Linda_S

Sorry for your loss :rip: I had a Red Bellied Black Snake in my chicken coop the other day that surprised me when I went inspecting for eggs...... On the up side in my case I no longer have mice in the chicken coop. I have snakes of my own so I solved the problem by putting a few of one of my snake eating snake species old shed skins in the coop.

I didn't try feeding it thought that might encourage it to hang around and as beautiful as it was I didn't really want it hanging around.... I was just glad I decided to leave my Bantam Chickens locked up that day otherwise I think one of them would've been dinner!

The 3 Albino's from the 1st batch haven't went through 1st moult yet so I think I'll have to wait untill then to see any dramatic changes in them but 'Diva' decided to make her place in the aviary early by beating up any adult bird that came hear her or her little brother or sister. I'll get some pics of them in the aviary this weekend. The cock bird seems like he's going to have pretty good feathering which is kinda a shame since he has splayed legs :offtopic: As for the other they're all still sporting the traditional pink but I'll snap a few pics of them too as well as the new pairs. Actually had a bit of trouble with a falcon trying to get at the birds in the breeding cages on the weekend, it was persistant to say the least it even swooped at the cages when both me and my partner were standing right next to them.... Hope it realises it can't get them and stays away. It also spent some time at aviary.

There are 6 chicks all together - 5 green spangles and 1 blue? Not sure if it was mentioned in a previous post but this chick isn't a spangle just a cinnamon opaline.

Long time since I've updated but here it is Grey Green Cinnamon Cock - Grey Green Cinnamon Opaline Spangle Hen All of these guys eggs turned out to be infertile so I've replaced the Grey Green Cinnamon Cock with a Normal Grey Green Cock (a Gearing bred bird I got from a member on here) She's taking to the new guy well which wasn't a surprise as it's an ex-boyfriend of hers. Grey Green Spangle Cock - Grey Green Opaline Hen Another lot of infertile eggs and I've put the hen down again with a Lutino Cock, hopefully they'll do better together. Sky Blue Opaline Yellow Face Cock - Double Factor Spangle Hen 1st chick hatched on the 17th January and there were another two fertile eggs in there when I left. Grey Spangle Cock - Grey Yellow Face Cinnamon Hen Ended up putting this pair back into the aviary as they showed no interest. Sky Blue Opaline/Albino Cock - Albino Hen: Their 1st lot of bubs are now in the aviary and they have two chicks in the nest one Albino and one black eyed chick both almost 2 weeks old now (I'm not sure if the black eyed chick is theirs though as she was acting as a foster mum also this round but if it turns out blue it's theirs)

April would probably be the earliest I'd consider them for breeding so reassesment around then sounds good.

Unfortunately I only have a limited amount of photos of the birds from when I purchased them and the others are on my other computer which I don't have access to at the moment. I have had a look though the other pics though and they're only marginally better than these for showing the iris rings. It's not something that I considered at the time of purchase. I was trying to determine the ages so I don't let them breed to early so if anything I'll go with what I think the youngest that they could've been was when I got them. That way there's no chance anyone will be breeding before they''re at least 12months old. I'm going to contact the breeder about the greywing. I could get pics of them now (including iris ring) if you think it'd help but they're 4-5 months older now than they were in the above pics......

I put the link on as a helpful indicator for anyone else trying to determine the age of their budgies. I'm guessing the birds I have pictured are around 4 months old since they're broken capped they may be a little older or younger but that's close enough for me. I purchased most of them in August (except for the olive greywing) I'm guessing they were born April-May 09.

Found this may be helpful for others when trying to determine ages http://www.budgieplace.com/age.html

Hi all just trying to determine the ages (other than born 09) of my red ring purchases from last year so I've found the photos that I took of them when I got them and figured if you could help me try and determine how old they were then then maybe it could give me a better idea of their exact age. November Purchase Greywing hen, the breeder told me that this bird was a early red ringger. August Purchases Cobalt Dom Pied Grey Normal Mauve Dilute

She seems to have gone back in but is in and out a lot so I'm not sure how the eggs will go, it was a very warm night so hopefully some of them will be okay.... When I felt them in the morning they were cool though not cold but definetaly cool which is why I thought she hadn't incubated overnight, it was around 5:30am and the hens have always been in the nest when I've seen them this early before. She's got 7 eggs so I'll how it goes hopefully I'll at least get 1 chick out of the nest.

This morning when I went to check on my breeders I noticed that she wasn't in the nest box and although I can't know for sure I think she may have spent her night out of the nest and doesn't seem like she's planning on going back in anytime soon. How long can eggs last unincubated after incubation has started? (It was a warm night and it's warm now too if that makes much of a difference.)

They're 8 weeks old now so they'd be about 16 weeks old...... When does 1st moult usually occur?

My local branches annual show is in February and I was just wondering if my Albino babies would be the right age to enter in the nestfeather section???

