Finnie

One thing I can help you with the genetics, is that it would be impossible for a Full Body greywing to be a dilute. Genes come in pairs, so the bird can only have two copies of whatever type of greywing genes it has. Full body greywing means it is greywing/clearwing and dilute is only possible if both copies are dilute. So it can be one or the other, but not both. Looking at the photos, I would say it is NOT dilute. What were the parents?

Hi Rashu, sorry I had to remove your link. Our forum rules state that we don't link or advertise to competing forums. However, I have read that thread in the past, and I too, have purchased a dilute hen who I think could be a cinnamon greywing, due to what I see as a slightly brownish hue to her markings, and her extreme paleness. I plan to test breed her, which is really the only way to find out. Perhaps that is why you haven't gotten a response to your question yet. Cuz we really couldn't say. But I think she's lovely, and if you could get a hold of a cinnamon male who isn't split to greywing to test mate her with, she would be worth buying. That is, if you don't mind having the spare male, because I don't think he will help you figure her out. (I don't think their chick looks dilute, but you'd have to wait until after it molts to get a better idea.)

As far as I know, the answer to this question is no. While I was reading your first post, before I read Nubbly's answer, I was forming an opinion, and Nubbly's answer was the same as I was going to tell you. (That's because I have asked similar questions before, and between Nubbly and RIPBudgies, that's how I have learned it. ) I also pair my questionable ones with dilutes, to try to figure them out. But I think that what happens is that I then add more of the modifying genes, and muddy the results even further. That's IF I can even be sure that the dilute I use is truly a dilute! The Budgie Place is good for beginning to learn the simple basics of budgie genetics, but there is a whole lot more to it than the scope of that site. And they don't have enough photos to be very comprehensive. Many mutations vary a lot from the one or two examples they provide. But I do like to refer people there when they are starting from scratch.

Look up, the answer is already there.

Boris is cute. Have fun with him!

Any pics? Hi Budgieperson. We really can't tell you what gender your bird is without a photo. But, there are some mutations where the male keeps a lavender-pink color cere for his whole life. A bird that is all yellow may be one of them. Also, a blue cere isn't always a male. Some females have light blue ceres. So we really do need photos, please. P.S. I have removed a previous comment about your spelling, which you may have seen, because I don't think your spelling errors were all that bad. You should see some of the doozies we get that really DO need to be cleaned up!

Um, you shouldn't be using diseased birds to breed with in the first place. So with healthy birds, the risk would be no different inter-species than it would be fostering between different budgie nests. If there is disease present that you are not aware of, then it can be spread through feather dust, which is why it's a good idea to try to keep dust build-up to a minimum. But the dust will always be present, to some degree.

True, but keeping birds in captivity has a lot of inherent differences then what budgies find in the wild. For instance, in the wild, they have to be able to breed quickly when the weather conditions are right, and then they are limited by the weather as to how many clutches per year they can have. In captivity, the conditions are good enough that they could breed nonstop year round, and breed themselves to death. So the owner has to assert some kind of controls, including waiting until they are at an optimal age. And one year old isn't really a magic number. Maiden pairs can be failures both before and after 12 months.

Better yet, don't ever buy one of these things!! They trigger nesting behavior in birds, and cause behavioral problems. Flip, I am so sorry for your loss.

Dillster, Ishtarsands might not be reading the forum these days. This thread is two years old. You could try sending him a PM. Maybe that will reach his home email inbox and prompt him to respond. But don't hold out too much hope that someone who removed an old photo from their Photobucket account will want to put it back on.

Tywee4, you need to start your own thread for this. I thought this was another of Rashu's birds, until I looked more carefully and saw that you are not Rashu. Also, when you do start another thread, please put up a larger photo, and if you can show the body from the front, and a shot of the cheek patch, it will help.

One thing I would consider is whether you are inadvertantly encouraging the screaming (without realizing it) by doing something to try to get him to be quiet. Try to look at it from his point of view, and see if he has learned that screeching is a way for him to get what he wants. Like if you go back to tell him to be quiet, or if you yell "Quiet!" from a different room, he may have learned how to force you to give him attention. Even if it's just a coincidence, and he happens to screech just before you walk in the room, he would connect it and think his screeching brought you back. It's similar to babies and puppies, where you have to purposely wait until they are behaving well, and not whining, before you go in and pick them up. Maybe if you work on rewarding him for calm quiet behavior, you can get more of that, and less of the screaming. You could work on teaching him that soft chattering noises bring you to him.

