Squeak_Crumble

The green cock birds brother, not as good as him, still a nice bird with the blood in him though. I will be pairing him back to one of his neice's. Also pairing him to a unrelated Ray Nelson bird (the spangle hen's breeder) , to create two family's of Hunt & Cripps X Ray Nelson. Put the cousin's together.

Thankyou for all the kind comments The oldest 4 are in a large flight cage, with mum and dad. They are doing very well, opaline green and oldest spangle perching and jumping around. All chicks are eating. Foster mum is on the spangle blue and youngest green spangle. I have a special cock bird in mind for the Mum, a big buffy bird who I could hopefully put back to some of these guys. @splat no way! this is only one clutch that I struck lucky with maybe. I need to wait and see how they moult. Your birds are far better then mine!

Thanks Renee! I had another chick hatch in nest 4. So it goes (in order) 5 chicks, 4 chicks, 5 chicks, 6 chicks. It finally looks like I am done! woohoo! No more eggs to hatch in this lost. Will be nice and even at 5 chicks a nest. I would have preferred less, but it means more chicks I guess!

Done another head count today, and got my record ALL mixed up again! Woohoo! haha. I have it all written down on a peice of paper, lets hope I can just scrape it through until I have rings and can match colours to parents. All of this is only in the white cages, if anyone notcies something wrong, please say! I did change a few more chicks just then, so it may not match the photo's exactly. Nest 1- Opaline X Lutino hen. (also hen must be opaline, 100% opalines) Chicks - 5 (all rung) Chick 1 (3.9.2011) Chick 2 (3.9.2011) Chick 3 (4.9.2011) Chick 4 (5.9.2011) Chick 5 (5.9.2011) Nest 2- Clearbody Hen X Lute Cock (2 hens from these guys, so happy!) Chicks - 4 (oldest rung) Chick 1 (6.9.2011) Chick 2 (10.9.2011) Chick 3 (10.9.2011) Chick 4 (15.9.2011) Nest 3- Normal Birds Chicks - 5 (oldest 2 rung) Chick 1 (6.9.2011) Chick 2 (8.9.2011) Chick 3 (10.9.2011) Chick 4 (10.9.2011) Chick 5 (12.9.2011) Nest 4 - opaline clearbodys Chicks - 5 (none rung) Chick 1 (12.9.2011) Chick 2 (14.9.2011) Chick 3 (14.9.2011) Chick 4 (16.9.2011) Just need to remember, any clearbodies I get will be opaline. yellow series belong to nest 4, and violet/blues are for that hen with the single older chick that is pair 7.. or something. Could I still get yellows from them? I dont mind incredibly I don't have the chicks ages down pat, but as long as they are within a few days it is fine. Total chick count is 25. Pictures of first 3 chicks, head of the blue in one as well - Spangles looking fab. Oldest compared to Daddy first picture! Will put oldest.... 5 in kindy cage. Give poor single mum a break! Fed her lot full though, very chubby birds!

Thanks both of you! It means alot I got another 3 chicks today, first one in the opaline clearbody nest. I got another lute X opaline, and a normal chick from the green and blue. Both went into the opaline clearbody nest, They will be easy to tell apart, but I just realised not from each other. Hope for a hen from the opaline nest I guess!

Wow, so so so so sorry for the age long update! LOTS to update, so sorry in advance for the long post!! Pair 1: ( yellowface blue X sky blue) Well, reading this now, I just realised I may have chicks from them As mentioned down, will be able to see soon I guess. Pair 2: Pair 3: (cinnamon blues) Unfortunetley, I have lost the cock bird. He escaped through a hole in the cage. I patched it up, but it left mummy to be a single hen. She was on two foster chicks from nest 5. I had the third in the clearbody nest box, but as I mention later I moved him up. Pair 4: Pair 5: (spangle X normal) Well, All up I got 6 chicks! I was very happy. Oldest to youngest is: - Dark Green Opaline - Dark Green Spangle - Dark Green Normal - Light Green Spangle - Sky Blue Opaline Spangle - Light Green spangle maybe opaline. All chicks are doing superb. The two spangles are looking the best so far, The normal is pretty average. The spangle's have the nicest blow and mask. I like the older one better. Took the chicks out to clean the nest and put them in a show cage. For about 15-30 minutes, the spangle was the only one to sit on the perch, the WHOLE time. He just sat, and blew his gorgeous big head forward, looking at me with "that" look. I have good feelings about him. Pair 6: (blue clearbodies) They are on one chick. I did have the youngest spangle in there, but he is developing splay legs and weird hip joints. Every time I looked in, he was down other end of the box cold. So moved him up. Looking skinny and bony though :/ Will see how it goes. All of my record keeping is pretty shoddy the last couple weeks, so I had to go through and guess the next nest's chicks ages and I may not get my rings in time for the oldest few. -big sigh- Pair 7: (yellow clearbodies) 7 eggs, 4 are fertile. Pair 8: (normal green and blue) Well, 3 chicks are from the clearbodies in nest 6. Their was a big gap in chick size, and I didn't want to risk it. So I put them in this nest. There are 4 chicks in this nest, and one more looking fertile eggie. Pair 9: (lute X clearbody) On 2 fertile eggs, plus 3 chicks. They had another chick hatch yesterday, but died of yellowbelly. I didn't mind much though, because it was a cock bird, so they were on 3 cocks, but one died. I have two cocks now, and then today got my first little girl! I was so excited! Pair 10: (Lutino X Opaline) Such an exciting mummy! I have 4 chicks, she is doing such a fabulous job! I will be getting cocks split ino/opaline, and all hens split opaline. Looks like I have 3 hens so far, one cock bird. They are also on another 2 fertile eggs.

