Dean_NZ

When you say you put the nest box in, where did you put it?

My thoughts exactly RIP, except I didn't quite have the words for it like you :rofl: :hap:

These birds are showing up on budgie forums everywhere. It's causing quite a stir. I expect with all the interest things will become clear one way or another in reasonabe time.

Hi and welcome Good to see another kiwi on here. I have yellowface violets. Im a huge fan of violets too. I also like yellow face type 2 sky blue opalines and i love love love genetics and breeding stuff.

No i use hydrogen peroxide to remove blood stains, and i've heard of it being used to bleach head flecking out of feathers (well, I've heard it was used in the attempt, don't know if it succeeded or not). I would love nothing more than to hear that this is a genuine new mutation. I think it looks great. However it seems more likely to be suspicious at this point.

Yep. Perfectly normal.

Looks like bleach or hydrogen peroxide application.

Im sorta curious as to why you might consider opening a pet shop? Do you have business experience or qualifications? Animal husbandry? Have you any previous experience? I think its quite a massive undertaking! I certainly wouldn't be putting my hand up to do it lol. I hope it works out for you if this is what you really want. What is your main goal/hope/desire for opening a pet store?

Im inclined to agree, female and a grey male.

I've always heard that its better to leave both parents, then remove the HEN before she starts laying a new round, not the cock. The hen may still lay even without the cock, whereas a cock will never lay no matter how long you leave him with the chicks lol. Even if she starts laying before you catch her, just take her out as soon as you see an egg and leave her in the aviary and the cock with the chicks.

The left one is definately a sky violet.

Excellent photo kaz! You sure had my vote! Serious contender for BOTY 2009...

Need more pics, but it looks like spangle greywing at first glance?

I agree, that picture is the one for sure.

Baby 5 died overnight, and was found smushed under the biggest baby the next morning. Perhaps thats why it died >_> An untimely reminder of why clutch size can be rather problematic when you have monstrous babies stomping around with new hatchlings in the same nest. Alas. I have started swapping babies all over the place in an attempt to keep large chicks together and small chicks together and another nest where all remaining 7 eggs are hatching, get fed for a few days and then move to the intermediate nest. Using this method will stagger the hatchling size and prevent any further baby mashing. I am able to tell which chick is which so all good.Another thing is sorta worrying me. Im PRETTY sure that AI chick 4 and another albino chick hatched on the same day in different nests. They are now together in the same nest but to me... AI chick #4 appears red instead of pink, and i have this weird feeling it isnt growing. It has TINY feet and the albino is now much larger than it. I cant really be certain though because i just had this nagging hunch and now im going to take daily photos.Anyway, here are pics. Remember you can click the link below each picture for a much larger hi-definition version of the same picture. AI babies a few days ago: Click here for a larger picture Click here for larger picture I LOVE the oldest chick. Im pretty sure she is a hen, and i suspect she will be a grey green. Every time i check the nest i find her on top of the other chicks, she is very calm, looks straight up at me and never lets her eyes off of me. She seems so calm/intelligent and gentle. Reckon she is gonna be a stunner :)The next youngest also appears to be a hen, and the 3rd AI chick appears to be a cock. I have swapped the sole surviving chick laid by the foster parents back into their own nest, which is the other green chick you see in this nest which is a cock as far as i can tell. Two white ceres, two pinky red ceres. AI babies today: Click here for larger picture It was so cute. I opened the box this morning and they were alllll asleep. The oldest one was on top as usual, and she opened her eyes, looked up at me and just kept looking while the others dozed away. She is so gentle Yes I filled up all the nest boxes at the beginning of this Breeding season with Zeolite AND I also trialled using sand in the bottom of the breeding cabinets .... didn't like either of them and promptly went back to using kitty litter for both nest boxes and bottom of breeding cabinets! :ohmygod: And Why? I hear you asking! Well in my experience the zeolite was a lot more expensive and funnily enough I had a couple of dented eggs with it and it soiled very quickly - I had been told to wash it and replace but I found that a hassle. As for the sand, well that was a disaster, it blew around the Breeding room and clogged up the seed dishes. Just a question for anyone who uses kitty litter. I was going to pick some up at the store today - but it said "kitty litter - made from new zealand zeolite". And i remembered zeolite from this post, but i wasnt sure if it was recommended or if it was bad? So are kitty litter and zeolite the same thing? Or is zeolite a cheap alternative that isnt as good? Is good kitty litter made from some other substance?

