Daz

una I don't know what your mean We I did it. This morning a got the ring on the last chick. At one stage it was just about on and he pulled his leg so quickly the ring came off. But I did finally get it on. I'm glad I'm not a big breeder with lots of chicks. I'll take some pics to night for you. Got some video of george to put up also. Chime with the first ring on ...the number isn'tshowing. Younger sibling that I ringed this morning.

Hi and welcome to the forum. He is older than three months. He has already moulted and looks fine. As for the proper age, you need a better shot.

~elle~ Tell us about your set up and what you feed your birds. Also how old your birds are?

cute photos una. They are really injoying the bath.

He sounds fine. Just keep an eye on him. If he starts up and it seem regular, take him to a vet.

Well they don't look like show birds(english budgies) to me the head is not full and the stance is not there yet. They might look better after the first moult. You may have been dubbed. The blue looks like a female and the grey a female but the grey is not really clear. Can you get a clear shot of the ceres with out the over exposure. (Brightness)

Thats good news. It is also fortunate that the hen let you watch. Mine leave the nest box as soon as I look in.

If the hen hasn't started to feed it. Get an eye dropper and mix up some hand feeding mixture to recomended rate. If you don't have any and can't get some quickly get some lite fat milk and mix it half and half with water and add a touch of egg & biscuit mix. Give the chick a few drops, one at a time. Place a small drop on the tip of the beak, you will see it disappear. After a couple of dropps you should see the crop change colour with the milk. This will give the chick some fluid. They can dry out quickly. With this in it's crop it should gain some strength and start to call for the mother. you may have to repeat this every hour for a few hours. Make sure the mixture is very runny. New hatched chicks cant take solids. Let us know how you go.

Sarah as for when do you know if your chick is of good quality. Sometimes you don't. You may put it to one side thinking it is only an okay bird. You only find out after the first moult that you have a top quality bird.

Let me know if there is any changes you can think of. As I said it is a work in progress.

I have the other chick to ring tomorrow night...not looking forward to it..

I prefer to selective breed in their own breeding cages. You don't have the trouble of colony breeding.

Yes there is some micros in it. Just sums and If formulas. Have you tried it as in puting in dates and figures?

It sounds like he is quite normal. Lets guess what happened 6 months ago. You saw him playing in the shop window with his other budgie friends and thought that he looked cute. The shop owner put his hand in and grabed him. There was a bit of chasing around the cage before he got hold of your bird. To your bird that is terrifying. When you tried to handle him he tried to get away. As a kind person that you are you resisted, thinking he may need some time to adjust. Well he hasn't. Every time you need to pick him up you have to capture him with a cloth. Scary isn't it. Don't worry, you can train him to go to you. He knows he is safe in his cage. He does this by going to you when you are outside His Area. What you need to do is to get him used to you when he is outside his area. It will take time and you must be patient. The first step is to see if he likes millet. Try a sprig in his cage and see if he likes he. He should. The next thing is to feed him as he sits on the perch in his cage. Then try to tempt him onto your fingure with the millet but in his cage.....don't try to take him out. These will take a few days, so be patient. After a couple of days try tempting him to your fingur at the cage door but don't take him out. you can see where this is leading. One important advise. Always talk to him softly and gently and never make fast movements. Before too many weeks he will wont to fly across the room to you. Yes for the millet. Weaning him off it is another topic.

Sorry Sarah I don't know of anyone in Melbourne.

Wow what a great aviary that will make... Can I make a few surgestions. As most matter whether it be food scrapes, old seed or droppings will end up between the bricks and start to rot causing bateria contemination. It would be good to sweep a mixture of sand and cement in between the cracks. After a light hose it should set and from a barrier. That way it will make it easier to sweep or hose. A cement floor is the best floor for an aviary. It's the easiest to keep clean. The bricks with cement mortar is the next best. The worst is a bare soil floor. You have to rake it all the time. Now what is more important. The look or your birds health?

Not all budgies like the shavings. Some do some don't. It depends on the bird. As docca said take out the twiggs and tissues they are not needed. Most of the time a bare box is all that is needed. It is only realistic to you. Like really don't care for it. Budgies will pair even if there is no breeding box. Pairing is done in the flight. My breeding boxes are in cages located a distance from the flight. Did you quarentine Bell when you got her? If not keep an eye that she hasn't brough in a desease with her.

Rainbow what a beautiful bird. I see what you mean with the patches.

Hi Joanne. Try this link it will help with the plants. Best of luck.

I have set up a small spreed sheet to help those budding breeders. It gives dates of hatching, banding (ringing) and Fledging. It will also tell you your percentage of success in the number of eggs per clutch, Hatch rate and survival rate. Call it a work in progress. You can down load it on my site. Link in my signature or click here Let know what you think and what changed you need.

Don't worry my wife had to remind me twice while I was doing it. It is not easy. imagine threading a needle while the needle keeps moving.

Karen....anymore photos What are there ages today? Mine are in days, 25, 21, 18, 16, 8, & 5 :hap:

Great photo Docca. That is what you need to do. I successfully ringed (for the second time) last night. Boy it is interesting to see how much the chick grew in one day. I don't think I could have put the ring on him today. Hath would have to ring his birds or he couldn't show them. There are rules on how the ring is to be shown on the bird. That is which foot. When the chick is hatched,three toes face forward and one back. As the chick grows one of the front outside toes turns backwards to assist in griping the perch / branch. The best time to ring is between 6 to 10 days old. As docca said, Some chicks are large at 5 days and some are at 7 days. You just have to try at 6 and see what happens. Some times if the chick's leg is too big you can get a second chance a day latter. As the leg grows, it can lengthen and slim down a bit. If you wait too long and can't ring the chick, it can't be used for showing. I don't know about England but in Australia the show birds must have a solid ring on not a spit ring.....and it has to be the right way up :hap:

Kirby, I have been trying to get around what you want to say or have. I take it that you have 2 males. Are they 4 years old? You have two females. Are they 2 years old? It is good that you are interested in breeding and I assume that you have the knowledge to go along with it. You will need to make good recordes of the ofspring to make sure you don't line breed. Please let me know the correct ages of your birds so that we can help.

I used a tooth pick and it worked.....but guess what. This morning NO RING I'll have to try tonight. Well I'm getting a lot of practise.