Dean_NZ

Sounds like moult to me, and as such he is definately not in breeding condition.

Absolutely agree with Kaz. I have seen an egg accidentally punctured and as soon as the hen noticed, she ate it. She has never eaten any other egg other than the one i saw with a puncture

Nice! I expect to see some amazing photos from now on

I would wager opaline to boot. Opaline cinnamon recessive pied sky blue. Striping pattern on the head indicates opaline or spangle, but spangle doesnt appear likely from what wing markings i can see.

Looks wonderful thankyou for sharing Always enjoy seeing happy birds, and we know eating makes them happy lol.

Sorry to hear pearce. I guess it was inevitable, but im glad you have some chicks remaining

Great. Lets also kill every human with congenital birth defects, intellectual disability, downs syndrome and every other 'cruel and unkind' thing that afflicts quality of life. Who says they are suffering? By Liv's account they relish attention and are delightful little creatures. Chronic pain or fatigue would be evident in their bearing - they certainly dont sit there fluffed up waiting to die. They are as full of life as they can be with the added weight of the feathers. Bravo liv!

How unusual... Sorry to hear the news. RIP Nigel!

Males can be bred older than hens I have a 6 yr old cockbird breeding right now. I know of a cock that is breeding happily at 8 years and he is still winning awards at shows too So are his boys

A quick once over rub down with a Q-tip (ear bud) soaked in any common cooking or vegetable or even mineral oil will clear off those flakes and give him a nice shiny gloss to boot. Not really worth doing, but it would look nice Nothing to worry about from that picture at all.

Those feathers do look quite longish... What are the chances that liv and then you would get FD's so close? Agree with Kaz - the chick should grow much faster than its siblings, have a noticeably 'different' voice, be constantly eating or noticeably hungrier and have the characteristic extra tail feathers and sometimes extra flights.

Grey green based lutino's are a bad idea from what i've read. Grey in ALBINO's is good because you dont get the blue sheen, and there is no colour to dull. Grey in lutino's dulls the body colour and you lose the brightness desired. Ultimately you are aiming for the buttercup yellow and i have heard that dark green is used well in this, and in some cases opaline is used for something (perhaps all yellow wings rather than yellow wings with white flights, cant quite recall - i know someone on this board knows what i mean). Cinnamon is of course used for suffusion but again i think it should be used with caution as it is a colour diluter. It would pay to look up articles on lutino show breeding or speek with lutino show breeders. Hope someone else can confirm or disagree with what i said and be of more assistance!

I found the opposite actually. I have a flight aviary with a sectioned off roost, and then the secure entrance where i come in. I had a shelf in the entrance that i converted to a breeding cage, it has one side that is directly connected to the roost by bird wire. The pair i had in that nest were very happy to themselves and the others often spend time watching them mating and hanging out on the wire. Sometimes the male in the breeding cage gets a bit defensive and screeches at them, but i found it very helpful for the most part because he had everyone watching, he displayed and showed off a lot more. I think either GB or shannon had their breeding cages stacked inside their flight and had no problems. Might pay to wait for them to comment :hap: I've had no problems with it - that pair laid 8 fertile eggs and so far 5 have hatched, 6th is due tomorrow.

Thats a hard question GB. If one brother is now flying somewhat, thats definately good news. As long as he is flying around even if only low flights, that should help keep him in shape and more than any other bird it is this brother that may encourage the other one to fly. When you say your birds are spending more time on the lower perches, are they sitting low because of the brother that doesnt fly? I think thats so nice of them to go down to him and be social :hap: I dont at all think its bad for your birds but thats just me. Its really up to you but i dont see any problems that would cause me concern or make me want to split up the brothers. Might pay to see what others think They really are gorgeous!

