Daz

I have two birds in the house. The male, George, has his mate Angle, hen bird. Heis also bonded to my family as well. i think it depends on the bird and how much time you put into him. I would certainly try another bird but still make sure you cintinue time with him... He should bond to both of you.

Tell yourself ..........you need dommie pieds .....Kaz likes greywings Tell yourself ..........you need dommie pieds .....Kaz likes greywings Tell yourself ..........you need dommie pieds .....Kaz likes greywings Tell yourself ..........you need dommie pieds .....Kaz likes greywings Yes Master

Are you hinting Kaz???????

I would have liked to have gone to at least 6 metes by 3meters.. this one was 4.5m x 3m. That is on this block of land. I would have done the electrical different...I would have put in a PLC (ccomputer) to control the lighting and fan. But except for that, not much. The cages will do for a few more years but I have a new plan when they wear out. The layout suits me, the birds and my life style.

Well I want to do a cull to start preparation for the next breeding season.. but the rain and other things have been holding things back.. A good friend has offered to help as soon as I can find time. The lower end will be going to market but the better of the cull i'll put up for sale here. I already have a couple of buyers but there should be plenty. I am targeting 100 birds to cull over the next month.

Thats about right clearwing... the birds don't care if there are in grand Aviary or an old toilet... I believe that Daniel Lutoff first breeding box was an empty shoe box... and look at him now Jimmy i'm glad i inspired you that gives me joy.

The best thing I did was to join a great club with people happy to assist the beginner. I bought a Grey Green Opaline Cock at Auction that came from Kathy Krang it cost me $80. Then I paid $30 each for three hens from Dave Frampton. The next year I won Champion Young Bird of show. From this $170 outlay for 4 birds was the start. People like David Ganzer, Greg Horrobin, Brian Hollingsworth, Gary Armstrong, gave more than good advice. It wasn't until 2008 that I decided to lift the bar with the cost of birds.

I wouldn't be too worried if you are ringing with an ANBC approved ring..

There has been some breeders that pump there birds so high on Suppliments that when the birds are sold and are not feed the same suppliments, they deteriate and many die... You get to know / hear who does this and try to stay away from them.

Clearwing, it's good to look back... The small sky spangle cock in the top photo was the first bird I breed back then. There is a big difference between him and what I breed now.

If your ringing at 5th or 6th day GREAT

Just a quick look back of how I started one breeding cabinet I had it on a table in the barbeque area. Quarentine area was a separate cage Aviary was a cage bolted to the side of the garden shed. I added some dual cages for breeding to replace the single one. The shed was converted and the flight expanded. Then pulled down and replaced...

No there is no Child living in poverty in Australia.... "Bob Hawke"

I do add Tree Branches from time to time

8th Day... I have a great program called Bird Tracker that tells me what day to ring, what day the eggs should hatch, what day to transfer to the Nappy Cage. But my main program is the budgerigar program,.

No the chick's leg should be able to be rung by the 8th day. The leg should be big enough to stop the ring falling off. .... But if the leg is too big at 8 days then the chick has developed quickly and could develop to something special. i have had chicks that are hard to ring at 8 days.. Example Both of these birds are 21 days old....

:raincloud: thank you. I enjoy helping.

I can totally agree with this.. Well put.

The interior size is 229mm height x 202mm deep x 192mm width so it is still a large nest box. I also have a 40mm concave so that brings the height inside to 189mm (roughly) Reason behind my big boxes is to give room for the chicks to develop. I like the chicks to stay as long as possible (up to 5 weeks old) in the nest box where they are geting feed by the parents. So the height helps to stop the early leaving from the nest.

I thought that id revisit some of the thoughts we have way back.... I have changed my thoughts on some things and it's good to bring them up and see why.. The main change i have done to the nest boxes is gone to a 12mm plywood... I find that it insulates the eggs better.. cooler in Summer and warmer in winter. It also doesn't bow as much as the 9mm nest boxes.

It's easy for me to do the designs. So it might help someone with a problem area they have. I can also let you know where to get custom design cage fronts from too. So no size is too difficult.

:raincloud: no problems, I hope it helps some one.

I disagree with 100% being Genetics.. We did a study on 8 eggs all fertile from the same pair. 4 egg were fostered to a different aviary which feed only good seed and clean water. The original aviary feeds soft food and additives in the water. Result was a remarkable different on both development and size. The chicks from the the fostered aviary where health but smaller with a tighter feather structure than the ones that were feed the additionals supliments.

I've breed over 100 since the Nationals last year. I've kept 84. I have 174 in the aviary and need to cull down to around 70 top birds to start the next season.