Moglet you need to make sure they are actually eating the seeds. Babies will often just play and crack the seed in their mouth without eating it, so they still may have been being fed by mum.

I have an XperiaX10. I do love it, and it has some fantastic features, but if I was given the choice I would much prefer an iPhone. When i get my next phone it WILL be an iPhone. The battery in most smart/touch phones dies quickly, I charge mine every night.

I have never had an issue with predatory birds. The worse I get is bloody magpies. When I put all the birds in flight cages for aviary cleaning, I need to keep an eye on them or they come and investigate. Some of my breeding birds get a scare as well, as the magpies often fly in and pick any bits of seed that have fallen from the cage, so I need to be tip-top on cleaning. A little off-topic, but thought I would share a quick snap! I was fortunate enough to see a peregrine falcon in the wild, on it's nest. Traveling along the River Murray, there is a nest with 2 chicks. We saw one of the adults fly into the nest with a mouse. Pretty **** picture sorry, but they are pretty rare in the wild I heard Especially since we saw the chicks.

I have had the bird to normal hens, and got 1 clearbody each time. Both of the hens have really bad suffusion through them, i would never dream of using them on the show bench. I guess i could put them back to ino's, to try and rid the suffusuon, but to be quite honest they were not fantastic birds, my other clearbody hens with much better suffusion were of better standard.

I actually don't like the fact he is split clearbody, because when I put him to a normal hen I won't know what cock birds are split, and any clearbody hens I get will be unusable on the show bench. I was fortunate enough to visit Kelwyn's place, amazing birds and best experience of my life. Thankyou GB. You gave me alot to think about, which is a reason I took so long to reply to this thread! Well, I had a lovely chat to the breeder of cock bird 2. I found out that a) he is split cinnamon, yellowface, blue and opaline he can't be split blue & yellowface though, so I will await to see what his chicks are. c) 100% grey factor siblings d) I have been able to get a full blood brother. Grey-Green Spangle if I remember correctly e) He is a Shane Cripps X Brian Hunt bird. f) This gives me a few options now. I need to search for dark factor hens. I can go with the Cripps bloodline, or the Hunt line. I have possibly know someone that has a Hunt line. I have decided, through GB's post and also my talk to my friend, That I will breed a normal green line. Not light green's specifically, but not just Olive's either. If I have varying factors, should I need an outcross for my lute's, I can choose some in advance to get some Olive's, or Dark Green's etc. I now need to search for the normal hen's, to put to the two Cripps X Hunt birds. I am unsure if I should just source a total new line of quality normals, or if I should try and look for some Hunt and Cripps birds. If I am to find it, I am assuming getting 2 cousins maybe would be the best to go? sister's would be to close if I wanted to put the chick's back to each other...? For now I will leave the KK bird out of the equation, as I will need his length and madk later. A few more piccy's.

I have mine elevated on two bricks, and it is a standard type upside down bottle with a tray at the bottom. I find it absolute ****, as bits of dirt, feathers, poop, seed.... everything get's in there.

Thanks renee Yes, I have been told that to, same with clearbodies. However, when I look at a light green learbody vs a grey-green clearbody, I find the light green much more pleasing for the eye, because the yellow is a bright colour, compared to the mustardy green grey... Just what I have seen, I may be wrong.