Update: Grey Green Cinnamon Cock - Grey Green Cinnamon Opaline Spangle Hen There was one egg waiting for me on Saturday morning however it was eaten on Sunday when the 2nd egg was layed. I fostered the 2nd egg off to my /Albino - Albino pair and replaced it with a white egg sized pebble which she can't eat in hopes that it will discourage her from making a meal of anymore she might lay. Grey Green Spangle Cock - Grey Green Opaline Hen 4 eggs in the nest as of Monday. Last time I had this hen down she ate her eggs fingers xsd she doesn't do it again but looking good so far. Sky Blue Opaline Yellow Face Cock - Double Factor Spangle Hen 1st egg layed Monday. Grey Spangle Cock - Grey Yellow Face Cinnamon Hen Showing more interest but still no eggs.... Sky Blue Opaline/Albino Cock - Albino Hen 7 eggs in total

Was amazed to find out that bush budgies are actually smaller than your usual pet type littlies In the show cage (next years nationals grand champion )

Thanks, I just hope I get a bit more action in the breeding cages so I can add a bit more colour to my journal Also keeping my fingers xsd they don't get a blue sheen from dad when they moult. I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out though and I'm hoping that they'll turn out to be usefull to the Albino breeding program down the track. Other Pairs down at the moment. Grey Green Cinnamon Cock - Grey Green Cinnamon Opaline Spangle Hen (I'm hoping to see eggs in these guys box when I get back home this weekend, they seemed like they'd be due soon when I saw them so fingers crossed ) Grey Green Spangle Cock - Grey Green Opaline Hen (looking forward to seeing some eggs in these guys box also) Sky Blue Opaline Yellow Face Cock - Double Factor Spangle Hen (Not really expecting much from them just yet, maye in a week or so) Grey Spangle Cock - Grey Yellow Face Cinnamon Hen (Not showing a great deal of interest last time I saw them hopefully they'll be a bit more in the mood when I see them next) Sky Blue Opaline/Albino Cock - Albino Hen (Albino chicks parents should have at least 3 eggs) Gramps (Light Green Opaline Dominant Pied) and Light Green Spangle Hen were looking good to go also and I'll be giving them a breeding cage this weekend.

Another update and some pics from last weekend. Bubs all out of the box and starting to feed on their own. Mum on eggs, she had 3 last time I saw her (Mon). Diva (eldest) Finally starting to stretch her wings Diver (Middle Child) Bugsy (Youngest, named after big bug eyes) Having a shake

Thanks again Nubbly and everyone else who replied, you've been very helpful!!! The Recessive Pied Cock has got size and length (I was thinking about using him with the sky blue normal to get splits) but I also have these Recessives to use Olive Green Cock (this ones the better of the two cocks but the other has better deportment this guys slouchy) Cobalt hen (only 4 months old at the moment) That's all my recessives at the moment......... Grey Green Opaline Hen

True, might test her with a cinnamon and see what comes up.... Some very nice birds there and it's good to see some others

I seem to catch a lot of my birds as they're turning around giving them the squating/dumpy appearance. I was in a bit of a rush when I took the pics so just snapped what I could. After I read the comments here I usually go and check out to see how the birds are perching in the aviary to see if it was just the picture or it's just what they do. I was leaning towards the Lutino for the Grey Green opaline hen, added bonus anything Lutino must be a hen and I'll get more splits to work with. Older pics of the Lutino and the Grey Green (more acurate picture showing how they perch) Grey Green Cinnamon Cock (he usually perches better another turning shot, I have this cock in a breeding cage with the Cinnamon Spangle hen above at the moment) older picture I only just noticed he's no longer flecked......... Grey Green Spangle Cock (In breeder with opaline grey green above at the moment, 2nd round going to put him with the cinnamon spangle hen) Dark Green Normal Cock (missing tail feathers an looking pretty scruffy in these shots) Olive Green Recessive Pied Cock Sky Blue Opaline Spangle hen, 50% chance of being /recessive (I bred this bird before I decided to breed show birds, I won't get rid of her but do dou think she'd be of any use other than as a foster carer?) Both old pics.

Grey Green Opaline Hen (I was thinking about using this one with a Lutino, /Lutino because the shade of yellow on her face seems very deep) Grey green/Lutino Cock Lutino Cock Grey Green Cinnamon Spangle Hen

I asked a local breeder if he had any split recessive pieds and this is what he gave me...... I do like her though the combination of colours/mutations has combined to create an interesting affect. I was planning on putting her with my greywing and not using the cocks for greywing breeding as you suggested, with the hens I figured I'd use the best of them back to Dad and use the rest with normals to get splits. However if the cock turns out to be infertile I probably won't worry about Greywings anymore. Seems the only Greywing or Dilute hens I can find are all Opaline.

Olive Green Opaline Greywing Spangle/recessive pied 09 - This is a hen.... I'm not sure where I'm going to use her either. The breeder gave her to me to use with my recessives. I'm not sure where I'll fit her in yet. The opaline dilute I was going to use with my greywing cock and weave out the opaline..........

The female is the blue recessive pied pictured above and the yellow/green is the male. Try comparing them to yours. Hope that helps.