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Hi I think he needs to see a vet ASAP sounds like there is something internal happening. Cheers Jenny

Hi if you could post some better pictures it will be easier to tell what mutations they are, your top male looks also to be greywing or cinnamon but you can't see his wing markings properly, the hen may be double factor spangle if she has black eyes with iris rings or albino if red eyed. I partly agree with nerwen on the other two except they look more skyblue on my monitor the male may also be spangle but we can't see his back either. If you can get a hold of some ivermectin for his scaleyface it is much easier to treat them with and less stressful and messy than the product they sell from the pet shops, you only need to put a couple of drops on their skin and repeat in a couple of weeks just to make sure. Cheers Jenny

He is a cutie wish you luck with him.

Hi it is hard to say for certain if it will just keep happening and you also don't know if the male is the cause of your problems. Make sure there is nothing disturbing them during the night like mice or rats. Give them both another chance but maybe with different partners then you may find who the trouble maker is. Cheers Jenny

Hi it looks like classic French moult to me, he should regrow them back in about six weeks hopefully, sometimes they don't but most do. Cheers Jenny

It should be alright just keep an eye on them to make sure she is getting fed. Cheers Jenny

The shaft close to the wing looks thicker and is soft, if it has just started growing it will only be a stub or what they call pin feathers. Cheers Jenny

Hi most people these days tend to clip both wings so the bird doesn't crash when it tries to fly. Have his feathers definitely been cut? You may have to keep him in a smaller cage until he moults and can fly properly or he will keep knocking it. Catch him up and check he hasn't damaged a new blood feather, if so you may have to pull it out as they can bleed quite badly. Cheers Jenny

Hi I would let her relay and you could foster her eggs to another pair if you have any but hens are capable of rearing young on their own. But be mindful of what she did to her last chick. Cheers Jenny

Hi your aviary is plenty big enough for what you have, extra males is better than extra hens but they may disrupt fertility as every time a hen tries to be mated you have other males pushing each other off but that can happen in evenly paired aviaries. I find that odd males attach themselves to an existing pair by feeding the other male or they pair up with each other. As for your hens not sitting it may be because other hens are constantly on their box I would add some extra single boxes to give them more choice. Have your boxes got concaves in them so the hens can gather the eggs together? and have you added any nesting material. It is good to supply as many forms of calcium as you can to your breeding birds just in case they aren't getting enough from one type. I find supermarket brands of seed aren't that good as they use a lot of the cheaper value seeds, if you have to use one from the supermarket use one like trill or something similar. Most stock feed places supply good quality budgie mixes if you have one near you. If you could give them plenty of milk thistle and seeding grasses daily it will help improve their diet, mine also like peas and corn kernels as well. Hope this helps. Cheers Jenny

Hi LJ and welcome to the forum. Colony breeding is always referred to as more risky in any literature on budgie breeding not just on this site. I myself love to breed in a colony and watch the interactions of the flock. But it can have it's flaws so you have to be prepared for problems and have alternative accommodation available for problem birds. If you read through the post on this forum you will realize that there can be lots of things go wrong in both cage and colony breeding. Once your aviary is set up and your birds are introduced try not to put any more in as it upsets the order in the aviary. I set my aviary up and put all the pairs in at the same time so the all get used to it at once, but I have holding aviaries which I keep my spare stock and alternate their breeding. I also breed in separate cages as well if I want certain pairs to breed. A picture of your set up would be great. Good luck with your breeding venture. Cheers Jenny

Hi it sounds like they were being plucked by one of the parents, usually the hen who wants to get them out so she can breed again. I have one hen that plucks her young as they start to pin feather then leaves them be, but they look weird when they fledge because they are still covered in their new pin feathers. If it was french moult they would have lost their wing and tail feathers first. Snowy may always look scruffy if damage was done to any feather follicles from the plucking. Cheers Jenny

Hi, there is a form of fungus that can cause irregular damage to the feathers it is harmless and usually disappears after the moult but I wouldn't worry to much about it he looks quite healthy. It could also just be over zealous preening and once he goes through a moult he will be back to normal unless he does it again. Cheers Jenny

Hi how long have they been exposed to your french moult bird? They may have a mild form of the virus as there is still a possibility the the bird is shedding it. They should regrow their tail feathers whether or not they have the virus but some don't grow the long feathers back. Cheers Jenny

Hi Maddy sounds like things are going fine just make sure his crop is empty before each feed or at least overnight. Also I stick to only feeding 10% of the chicks body weight so if your chick weighs 40 grams then give it 4 mils of formula then you can be sure you are not over feeding which is a big cause of crop malfunction as it can overstretch the muscle. Cheers Jenny

Your pied male looks to be greywing as well or spangle it is a bit hard to tell. There are many possibilities if you don't know their genetic history, the hen could be masking all different varieties that are hidden because she is albino. The male also could be carrying anything, it is hard to predict with any certainty but that's the fun of it. Nerwens predictions are for a skyblue recessive pied male to a skyblue albino hen. Is the pied male also the bird next to the albino in the bottom picture?, if so he is definitely spangle as well so you will also get spangles from the pairing. Cheers Jenny

Some pairs just don't want to bond, try what you are doing but be careful she doesn't go out of condition. They will breed better with others in earshot, in nature they breed in close proximity. Cheers Jenny

That's great news looks like it has plum eyes so should be cinnamon. Makes you wonder if she may have had egg peritonitis as generally sick birds won't start breeding. It may have spread into a bigger infection. Good luck with the little one hope all goes well. Cheers Jenny

Hi I remember during a talk from an avian vet that the oxalic acid in some greens is fine as long as it is countered by plenty of calcium. He said they have to eat a lot of it for it to be a problem. He also mentioned dipping it in boiling water for I think 30 seconds and that solves the problem altogether. He was talking about silverbeet which a lot of breeders feed here I think it might be called chard over there. Hope this helps. Cheers Jenny

Most of us here probably haven't used full spectrum lighting as we breed our birds outside but there may be someone that uses them in their bird rooms who might be able to answer your questions. Sounds like you have it under control though good luck. Cheers Jenny

Look for a cock bird that has multiple mutations, something like yellowface opaline spangle dominant pied violet would give you a great range of colours over a white based hen, but finding one might be a problem lol. I find that blue and yellowfaced pieds are always very popular with most people. Cheers Jenny

Hi all of your males from the pairing you mentioned will be split for ino and all of your hens will be ino so you can sex them all as soon as they hatch. That is only if you have them breeding separately and not in a colony because you cannot guarantee the father in a colony. There is always a chance your male is split for ino though and then you can expect ino in both sexes. You also mentioned albino split hens which are not possible as the hens can't carry the ino gene in split form. Cheers Jenny

That's a possibility it would explain a male baby anyway. .Cheers Jenny

Hi this usually happens when the shell is a bit thin and the egg dehydrates or even infertile eggs when they have been there a while. Make sure they have ample calcium of different types. Cheers Jenny

You could leave her sit on the infertile eggs that should keep her quiet for a few weeks. Maybe it might satisfy her urge. Cheers Jenny