Finnie

Yeah, I always leave a radio on when I go out for any that are alone or in quarantine. Don't want them to be alone in the silence.

I'm keeping my two answers the same, except that for the normal cock, I still don't think he looks opaline, but I do see a little color on his wings, so maybe he is. Or else he has what is called "opalescence", which sometimes they have, even when they are not opaline.

Very nice. It's nice that you have helpful club members.

Yup, nice looking boys.

Yes, the albino will be a female. The only way to get an albino male, is if the mother is an albino. And then the father would still have to be split for it. It definitely sounds like your male is a yellowface or goldenface. On a cobalt bird, instead of turning the body to seafoam, like it does on a sky blue, the yellowface will turn the cobalt to green. Although I've found with most of mine, that the green is somewhat patchy, and retains a lot of blue areas.

I should go in there and turn mine on and off and see what they do!

I'm not so sure he's a green. He looks like a yellowface or golden face cobalt from here. He seems quite blue. Especially in this photo, where he's right next to the dark green dominant pied: Did you check to see if that hen has red or black eyes? Opaline spangle dark green X Opaline Fallow (if her eyes are red) sky blue (guessing on body color) gives: 100% opaline chicks 50% spangle chicks 50% light green chicks 50% dark green chicks (No blues, unless the male is split to blue, and then it would be 25% light green, 25% sky blue, 25% dark green, 25% cobalt) All male chicks split to fallow, and none visual unless the father happens to be split to it. If the father is a yellowface instead of a green, then the percentages are the same, just change the words "light green" and "dark green" to "yellowface sky blue" and "yellowface cobalt". If the mother is a dilute instead of a fallow, then all the chicks will be split to dilute, regardless of gender, and none will be visual dilutes unless the father is split to it. If the father is split to some other allele in the dilution series, then you would get 50% of chicks whatever he is split to. (Greywing or clearwing)

I don't see cinnamon, but then, photos and monitors aren't always accurate. I think she might even be double factor goldenface, or goldenface/yellowface combo, seeing as how the yellow hasn't spread so much to her body and wings. (But that's just speculation, and I'm no expert at identifying types of yellow and golden face combinations. Just know what I've learned on the forum here, that when they are combined or doulbed up, their bodies look different.)

Mineral water may be fine, but I would still keep the mineral block in there, too.

Your title is all fixed! Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have been having a great time planning! I agree with what Birdlove has told you about the mirrors. The reason a single budgie loves his mirror so much is because he is desperate for a friend, and the mirror is his only choice. But it pretty much causes them to develop OCD and separation anxiety issues, hence him going "beserk" when you take the mirror out for cleaning, and also why he spends all day with his beak attached to the mirror, and does nothing else. A bird in a mirror looks like another budgie, but can't possible supply the necessary preening and companionship that a real bird can. That's why it's bad for their mental health. And then that can lead to behavior problems, say for instance some peoples budgie will attack anyone who tries to go near their mirror "friend". That's why we say not to give mirrors. But I always feel like mirrors aren't such a problem when you have many birds in one cage, because then they have real birds to choose from, and aren't dependant on a mirror. Then the mirror is just for fun. As for live plants in your aviary, they don't stand much chance against budgie chewing, but with only two birds, and if you rotate the plans in and out of the cage to give them a chance to re-grow, you might get away with it. Have fun with it. Half the enjoyment is in the planning and acquiring stage!

I don't know, Nerwen, I think the male is a sky blue too. They might be violet factored. Is it the same male as below? For the pair that you want outcomes for, can you post photos of which ones those are, exactly?

I vote tires and wheel alignment, for safety reasons!

Good idea. Photos would be good too, for reference, when you want to look back.

It sounds like it could be French Moult. Can you post photos of the other chicks? Were there any chick deaths in this clutch?

I don't know why it should matter where the food is located. IMO, you should put the food where it is most convenient for you when you change it. Develop some feeding procedure that is most efficient for you. Less work and with minimal waste. But I have read interviews of breeders who said they think that by forcing their birds to fly to the ground to eat, it builds up their muscles and gives them more exercise than they would otherwise get. Since they forage for food on the ground in the wild, that is another good reason to feed them low. Maybe it kicks in their instincts better, or makes them feel happier. Who knows, all just theories perhaps. One thing I know, if their main perch is across the back of the aviary, they will basically waddle back and forth on that, and won't fly much. It's a good idea to give them opposing perches, so they can fly back and forth for exercise. My husband is impressed with how fast my birds can move side to side on their feet. I suppose it's nice that they have good footwork skills, but it's probably more important that they have good wing skills!

