Daz

This is where a good outcross is needed to settle the chicks.

Some people use kitty litter the type that is made from recycled paper. I use pine shavings. with a drop or two of eucalyptus oil to keep the mites at bay.

Macka is right. You have to train them to sit. But training doesn't start as chicks but before that. The training starts as parents. If you can have calm parents that don't frighten easily and will sit they will past this trait on to their young. Then you need to work with the chicks from as early as 10 days old. To be used to you and used to being handled. It is a trait like any feature. You not only pick the parents by visual and back ground but also for show traits. Stance, balance, deportment and calmness. It can be breed into them.

My average time table is this. Pair up the bird. 10 to 21 days for the eggs. If no eggs after 21 days. Split up. When the egg is laid. 20 days for the first egg, 18 days for all fertile eggs after that. When the eggs hatch. 8 days to ringing. 21 days to identification on sex and variety. 28 to 35 days to come out of the nest. (Start of weaning) 42 days old to the nursery. (weaned) 3 months to the junior flight. 6 months to the main flights. 12 months to breeding or selling. Showing starts from 2 months old for nest feathers and 4 to 5 months for young birds. Depending on condition. These are only rough times. I have rung chicks at 5 days and also at 12 days. Some chicks are ready to leave the parents at 35 days but I'll still leave them till they are 42 days. Some chicks are sold as young as 8 to 9 weeks if I am happy they are capible of feeding themselves and they are not part of my Show plan.

The hens start to have the large loose dropping about two to three days before the egg is laid. This is not always the case. I have had hens laid with out any loose droppings. To help prevent egg binding add calcivet to the water and the perscribed dose. I'd add some Cod liver oil to the seed mix. It has good qualities in Vitamin A and D.

Any Dominant variety can have a double factor. Eg. Spangles, Yellowface, Pieds, Greys

If you have mites, Hold a bird up to the light and look through the feathers to see the dark spots. If you have red mite. Check the nest boxes early morning and you will see them. If you are losing so many birds, and adlut birds as well, there would have to be a "BIG" mite problem. .. I don't think this is the case. Sailorwolf has the best idea and have them checked. I suspect that you are transmitting the problem from cage to cage on your hands. Start washing your hands with anti bacteria soap or Chlorahexidine between cages.

I mix my own. 50% Canary 20% White french 20% Jap 5% Panicum. I mix 20kgs at a time and throw in a handful of Niger.

What is the ground colour of a light green budgerigar? Can a cock bird have a brown cere? What is the spot colour of a cinnamon skyblue budgerigar? What are the two body colours of a double factor spangle? Must a Dominant pied have 6 large round evenly spaced black throat spots? What is the most common faults of a normal budgerigar? On the show bench, what happens to the bird if it has lost two tail feathers? How many primary tail feathers on a budgerigar? Do all budgerigars have an iris ring? What is the colour of the tail quill of a cinnamon What is the spot colour of a lacewing? On the show bench there is a Spangle with Cinnamon Markings. Is it A. Accepted. B. Penalized. C. Disqualified.

Hi Deb, Need to know a few things. Are you colony breeding or have the pairs in separate breeding cages? Is the cock bird attending to the chicks? Have you tried to feed them any hand raising food?

Both ways will work but I'd just throw the eggs out as she lays them and when the chicks are old enough remove the nest box.

usually it's a 10 day coarse. The bird will need rechecking after that to see if it was successful.

I'd throw out the eggs unless you are very experienced in raising from an egg. You need an incubator and also need to turn the eggs regularly even through the night. Then the 2 hourly feeding. The first thing i'd do is to get rid of the ants before trying to breed again.

Nerwen come on and tell that you came third with one of your nest feathers and due to a mix up it was third against the open breeders. I think that is a very good achievement.

Kaz.. came home tuesday to find my first scalping. Cock did the deed and is lucky I didn't ring it's neck. Hen was a Holmes and Howard recessive pied Dave paid $260 for. She is now raising 5 chicks instead of 6.

Well Done Kaz.. I knew you'd do well

I'll pm you Zebra. It is not a easy or gratifying decision to cease something's life. I don't do it easily or like it but it saves the suffering.

The chick didn't make it. Unfortunately there was something wrong and I had to put it down.

With Scaly face, I always have baby oil at the ready. The mites don't like the oil. This is a good preventive as well. When you are handling the bird give a lite wipe on the beak cere and feet. Try not to get any in the nostrils.

Sounds like your going good. Next Monday we have a talk on preparing the birds for show. (Next Monday Night)

Norm I agree with you. nature does know best, but I hate to lose a fight. The chick is still alive. I have just feed it. 9:30pm here so it has gone 16 hours with out food. It doesn't look too good but it is a live. Tomorrow I will give it a proper feed, we will see how it goes.

They don't have to be tame just trained. A show bird must show and so you need to trin them to sit on the perch when required.

Budgies are very efficient. Unfortunately we at times don't want them to be. If a hen senses trouble with her eggs, she'll through the whole lot out. Or if she feels that there is not enough food, she will desert the nest. I have a hen that senses something is wrong with one of her chicks and has decided not to feed it. She has three chicks and this is a middle chick. The older one and younger one is well feed but she refuses to feed the middle one. I have seen her show affection but no food. I did the normal thing and foster it to another hen with the same aged chicks but no it wouldn't be feed. That hen also knows something is wrong. Nature has picked it to go. Sad isn't it. But unfortunately for nature, I don't like chicks dying with out reason. The hens won't tell me the problem so I guess the chick might have a second chance if I crop feed it. Found it nearly dead yesterday morning so decided to start. It has regained it's strength and will probably make it. The only problem is it has a hard future as I can't give it full feedings. Except for Sunday. Today is Friday so it has to survive tomorrow on very little food. But it's better than leaving it to die or putting it down. It is 19 days old so if it can last another 10 days it will have a chance. I'll let you know.

it's a very good program

The bird has been throwing up. It is far from well.