I think that because they are outdoors, it could be a lot of things. You may need to take one or two to the vet, along with poo samples for testing, in order to find out what it really is. Just guessing can lead to treating for the wrong thing, and then the real problem gets more of a foothold.

Well, he's going to go ahead and try it. He's been breeding birds, although mostly larger macaws, for over 20 years, and has been working with smaller birds like the parrotlets just more recently. He has found them to be really skittish, and easily scared off of their eggs. He did some research, and like all things on the internet, he found conflicting opinions, both pro and con. The main concern would be whether the parrotlet chicks, being more aggressive, might bite their foster budgie parents, once they started getting older. But he hand feeds his chicks, so he intends to take them away at about two weeks of age. So he thinks he will be heading off any trouble in that area. He figures its worth a try, since he is already losing so many parrotlet eggs and chicks. Anyway, he bought 9 budgies from me this weekend, and he said he will let me know how it works out later on, and send photos, too. So I'm looking forward to that, and I will update this thread and let you all know what happens.

Congratulations, Nerwen!!! She is so precious. I hope you are enjoying Motherhood!

I am so sorry for your loss, especially in such an upsetting way.

Can't wait to see it!

Did the feathers come out whole, or are they broken? What do the quills of the feathers look like? If you suspect a bug, have you checked them all over for parasites? If it was from fighting, it would not be restricted to the flight feathers. You would expect to see damage around the faces and the feet. Hens can get along fine together, unless there is overcrowding, or competition over a favorite perch, toy, or playmate. (I have experienced two hens fighting each other over a third hen's affections.) Your profile says you have 20 budgies, so you would surely know the signs of molting by now (lots of loose down, the odd loose large feather, pin feathers coming in on the head). Have there been storms or predators lately that could have caused night frights or other disturbances? Several things here to consider, that might shed some light on it for you. Feel free to give us photos, too.

My take on checking nest boxes is that I check them at 8:30am and 8:30pm, from the day I give them the box. Then they get used to the fact that I will be doing it, even before they go in to lay eggs. This gives them a week or two, depending on how fast they get down to business, of learning to tolerate the routine. I always give a few light warning taps to the side of the box before opening the lid. Funky, you can get them used to a routine, but now you no longer have the pre-egg time period to do it. So you will have to judge for yourself how flighty and upset your hen gets. But definitely, don't take the box down or move it anymore!

How odd. Makes you wonder how she knew. Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out. At least you tried.

Is the hen in the second picture a recessive pied spangle? I'd like to breed one of those.

Yes that is correct , sadly 1 of the 3 foster eggs ive put was eaten i dont know why thou... Hmm, sounds like the foster parents may have problems. Do you have any other pairs you could foster to? Do you have any fake eggs or marlbes you can put in amongst the good eggs, in the faint hope that the egg eater will by chance try to eat the fake one, and then learn that eating eggs is a bad idea? I don't hold out a lot of hope for that plan, but I feel like when I've had a pair eat their first egg, and I put a fake one into the nest, it somehow must have worked. Because when they laid their second egg, they didn't eat it. Or any of the rest. But I really couldn't say for sure that the fake egg taught them. They might have just got with the program on their own.

I would think that the main concern would be the toll it takes on the parents. I imagine that if the parents get weak or ill, then that would affect the health of the chicks. But logically, if a hen was getting depleted of her resources, it could lead to less healthy eggs, more DIS, any type of problem that might be due to deficiency of nutrition.

You can let your hen have two clutches in a row, if you want. Some people allow three, but that is pushing it, and you would have to be very sure that your hen was still in good condition and not run down. I wouldn't recommend to allow three. In fact, I dont allow a hen to have more than two clutches in a calendar year, because once I let Finnie have two rounds, and then six months later I put her down to breed again, and she almost didn't make it through that clutch. Three clutches in a 9 month period was too much.

That sounds like a good plan, since this would be her third round. I assume the foster hen's lone fertile egg will hatch around the same time as the foster eggs?