) old chick. In fact they are the same bird. Tiny. Your chick is about 3 week in development. A bit behind.

Is there any other chicks in the nest and if so are they like him?

As many of you now, I am a big believer in good nutrition. Here is the mix I give the birds each day Celery, carrots, corn, mung bean sprouts, snowpea sprouts. I also give a celery stork on the perch. The birds havea Bath in the wet leaves and then demolish it.

Some new owners might get a bit worried when they see there new pet moutling. It is a process where the bird gets rid of it's old feathers and grows new feathers. The hard spikes are called pin feathers. They are the protective sheath that covers the growing feather inside. When the feather has matured the sheath will fall away. Please don't remove the sheath you can damage the feather inside. Has any one else got some pictures of their birds moulting?

Just a few pictures from this morining A few of the gang Sleeping after a big breakfast and trying to sleep.... get that camera out of my face

My turn for some baby shots. Hatched this morning. Aged 1 day to 10 days Pair 9 Pair 7

Congratulations Kirby I bet you can't sleep all night... I know the feeling. I should be getting 3 to 5 chicks hatching today and all I want to do is to keep looking. But I am keeping myself busy with other things. I'll check at lunch time and this afternoon.

Congratulations Nerwen. which one is that in relation to the eggs I gave you. it's hard for an old bloke like me to keep up. One of the chicks that Jazz is looking after hatched this morning.. I don't know whick one it is. It could be that one of DG's eggs got hidden or miss counted. All of jazz's eggs are unhatched and Bob and Liza's is not hatched. The chick has black eyes so I know it couldn't be theirs... I am going to rate it as a DG chick untill it feathers. I'll know then. But the main thing is it is being care for.

Hi sandbox16 and welcome to the forums. If you can post some Photos we can tell you their sex and type. Depending where you bought them, they might be older than you think. My chicks don't fledge until they are 6 weeks old and then I hold them for another two to four weeks before selling them. Enjoy the forum and ask as many questions as you like.

Hi Bertie, Sorry for your loss. I wouldn't take your bird back to that vet. If he can't tell the sex of a budgie he is not a proper avian vet. You will probibly find that snow flake is getting used to the new suroundings. The best thing to do is leave him to himself. Make sure that there is plenty of seed and fresh water for him and he will find it when hungary. When you have finished the trill, don't get it again, there is no nutrician to it. The pet store has better seed than that. In joy the forum and ask lots of questions.

It seems over the last few months that Spring is in the air...well for the southern hemisphere anyway and that Breeding for some is all what is on there budgies mind. I thought after a discussion in club that I would discuss the best requirements for setting up a breeding cage. The breeding cage should be purpose build or bought . I use a timber breeding cage that is 600 long x 450 high by 350 depth (measurements in metric millimeters) so thats 24 inches x 18inches x 14 inches. In this picture you can see the cage with the nest box on the inside. I have change the concept to hang the nest box on the outside. Nest box on the outside. The larger the breeding cage the better. I would not go under this size. The same with the nest box. This was the last size I made measuring 250mm high x 210mm wide x 153mm deep. I have changed this to now 250mm (10") High x 215mm (81/2") deep x 210mm (81/4") wide . Similar to the breeding cage, budgies like a large nest box. The perches are now different sizes. I use a 12mm and an 18mm round hard wood dowl. but will be changing all to 12mm round dowl and an 19 mm square perch for the hen. The difference in sizes are to excersize the feet of the bird. 2 successful clutches can take over 100 days minimum so the birds are cramped up in the breeding cage for sometime. Breeding cages can be "Stacked" I currently run 9 breeding cages, a nursery and a full flight. The breeding cage has seed soaked in breeding aid. Water that is replace everyday. I use a water management system that involve vitamins, probotic, calcium additives and plain water. Medication and worming is also administered via the management. In addition I have a cuttlefish, a finger draw with minerals, an Iodine and charcoal bell. The hen is placed in the cage for 3 days before introducing the cock. Bonding is a nesacary factor to breeding. I have had to split up pairs because they haven't got along. I supply every morning to the breeding pair a mixture of Hulled oats, carrots and protien. As the eggs hatch I will increase the level of Protien for the parents to feed the chicks. This mixture is removed every night and the remainder is feed to the birds in the flight. When the chicks get to 24 days old. I will start to give them a 3 inch piece of Millet in the nest to help them start to feed themselves. From 28 days on wards the chicks will start to come out of the nest. This is the time I make sure there is plenty of seed, millet, soft food and vegitables for the chicks. I use celery, carrots, corn, snow pea sprouts and mung bean sprouts in the dishes for the chicks. The mix is given in the morning and removed in the afternoon in winter or lunch time in summer. The remainder is thrown away. It is not safe for the birds in the flight. The chicks are weighed weekly to see if they are sustaining their weight. At 42 days old and all going well they are moved from the breeding cage. To the nursery. The nursery is a dual cage or stock cage that is 1200mm long 450mm high x 350mm deep. It is set up the same as the breeding cage less the nest box. The capability of puting a devider in to make two cages is to make it easy to weigh and check the chicks for progress every week for a month. The chicks are given a high level of protein and vegitables every day. At the age of 3 months the chicks start to moult. Moulting Aid can be given and the chick can be observed. After the moult has finished the chick can be transfered to the flight. The chicks are still feed with vegitables and are closely monitored. I keep all recordes of the condition of the eggs through to the chicks in the flight on two programes. Bird Tracker and The Budgerigar Program Be prepared for the worst and you will do well. read up on the proceedure. I recommend the Master Breeder for information on Breeding. Join a club and get information from the ones that are experienced in breeding. EDIT:... Since I did this post I have updated my Aviary.. Link.

Make sure it's PVA water base glue. Eggs are porus to toxic glues will kill the chick.

I have to agree with Eterri before giving medication some test must be done. As the vet can not see the bird in its cage he can not inspect the droppings or its behaviour. So I would expect at lest a crop swob and a back end swob. Many be a blood test is a bit far but a quick swab test takes 5 mins and then a better diagnostic can be made. I lost 1 bird to that sort of practise by a vet and questioned his knowledge as an avairian vet. I would never go back to him again. For the record I have lost two Adult birds in a year and a half. That one and one from a prolapse that died at a top avian vet. I have taken a number of my birds to the vet when I believe they need more treatment than I can give and I haven't been disapointed in the vets I now use.