Emma

The vet suggested it might have been a period of poor nutrition. I think she still waddles when she is on a flat surface, but she doesn't have problems perching or climbing (or even hanging off branches occasionally).. she has strength in her legs.. it's just that she seems to be careful with her left, needs to find a good position before she will settle down on the perch. So I have my fingers crossed that will be alright (while not getting too hopeful). The flat surface might be a good idea to try if she is having problems balancing with a mate. Thanks :budgiedance:

That was my guess too - but before I read any captions! What a champion! (or maybe just a fluke...) :budgiedance:

When I saw the vomit I was confused, then it dawned on me that she had been sedated, so I didn't worry too much - just wanted to make sure she came out of it and started eating again. About the balancing - yep, that was pretty much my very first thought, that she may not be able to grip well enough. I don't think it is painful, she doesn't seem uncomfortable at all.. but the balance thing does worry me. If that's how it is, that's just how it is.

It was worth a try! You have some lovely birds I love the nestbox picture showing all the different age babies.

That hen would go so well with my new YF.. Hey Pearce... what's that over there.. again?

She seems straighter this morning - go go posturepedic ironbark branch? She's eating and drinking (which is good to see, I was worried after she was sick from the gas), active, LOUD.. seems fine. I did give her a bit of spark yesterday so maybe that helped perk her back up a bit. Maybe the injury is something she's had for a long time and I just didn't notice the "bend" because she was on a wide perch at the store. She looked really healthy in all other ways - I very specifically asked the lady at the store to let me look over her (especially her face and eyes) to see that she looked healthy. I must have just not been able to see the bend - or she wasn't displaying it much at the time. I really wish you could hug budgies, I just want to squeeze her to bits. I love her so much already, she feels like a big pile of silk. She has a lovely gentle face (it lies...), and she just looks gorgeous. Her bow-legged look just makes her appear even sweeter.

They're in cages - but I know the thing you're talking about, I will definitely do that in future. For now I have them wedged in (which works fine) but I'd rather they were fixed, obviously. She just seems to cope better with nice thick (rough) branches - ironbark type - ones with good bark on them. They seem to give her more support, which in turn lets her relax her back a lot more. I feel much better. $160 for xrays that came up negative is both painful and a relief at the same time Just need to keep an eye on her to make sure she is okay after being sedated.. she vomited a bit and was a bit shaky. But I'll be back home again in a few hours. My wallet has taken a big hit this week, I was off work on Monday with food poisoning, plus the $160 vet bill and the 3.5 hours I had to take off today.. yikes. I'll be down about $350 all told. Ah well, money was made to be spent I'm so glad she is okay, she is special, I know it already.

How terrible, I'm so sorry

Back from the vet. He couldn't find any dislocations, fractures or otherwise. He said if it was dislocated she would avoid putting weight on it (all the while she is climbing all over the sides of the cage and sitting there, hanging on with her feet ......). He said that tears and fractures didn't hamper them using their legs entirely, but if it was a dislocation, she would try to stay off it as much as possible. She's been careful putting her leg down, but then she'll spend ages climbing around, so that was confusing. He couldn't see any spine deformities or major leg problems, and while there isn't a way to know for sure, he said the chances of it being a hereditary problem are very slim - it is more likely that it is either a long-standing injury that healed badly, or a developmental problem that she's had from an early age. When she's perched on something wide or hanging off the wire, it's barely visible (which is probably why I didn't notice it). It's only when she sits on something narrow that she has to fight for balance a bit and it makes it more obvious - she seems to use her wings and tail as counterweights to be able to sit on a narrow perch. When she is having problems balancing, the problem is pronounced, but when she can sit on something wider and relax, she doesn't have to throw her wings and tail out to be able to sit. (I am throwing those thin perches away as soon as I can find another couple of good branches) So the upshot is: - still a possibility she has muscular/ligament/etc injury from being caught - will keep an eye on this - the weird wide stance and associated bendy look are likely a long-standing thing that doesn't cause her any discomfort, just makes her look odd - while there's no way to be 100% sure, it's extremely unlikely that it is hereditary, more likely to be something that happened when she was little - bird xrays are hilarious - bird xrays are also expensive BUT put your mind at ease one way or another - bird vomit looks like seeded mustard! (that's a new one for me) She's happy, bright, talkative, moves around plenty (so it's obviously not hurting her or making her uncomfortable), has a good appetite, she's glossy & healthy... She just has bung legs. Will keep an eye on her over the next few days to see if she keeps being careful with her left leg. She vomited quite a lot from the gas, but is still very bright, very talkative at the moment, happy to be back with the others I think. Edit: Splat - what happened with your hen, was there a treatment? I'm just curious. Thanks guys

ack It would explain the way she is standing and the way she puts her foot down so gingerly. Can that be fixed or is there no hope for her Edit: the vet is going to give me a call back in a few minutes. I will probably need to leave work and go home to get her.

