Emma

Sorry I didn't come back and post again about this. I had a car accident at work the next day (I'm fine though) so I couldn't take her to be autopsied, unfortunately. Otherwise all is well with my flock, apart from me getting cranky at them for screeching and carrying on while I'm trying to concentrate on work. I was invited to be a guest speaker on a podcast last week and halfway through the show, the presenter paused for a moment and said... do you have a bird or something? They're so naughty >_< My violet pied girl is coming into breeding condition (my TCB girl isn't far behind) so I'm starting to consider whether I'm going to breed nowish or not - but it will depend on my work situation in the near future, as I have a lot on my plate from two jobs, and I need to build a new chook pen before the old one finally collapses in on itself. I don't want to commit to having baby budgies if I'm going to be flat out with other commitments. There's no rush, and I want to do everything properly or not at all. Still, violet opaline pied girl + sky spangle pied boy .. they're just too gorgeous, and I can't wait to see their babies. Mostly I don't want to "miss the boat" with the hen because she is already 3. But I still won't rush it if I don't feel 100% in it. Thanks as usual for the replies, it was very comforting to be able to come here for support.

I'm not very good with knowing the anatomy yet but I thought the crop seemed distended at the end - full of that smelly fluid? My first guess was egg binding because her abdomen was swollen, but after 10 minutes or so she seemed to have another swelling that I thought was her crop swelling, but I wasn't sure because I've never really handled her to know how much meat she had on her bones in the first place.. and being quite fluffy, it was hard to feel around. Thank you for your thoughts guys.. I'm just glad that I was here and I could hold her for a little while and make her a bit more comfortable.. it was peaceful and she was comfortable, instead of being in the big cage and possibly falling from a height.

Gorgeous babies. I've had many rats over the years, taking a break from them now, got a bit sad to lose them, they have fairly short lives but huge personalities and it can be very hard. I still talk to the ones in the pet stores, I love them.. one day I'll get more. Girls are cheeky, naughty and playful, full of energy, always up to something. Boys are more docile, floppy, friendly lumps. They are beautiful! Hills: you should really never have a single rat; they are very social and are always best kept in pairs (same sex of course, unless you are getting them desexed). They get very lonely if they are alone, even if you spend a lot of time with them. Plus two rats don't really eat very much, and take up the same space as one; and they're so entertaining when they have friends to play with.

I went to get Maurie and Max out of the "big kids cage" (the aviary style cage that they sometimes play in during the day). I noticed that Xanthe, who has just recently come back into breeding condition, was sitting in the seed dispenser, leaning forward. When I reached in, she let me pat her, which is very unusual - she is usually very bitey. I picked her up and she barely cared. It worried me that she seemed so out of character. I noticed her abdomen was a little swollen so I thought maybe she had an egg on the way (I have not set up any boxes yet, but thought she might have been going to lay randomly anyway). And since I've never had breeding birds before, I didn't know if any of this was normal. I set up a hospital box for her so that she wasn't in the tall cage with the others, put her in, and set about making it warm for her.. and she just sat in the corner, drooped for a minute, and died. When I picked her up again, a lot of cloudy fluid dribbled up out off her mouth. It smelled slightly fishy. Her chest and abdomen were swollen, more than when I picked her up 20 minutes earlier. What happened? Why did she go from fine this afternoon to dead tonight? What would cause fluid like that - seemingly build up really quickly (in less than an hour)? I scrubbed my hands.. but I'm scared I might lose my other birds too... does anyone know if it sounds like something contagious? :question:

I am pretty sure he is pied, he's a bit patchy in the front - but I'll have to have another look when I get home because now I'm not sure! wild_spot: I got that one on ebay, a real bargain Try doing a search for "flight cage", I think that's how I found it.

Thank you My sister came to visit the other day. She has a problem with feathers - not quite a phobia, but she really hates them. So I was surprised that she was really keen to see the birds. When she saw the big cage she was very surprised, I think - very impressed by how large and roomy it was for them. She probably thought I had an average sized cage for them. She asked me if it was one of the old rat cages!!! Of course not... but they would make pretty awesome cages for ratties. Have ot keep that in mind for the future I love that they have so much space and variety in their cage. ...And I've just looked over to see Max lying almost horizontally on a branch, sleeping, while Maurie is resting his head on Max... and Jin is sleeping balanced precariously on the edge of the seed feeder.. they're so funny to watch

I completely forgot about the auction. It's probably for the best.

Good lord, you wouldn't want to get in between them and the seed.. you could lose an arm

I choose the gum species because I know they are native and something that budgies would be safe nibbling on in the wild - I wouldn't give them a type of branch that I wasn't sure of. I just wish we had other natives around here (the smaller types) for a bit more variety. I choose the healthiest branches I can find - these ones are basically fresh suckers from cut stumps, so they're nice and new, fresh, and young. Then I trim off any leaves or small branches that look unhealthy for any reason, sometimes you find grubs or spiders etc, so I make sure they don't have any webs or eggs. I give them a really good shake on the walk back to the house to make sure I dislodge any bugs, give them a good wash with (fairly) hot water, and set them out in the sun to dry for a while. I know there are no chemicals on them (because they're not from someone's garden), but I'm not certain if there is something else I should be adding to the water to be absolutely sure there are no small creepies in them.. ? Being young and small I doubt there would be any birds in them (they're not really even trees or bushes, just small suckers coming up from the ground to about waist height most of the time) but you can never be too safe I suppose - if there's something else I should be washing them in, I would happily add to the routine. They love their branches, and I love seeing them in amongst all the green.

Very jealous!

Jake and Julie sitting in a tree.. K I S S I N G. Well, not yet.. but they will! And a shot showing the "aviary cage" with fresh new branches today: I love giving them branches, and they love them so much. They hide in them, bounce on the thin branches, chew on the bark.. and it just gives them a much nicer cage to sit in, rather than just plain branches and perches. Recently the council cleared a lot of land to build a road, but haven't gone ahead with it. So all of the stumps they cut down have burst into life, with lots of really fresh young branches and juicy leaves for chewing. The kids go nuts over them, especially Maurie - he loves his leaves. Plus there are probably about 5 or 6 different gum species out there, so I always bring them home something different, never the same thing. Cheap entertainment for the birds, beautiful to look at, and the smell is great too!

I think our biggest was around the 97-99 mark. My impression of the chook that laid it:

Have fun!

The name is starting to stick, I think I will have to refer to him by his nickname from now on

I think both hens. The second is a bit hard to tell, but I think it looks more tan/flesh than pink.