I understand I just wasn't 100% sure calcium would mitigate leg problems that were genetically linked, not nutritionally caused or otherwise. It'll be interesting to see :ohmygod:

Great thread idea. I suppose if it is genetic then administering oral calcium early to the chicks wouldnt be of any benefit?

A girl Very dark markings too? But then im used to seeing opalines in the nest lol.

I agree with Neville. Just from your description your bird sounds like a recessive pied. Six birds seems to be the magic number if you are starting out with a breeding program. It can be a bit of a colour explosion visiting a breeder and you almost inevitably make an impulse purchase or two initially before getting an eye for what you want. Definately try to get unrelated birds, and I would probably start with something simple like yellowface sky blues, and then introduce other varieties you really like. I keep it to 1-3 varieties in my aviary - normals, opalines and yellowfaces. Welcome and good luck Hope to hear from you more.

Looking forward to pics shannon!

Well, the last of the AI chicks hatched some time late last night or early this morning Now have 5 little AI babies in a foster nest with some excellent parents. I couldnt be happier! In the nest with the parents of the AI chicks, the second chick of augren and viola's second round just hatched - another little albino hen. So there are now three chicks in that nest doing well so im considering letting the AI pair raise their own eggs next round, but i think the foster pair in the other nest are better feeders still - the chicks seem to be sprouting much faster so i'll keep that in mind. In 2 more days augren and viola will see the first of the seven remaining eggs in their nest (it will be their 3rd chick from the second round, but the first that will hatch in their nest). I forgot to mention that just before I started my 5 week rural placement i purchased 4 new birds. They have been in a flightable quarantine while i was away, and they've been in the aviary for 2 weeks. They went through a moult during quarantine and were all clear before going into the aviary, and have since been looking in every nook and cranny, so i suspect they are ready to go down and i've put them together as two pairs and placed them in breeding cabinets to see how we go. Should have some eggs within 10 days with any luck, although i think they are first time pairs so we'll see how we go.

Two of my hens have laid 10 eggs at the moment. In one nest all 10 were fertile, but the first became DIS somehow. In the other nest, the first 3 were infertile, but he last 7 were fertile and 5 have hatched so far. Looking good shannon!

I may end up using straight concaves for eggs, switch to oats as the chicks hatch, and then once they have all hatched i might use a mix of oats and litter. I think you are right about them being a bit TOO absorbant.

Here are some quick pics: Augren and viola round 1 - 3 of their five chicks (the other two are albinos so yeh, you know what they look like lol). I will be keeping the large violet sky blue hen on the left (look how skinny her brother on the right looks by comparison lol). Then there is a normal cobalt split opaline cock i will be selling, and a YF1 SF violet cobalt cock split opaline i will be keeping. I will sell the two albino hens from this round too. In the next nest we have one foster chick from a feeder pair, and the first chick from augren and viola's second round. There is one more egg from augren and viola to hatch, plus they have two of their own AI eggs being incubated. So eggs/chicks from 3 nests in the one box lol. And here are the AI babies who wouldnt exist if not for AI! The youngest one you can just see amidst the scrum hatched late yesterday when i checked just before it got too dark.. I thought the hen was eating her baby at first, she had a bloody face and i could see blood coming out of the egg membrane. But before i intervened, she proceded to eat the egg shell right around the baby and then all of a sudden there was a baby! Seems to be doing well, and has been fed already. One remaining AI egg to hatch here, and i added an infertile egg to stop mum sitting too heavy just in case. And yes i am trialing a mix of kitty litter and rolled oats this season. I remember reading somewhere that kitty litter can be a bit too absorbant and may dry eggs out? Anyone used it before? I am loving the solid grippy base it provides and its very absorbant, i use the oats to add a softer touch to the base.

Aww I know your frustration selling females lol. At the moment im roughly 60/40 with females in the lead but we'll wait and see. Hope things pick up for ya!