You know, I thought her throat spots looked cinnamon, but kind of hard to say for sure from that distance.

No paired to a normal male you will only get split male offspring. . Possible / not all will be, Wrong. An ino hen will always 100% of the time pass her ino gene to her male offspring. They will all be split, guaranteed.

You might try sending an email to your bird's breeder and asking her... Or I will just tell you now. I would get a mix made for finches. Any of the brands that Petco or Petsmart sells should be fine. If you compare the labels of the parakeet mix you are currently getting side by side in the store with one of their finch mixes, you will find that the finch mix has more varieties of seeds. It will have all the same seeds the budgie mix has plus more types of millet, and things like flax, niger, rape seed, or whatever. And the finch mix will be missing the fillers and additives and other junk that are in the parakeet mix that you don't need. That's because the parakeet mixes usually have pellets in them. So there will be ingredients like corn gluten in the parakeet mix, and a lot of vitamin additives and preservatives, which are all the ingredients in the pellets. Parakeet mixes also tend to have dried fruit and other stuff in them, and I found that my birds just pushed all that aside, so it was wasted. They didn't eat the pellet part, either. I've found that if you want to feed your birds pellets, it's better to buy them separately and feed them separately, since the ones mixed in with the seeds just get wasted. So it's kind of like you are throwing half the bag of seed away, because half of it isn't even seed. But remember, when you want to switch Allen's seed, do it gradually. Keep giving him his old seed like always, but add a separate dish with some of the new seed. Then watch to see if he digs into the new seed, or ignores it. If he digs right in, then he will switch easily, and you can just phase out the old seed fairly quickly. If he doesn't touch the new seed, then you have to switch him more gradually, by mixing a little of the new in with the old. And then over a week or so, gradually increase how much new you mix in, until the old seed becomes just a small part of the total.

I agree with BJ that they need a more varied diet. When you give them the native branches, are they full of leaves, that then get devoured? Because that is a good source of greens. But how often do they get fresh ones? Other good greens are collard greens, kale, spinach, beet greens and swiss chard, which I guess you guys call silverbeet over there.

I was also going to suggest that your natural branch perches are awfully large for budgie feet. Changing your perch set up a bit might make them happier. In the aviary section of the forum are lots of examples of how other people have their setups. You might be able to get some ideas to copy from there. It's always good if you can set perches up so they have places to fly to from one end of the aviary to the other. What are you feeding them? Maybe there is something you can do with your feeding plan that will help them to go into condition.

Hi and welcome! How exciting to be having your first chicks!

I have a radio in my bird room. I used to play a CD of water sounds, to give them the idea that it was breeding season. I can't say if they cared or not, cuz they bred anyway, even when the CD player quit working. Then I started leaving the radio on so it would mask any disturbing noises that might come from the kids playing in the next room. But between all the noise the birds make, I doubt they would care about the kids bothering them. Now I mostly just leave it on so I have something to listen to when I'm in there. I don't think they need it. I wonder if they would rather have it off.

It can be hard to tell a bird's mutations from photos that don't show its back and wings. The top right bird seems to be a dominant pied yellow face mutant one sky blue. (Not opaline) The white one next to it is impossible to tell from that photo. Something with a diluted body and dark throat spots, though. Bottom cock is a normal yellow face mutant two sky blue, with possible violet factor. (Not opaline or greywing)

If he eats lettuce, he ought to be willing to try other greens, too. Have you tried collard greens, spinach or swiss chard? When spring comes, pick chickweed, shepherd's purse and dandelions. (As long as you know they haven't been sprayed with anything.) So far I have not been successful with any fruits other than oranges.

The ino gene is the same gene, whether the bird is yellow or white. It is on a different chromosome than the gene for green series and blue series, so they are inherited independently. Your yellow and green opaline pied cock must be split to both ino and to blue. (Assuming he is the actual father.)