Daz

Yes why so urgent?

It's funny. I sold / gave away my Recessive pieds when I started into the Show side as I thought no one would show them.. Now I am winning on the bench with my recessives. go figure

Starting from Nestfeathers to Any Age They grow gracefully with age.

Nerwen, good to see some of the old birds, Poka's looking good.

I have to agree, she is a normal Spangle Skyblue Hen. Spangle Opaline Grey Green Cock

Very good Article, Neville. I am sure, like many breeders, you have seen Cocks and hens picking through the seed containers while in the breeding cabinets or holding cages. Have you notised at time through the seasons that they will eat a large amount of canary and at other times it's millet?? This is because they arte looking for that type of seed that has what they need at that time in their cycle. Deprive this by puting them on a pellit diet and they can't get the additional requirements that they need. Some breeders go to the extent of haveing four or five dishes in their flight. One for each type of seed. This way they can see what the birds want and give it easier to them. Many will say that the birds only pick out what they like. This is correct at the time. I have one cock that throws all the canary out and only eats millet. But he will only do this when there is chicks in the nest. Before they hatch and after they leave the nest he goes back to a variety of seed. I have another that is opersite. He can't get enough canary while the chicks are feeding. So I would suggest that we give them what nature has designed them to have.. Good fresh seed.

If the cock was masking Recessive pied. Alll the chicks would be Recessive. Pieds. As he is Albino all the hens will be Albinos and all chicks would either be Recessive Pied or Split to recessive pied. As you have paired an Albino (blue ino) to a grey you will find most will be grey and you will get some blues.

... now I have to strip it down so I can paint it. Clear Polyurathane so it can be disinfected.

Quick Post as I am heading to a Committee meeting.

I agree with Kaz, Don't think about selling them..okay Computer's being playing up... I need to see the flights of the TCB to determin if it should be paired to a normal or Lutino. If the flights are heavily marked you should go back to a lutino to lighten the flights. If they are lightend and you ar lossing the wing marking pair back to a normal / TCB or just a normal to get the splits. If this is the Spangle you got from the Recessive pied. Don't pair back to your Spangles but to a Recessive pied Hen. Don't worry if she has dirty wing markings. She has better directional feathering and will help him. You will get normal hens from this pairing if he is not opaline. If all the hens are opaline you know he is too. She has a better mask than his. I like his blow but she has the direction feathering.Being Opaline she can help his spots too. I am hoping he has some opaline in him. The mask isn't too bad. He is a Yellowface Skyblue or more to what we would call a ParParblue. The yellowface bleed is very intent but has not fully changed the blue to green and you can still see it in him. The hen has swank and that is what is needed in all aviaries. Chest is out and the frontal is in display. She has a lot to give but need more in the mask, he can help . Both have good shoulders. Now you need a Recessive pied hen for that Spangle / Rec and a good split hen for the Recessive Cock.

Sorry to hear this.. It does high light the fact that all birds should be quarantined. I was asked the other day if my birds should be quarantined. The answer is of cause yes. All birds carry some form of illness but at the time their immune system is fighting it. Pull them out of a cage that they have been used to and stick them in a new environment and they will stress out. This then can bring out the issues that they have been fighting.

Good advice Daryl :offtopic: A few things to look for when buying a bird at a breeder. Listen - Healthy happy birds are loud birds. Smell - There should be a clean smell of birds. (like fresh fish should smell of the sea) There shouldn't be any foal smell. Look - Are the birds crowded and huddled togeather. Are they Fluffed up. Any with Scaly Face. Dirty Vents What do the dropings on the bottom of a cage look like? They should be small and black and white. Look at the drink containers. Are they desparately in need of changing. Ask - How often do they clean and how. Is it a quick broom or do they scrape and vacuum. What do they feed the birds? Is it only seed or do they feed vegetables and what type. What types of suppliments do they use, other than grit and cuttlefish bone, and how often. If they feed a lot of strange suppliments and medications, ask why. Healthy Birds don't need a lot. .... and if you are not happy with the answers, walk away.

Calcivet has D3, and Soluvet D all from Vetafarm Causes Kidney Failure

Thanks Heath. I put two fronts in last night before bed as I have a committee meeting tonight. I'll put up the photos when I get home.. Got to work to get the money.

....remember with Calcium that they also need an intake of either Vitamin D3 or access to direct sunshine. The sunshine helps create Vitamin D3 which is used by the body to absorb the Calcium.

ummmmm that is a delemma... I work hard in my garden and lawn. Having both can be done.

Dave sounds like you have some great ideas and plans for it. :cake:

I positioned the windows at one end of the aviary. And the Whirly bird at the oposite end. This was to give a flow through effect. It also allows me to have an end wall free of windows to place the breeding cabinets. I was okay with the flow through but not fully happy, so I placed an exhaust fan directly below it and connected it to a temperature sensor. When the temperature goes over 25deg C the air is forced out. Becareful with sunlights as they can be hot and give hot spots in the aviary. Solatubes can be installed which have built in extraction fans. Positioned well they help with light and ventilation. I would love to redo my aviary with some of the ideas I now have and seeing the problems I've got. Looking forweard to seeing how yours go Dave.

You can add to normal seed mix as well. Henry George add an additional bag of canary to every 6 bags of Golden Cob mix to increase the percentage of canary. I have been thinking of going to a golden cob mix. I might have a talk with Henry regarding it.

I mix my own which is 20kg Canary, 10kg White French, 10kg Jap Millet, 5 kg Panacum and a hand for of Nigar. There are many good mixes on the market. Golden Cob is very good here.

yes it is more for a local transport of the birds. I am finding that taking 20 birds to pet shops is not easy. So the Travel Cage is mostly for that purpose.

Breeders have bred them wrong and have lost the wing markings..

Sending birds any where... if I am taking many birds to the pet shop ... etc...

Why do you want to put them on a pellet diet? Budgerigars are granivores. They eat grain. It is better to give them a good diet of seed plus vegetables and clean water than this pellet stuff. Good diet of seed has Canary, a selection of millets and a small selection of hulled oats. Budgerigars will tell you what they want.. he seems to be doing it with asking for seed and vegetables. It is like the diet food... "Should be taken with a Calorie control diet and exercises" .... it's the calorie control diet and exercises that gives weight loss.. the diet food give money loss..

Days work has nearly come to a close... Haven't gotten as far as I wanted but did sell another 4 birds.. Got the rails done and on the carcase. Trays fit well. Finished the front. Now just need to do the perches, put the fronts in, sand a varnish the project. I'll be looking for the hardware tomorrow. Clips latches and handles.