Hen

Thats a good question actually lol. I've only used it on white feathers now that i think about it (usually bitten wings or white face/head caps). It wont bleach instantly, you need to leave it in for some time for it to bleach. Perhaps use full strength solution to clean the blood then rinse it with saline solution and pat try or allow to dry some other gentle way. You can make saline salution by dissolving one TEASPOON of salt in one LITRE of water at or slightly above 30 degrees. (Just nice if its used when warm :hap: ) The other thing about hydrogen peroxide is that it reacts differently in the presence of blood. When used as a bleach, it just sits there and bleaches. When used with blood, it will react and fizz and bubble and mostly dissolve. I couldnt tell you for sure, but i think a lot of its bleaching properties would be nullified by the chemical change after reacting with blood. As Kaz said, should be readily available at a chemists. Some supermarkets do have it as well.

I cant tell if anyone has answered your question about cleaning up the blood, but by far the best option in my opinion is hydrogen peroxide. The blood will dissolve before your eyes and clean feathers up. It is also a mild anti-septic and safe to use on birds provided it isnt ingested or leaked into the eye. Clean it up with the HP and let the wound dry and heal. Shouldnt need anything more unless it bleeds again.

I had come across that page long ago but only now recognise a lot of the names in there from articles i have since read. Interestingly i knew that jim marshall dominated canadian shows, but he also appears to dominate in one of the two american shows as well.. I know tony and robyn grinter from NZ, and have read articles by mike rankin so it was interesting to see his bird there. Freakley and ainley are members of the UK budgie forum i believe. Personally i think jim marshall has some of the best birds in the world, if not the best (of course that is highly debatable, but i love how his birds blow has substance, not just direction. Look at the freakley and ainly birds - blow for sure, but it doesnt sweep back very well or contour as nicely.) Some amazing birds there for sure.

Sorry to hear the news liv! It was expected in a way, but still sad to lose such a gorgeous wee soul. Excuse my ignorance, but how old was he? I suspect you are right in that there must have been some other internal problem that led to his early demise, but it is very informative none the less. Have you considered getting a necroscopy? I doubt your avian vet has had the opportunity and it may present some interesting information on his state of health. cause of death or nutritional status that may be of benefit. Of course, we would all much prefer a more dignified death/burial but i thought i would mention it none-the-less. You're doing fab by the way!

Noticed you mentioning charcoal bells for breeding cabinets GB. While your post was excellent, it just reminded me of something i learned that might interest you. I posted it here (click on this). Let me know what you think :rip:

I have one of those :rip: Havent ever had any mice problems though! (Touch wood!) Have mice traps all over the place and nothin yet in over a year...

If it is internal bleeding, it would probably be from a vitamin K deficiency. More than likely it is yellow belly or a result of the cold. Do you colony breed?

Faecal tests showed no unusual gut bacteria or problems, faeces presented normally. Crop flush showed no infections, yeast or otherwise. Skin tape of her eye showed some localised bacteria, but he thought perhaps that could be a result of her rubbing her eye on things to scratch it. Right from the start he suspected sinusitis, and when he did a nasal flush he was unable to get it to flow normally. At this stage it merely indicates she has some inflammation or a growth or some sort of (as yet) unidentified congestion in her nasal pasage. He is unsure whether the eye problem is caused by a nasal problem, or whether they are both just present seperately. A lot of it comes down to her age and perhaps the feather cyst she had a while back caused her immune system to suffer which led to her getting an eye infection which a younger bird would have easily over come.

Thanks GB. That is just what we talked about when discussing the tests - finding a diagnosis and treating her primarily, but also trying to identify what the risk to any of the other birds is and whether precautionary treatment is warranted (as much as i hate to throw anti-biotics around, when in doubt it is better to be safe). He's also offered to teach me how to crop feed which i havent yet tried, so i can then drench (worm) each bird specifically and administer anti-biotics to birds or rearing food to chicks if required. Havent yet heard back from him today, so we'll see how we go later on tonight.

Spangle sky blue. Some spangles have head spots, but it is more likely an indicator that there is a recessive pied gene there. I dont think its grewying as they arent all that common, being a recessive variety.