This is hard to describe, but I'll do my best. One of my new girls sits with a very wide stance, and seems to be favouring her left foot. She puts it down very gingerly. I thought perhaps she hurt her leg a little when she was caught. But I have since noticed that her wing tips seem to sweep over to one side, with her tail curving over to the opposite side, giving her an overall look of being bent in two directions. Please excuse the terrible photograph, this is the best I could get tonight. What is going on here? Note that the way she was sitting at the time made it look a bit more pronounced than it actually is. But this definitely gives you an idea of the shape I am talking about. I just went and checked on her and her wings curve slightly (it's definitely noticeable) but not as bad as the picture. Does she have some kind of deformity in her back? If it turns out to be some permanent problem that means I can't breed from her, then I would be so disappointed, but I would make her a pet and love her as she is (I think she is gorgeous).. but I feel terrible that somehow I didn't see it. How could I not notice????? I feel guilty that I might have brought her home without noticing such a big problem, even though I don't remember anything looking strange when I put her in the cage. Is it something you recognise as a health problem? Orthopaedic perhaps? A developmental problem? Is it a balance problem? Is she standing funny to try to balance better? She seems to sit straighter on a thick branch than on a plain perch (that perch is too thin and I need to replace it). Is she favouring an injury and sitting strangely because of it? (Her wings were not dropped like that before) If not a health problem, is it just a bad fault? Something that would be passed on? I'm not going to lie, I'll be really sad if it means I can't/shouldn't breed her. But she comes before hypothetical future chicks. If you guys don't recognise what this is, I will take her to the vet.. but for now I was hoping someone might know what it was to put my mind at ease a bit. I feel so bad for her, and guilty that I didn't notice. Edit: typos

Welcome! Would love to see photos if you have any

I've seen a few clearwings in the pet stores here, so someone must be breeding them in Rocky/Gladstone.

That would be a lovely surprise. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens

Sorry Jen

Welcome!

Don't be fooled - for every cute photo, there's about 20 where he has his back to me while I beg him to turn around

I wish I had started early like you Shannon

You can stop anytime you like, right?

I'm only in the preparation stages and I'm already addicted :/ Not a good sign huh? It's too late for me! Save yourselves!

Maurie has now graduated to the "I'm ready to come out of my cage now and if you don't open the door I'm going to keep making this awful racket" stage. I think his first words, if he speaks, will be "you're a naughty boy."

Well - I went and got my little pet budgie Maurie as a companion.. but you guys got me hooked on all things budgies, and I thought I might like to try breeding later in the year. I think I got very lucky with the birds I've found, to get started (providing they are good breeders, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself). Taking things slowly at the moment. I need to contact my local club.. at this point I don't really see myself as a "show" person, but I'd like to find out more, I wouldn't mind giving it a bash and seeing how I go

Nubbly, you made my head explode - but that is really great stuff, thank you for taking the time to set it all out! So the summary of the post would be "you might get blue, you might get violets, you might get pieds, you might get YFs, you might get opaline" That's okay, I like nice surprises. And when you say pinched in at the cere, does that mean when you look at the birds straight on, you can see the eyes more easily? Which is less desirable - they're meant to look like Dumb/Dumber in Dave's signature up there, right? Regarding the greys - so I can try with this pair, and if I don't get blues, there's a good chance he is DF grey, meaning he'll always give visual greys. I love greys so a clutch full of them wouldn't upset me at all... but I would love blue babies. Perhaps pair her with him at first and then find a nice blue boy for her later? They are few and far between, here.

I'm having trouble thinking of pairs, and I don't understand grey very well yet. My new YF grey cock is so handsome, but will breeding him to my violet girl stomp all over her (genetically speaking) and give me all grey babies? As much as I would adore some little grey pieds (cute!!) I'm really keen on blues. I would absolutely adore pied greys, very much so... but I don't want to "waste" that hen's lovely colour by masking it with grey. She is dom pied opaline and he is normal YF grey. What kind of babies could I expect from that pairing? What is the likelihood of them being YF also? OR The albino hen has such a lovely shape, and a beautiful face/mask. Would I be better off concentrating on breeding for colour from the violet girl, and "form" (I guess you could say) by putting the grey and albino together? Would that end up being 100% grey normals? Any YF? Sorry, I know I'll gradually wrap my head around this stuff. At first it's "oh, this boy is pretty and that girl is a nice colour, let's mash them together and see what happens." but now I'm starting to realise that I may not end up with my desired results.... I don't mind a few surprises, but I'd rather not go into something thinking I'll get X colour out of this pairing and find out that it's impossible to do that. As I said, I'd be thrilled with a clutch of grey babies, I love them - but at the same time I don't want to let that violet hen's colour go to waste. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks again

Really appreciate the help guys