Daz

Kirby it has a safety door. The main door can be shut and secured from the inside. I do this when I am in there cleaning or feed or just checking the birds. If one gets out (Ash did the other day) they can fly around on the inside until I decide to put them back in. :fear The Cats can't bother them in there and with the new light (Worked gret last night) they feel happier (i hope). NEW PROJECT - I have looked through the internet for local electronic stores and have found on not far a way that I can get what I need for a solor exhaust fan. During the day the solar cell (new one) will supply power to a sensing circuit. When the temperatur goes past a set level, say 34 deg, it will turn on a small computer fan to extract the heat from the aviary. What do you think?

Hi Allie and welcome to the forum. Just spread some seed on the bottom of the cage. He will start to explore his suroundings and the first place he'll look for seed in on the floor. You can have his seed in his dish, he will find it. Usually it is reecomended to leave him alone for the first two days so that he gets acustomed to his new home. Then you can start with all the loving. Spend a lot of time with him and enjoy his company

Thanks Una. Can you think of a name for him/her?

okay Bea the youngest one is Merkin...

Now isn't that worth all the hard ship you have gone through... That is one of the reasos I first breed..

...and I have one of yours Karen. Bob is doing well too.

Merkin...sounds like you were watching Attack of the Nerds... okay Bea which one do you think?

okay Poka it is.... Thats the Recessive pied?

With all the chicks I've had, I have only once caught bluey and spangle..

No it's not strong but it is enough to see by. If one of the hens is startled out of the nest box, she will have no problem getting back in. I tried it last night and I could see inside the aviary with all the lights off (except the solar one) Thanks Lovey. Yesterday Ash got out of the breeding cage while i was cleaning it. No problem he went a said hello to the others. After I finished cleaning I caught him and put him back.... I just wish I had finished this sooner. Snowy would still be here and safe.

I am keeping these. Two recessive pieds, Sky blue, My be a light green cinnamon (if i'm lucky) and a ???? not sure. I am glad to get normals(/recessive pieds ????) Time will tell I haven't any names for them .... any ideas. You guys come up some great ones

Some quick photos. Poka... Nerwens pick Axel - Kerby's call Biff - My Call She is fiesty Abu - Nerwen pick Merkin - Bea's Choice My babies.

I have brought the aviary into this century. It now has Solar lighting at night and normal power as a back up. The solar light has batteries that charge from the solar cell on the roof and then switches on after dark to get low level lighting. The normal power has an inlet plug to plug in a lead that is run back to the house. It also has a low wattage lanmp but also a power point that has a fluorescent fitting pluged in to forgood light at night if needed. All the nest boxes are installed and the pairing has been done. There is some chick photos on the picture section.

Thanks Terri. We all have our opinions and it is good to discuss them in this forum. It brings forward ideas and concepts that may not have been thought of. I will continue to breed but will be monitoring the health of my birds better. (If that is possible)

Eterri I do not agree with Inbreeding. Line breedig I amunsure of. What what excactly is "Bad Breeding" that you speakof. Please explain to me and others as I am curious? You say that you can not know that you have a bird resiliant to turmers, how do you know that you have one that is suseptible to tumours and shouldent breed with them? And as you know I am living with my wife who has Cancer, so I know the pain you have felt.

Good point Karen... if you have a "Bad bird" don't let it breed... But with genetics you can not see the genetic make up of the bird. So how do you know... DNA testing. I have a friend with over five hundred birds. at $80 per birds....thats...not a financial issue. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ . Loveyly inbreeding or line breeding, what the breeders like to call it has a purpose... Let me say that Adalf Hitler was right. We can strengthen the strain. We can perfect he breed. We can breed the ideal. Luck for us the alias won. In breeding is where you take a speciment. (let me break it down to a basic form). You breed the specimine against two of the oppersite sex. The offspring of the two opersite sex are breed together. Cousin against cousin. Then the offspring of those is breed back agains the specimen. First generation has 50% of the specimen genes. second generation has 25% of the specimen genes. The last generation has 75% of the specimen gene. You arestrengtheningg the strain. In Eterri's case. If the specimen is resilient to cancer. his off spring is advantaged. Isn't this good...????? Maybe not. Breeding is taking one individual and trying to improve the off spring. (genetic Engineering - naturally). Is this good or bad. We as humans take a morl stance... I do. But in the wild the budgies do not relate mother and son, father and daughter... The issue is the survival of the species. I have seen a father try to mate with the female off spring as soon as she is fledged. To us ...that is not right, but to the budgies ...this is natural. There is so many issues that we can just touch on.. saying it is the breeders fault is not alway correct. The breeders of the past have produced what we see today and the life expectancy. Is it not good that we have so many different verieties and that the birds live longer? This was done by inbreeding and line breeding... I may not be in favour of it but I can not deny that it has produce what we love.

second generation, try not to breed brother to sister, Dad to daughter, Mother to son.

I am going to install a "Whirlybird" on the top. It removes heat from the aviary. I was going to give snowy to a friend but when she said she had changed her mind I was elated. I was looking forward to keeping him. so do I una. so do I. Nerwen the birds are free to go back to the flight after breeding and they can still stay in touch with the others. Crystal has had a complete change of personellity since being in the avairy. She calls and dances and turns herself inside out ont he perch... They really look happy now.

Eterri I agree with just about everything you have put up. But there is a problem in what you have said. Most Budgies develop the tumours in about 4 to 6 years of age. I breedig terms that is 4 to 6 generations. It is difficult to go back to the great grand father (4th Generation) to great great great grand father (6th generation) and try to reverse what has been done. One thing to remember is that with the breeding program that has been going on for over a century, the english have improved the health and life span of the budgerigar. We as humans where designed to live for no more than 40 years. in over 2000 years we have doubled that. Budgies are the same. But with longertivity there is a pay off. Cancer is still a greatly unknow desease in humans. Some of it is known but a lot isn't. If we are that unsure of the desease in our selves, we will know less in the budgerigars. As one that is starting to breed for show. I want a healthy bird first and the required look second. In the subject of inbreeding....this always causes an up roar.... Does anyone besides Hath and I know what it really is?

Looks great, just make sure the materials are bdgie friendly

i'll stay with my crumble mix and high quallity seed mix .

Cock - Light Green, Split Cinnamon, Split Opaline, Split Recessive Pied, Split Dilute, Yellowface Hens - Light Green Opaline, Split Recessive Pied, Split Dilute, Split Yellowface

Hi Pixie and welcome to the forum We already have A Pixie but with an extended name. Nerwen I think your right and was going to call a light green dilute... but a dilute could cause a normal green to look light green so I think i'll go with yours

lol you must have the same water as Phoebe.. lol Sorry. Is there anything that can resemble a nest or nest box. If so remove it. If not... PHOEBE your Call

Nerwen you can take the chicks out of the nest at 28 days. Then take the nest box away. Dad and mum will continue to feed the chicks. With out the nest box. Dad and mum should not try to mate and they shouldn't try to chase the chicks away. I took the nest box away from Greeny after the 1st round and there was no problems. Just keep an eye on them