Hi everyone. I have decided, that I will begin a light green line. I don't have any solid normal line in my stock, and have rode on straight ahead to get my specialist varieties out. I have been reading lots of Budgerigar World magazine's, and many breeder's have been talking about the importance of a strong normal line, and also a strong light green line to put into lutino's. Coming to this decision, I have decided that I will now be keeping mainly green factor birds, This will influence my ino and cleardboy line. In my ino line however, I have 2 lutino hens and one lutino cock bird, as opposed to one ino hen. In my clearbody line, I only have two blue based birds, the other dozen or some being light greens, or grey greens. So, I have chosen to start my light green line. I already have 2 strong foundation cock birds. I will take their faults, and hopefully buy some nice foundation stock hens to match up their faults. I am planning to talk to the breeder of the second cock bird, and see if I can get any related birds. This time, I am going to try and keep to getting birds of only good quality and related stock, as opposed to here, there and everywhere when I started. I have looked on the show bench at who has been winning the Best Green's, and it is a very mixed pool of breeders. I will check out the bird's at the next show, and just see which are the features I want. Both of the cocks are blue ringers. Cock Bird 1: This is a Kakoschke bred bird, and is a very long bird. He has fantastic mask, which is something I need in my main stock anyway. He is a very narrow bird though, and his size is not the best. He is also split clearbody. Any comments? Cock Bird 2: This bird is one I only just purchased recently from an auction. I paid $50 for him, and he has amazing width of head and directional feather. He is also alot bigger in hand. His mask is a tiny bit shorter, still alright though. His fertility is proven pretty good, filled 6 out of 6 eggs, and got 6 chicks. The first picture is of him and his current hen, He is possibly split opaline as the chicks are looking to have white down. I like how his faults match cock 1's qualities, and vice versa, something I can use later. This is the cock bird who I will be contacting the breeder of for more related birds, fingers crossed. Apparently the line he came from is quite a fertile line, good beginnings. I will get some better pictures hopefully soon, of the two together. Comments (and opinions!) would be very much appreciated!

Pair 1: ( yellowface blue X sky blue) NOT going to let them go again. All the cock and hen do are cuddle in the box, and play soccer with eggs. I moved their two eggs into nest 10, and nest 9. I have a possibilty of getting clearbody hens, but any chicks will be blue so I should be about to tell them apart. Pair 2: Pair 3: (cinnamon blues) On the 3 foster chicks, nothing new yet Pair 4: Pair 5: (spangle X normal) 3 chicks are doing quite well, ringing time soon Pair 6: (clearbodies) Still the 2 eggs in there. I will possibly give her a chick from the cinnamon blues, depending on how many she gets out. Pair 7: (yellow clearbodies) one, maybe 2 eggs... Will need to check. Pair 8: (normal green and blue) 3 eggs Pair 9: (lute X clearbody) 2 eggs, plus one foster. Pair 10: 4 eggs! I must have miscounted the other day. (plus one foster!)

My birds are in wooden cages, and cannot see each other at all. My set-up

I know, I did accidently catch her. She has had a nutmeg coloured cere for a while, and now she is in a breeding cage, in kick-started the cycle again. As you can see it is beginning to peel off. I was not talking about the cere though, the top of her actual BEAK looks like dark/dead almost. This hen has attacked chicks before, so I will be VERY careful to only let her raise them to 2 weeks. At 2 weeks, I will probably change the chicks to another nest, and let these two go at it again!

Pair 1: ( yellowface blue X sky blue) One Egg Pair 2: Pair 3: (cinnamon blues) hen is on 3 foster chicks. I am very excited, i removed her clear ones. There was one egg left in the spangle hen's nest, and I knew I would foster it into her nest anyway, and it was due to hatch any day. So I picked it up to move it and....pop! out cracks a little egg tooth. that was at about 6.30ish, and I left the egg into the foster mummies nest. I just went out to check it,(8.30) and no more had happen. I chipped away the shell near the small hole, (just the shell not the skin) and the chick started to peep. I widened the hole until I could see the skin of the chick inside. He shifted around a bit, and was moving. So I put the egg in again, and will check it out before I go to bed. Another update, 9.30. Chick is free! Pair 4: Pair 5: Well, 6 out of 6 fertile eggs! I may let them go for a second round. Hen is doing good on her 3 chicks. Dad is always keen on the soft food. I find it interesting, that her eggs hatched in this order: 14th,15th 17th, 18th 20th, 21st Coincidence, or genetics, or even hen's incubating method? You tell me Messy beak: When egg was still under oldest 3 bubs Pair 6: (clearbodies) hen was on 8 eggs. I removed all the clears, and she was left with two. I would have hoped for more fertility... But I will throw some foster chicks in there probably to encourage fertlity for next round. I was amazed when I candled her eggs, to see this little branch like vein swaying in the egg. Budgie's never cease to amaze me.Does anyone know what is wrong with the top of the hen's beak? its all dark? Pair 7: (yellow clearbodies) nothing yet.... Hen is growing more comfortable in nest Pair 8: (normal green and blue) 2 eggies Pair 9: (lute X clearbody) 2 eggie Pair 10: (lute hen X opaline cock) 2 eggies...funny, because she should have layed another on the 19th, and today. I will wait it out though. Looking fertile as well All the hen does is nibble my fingers! I am happy those last 3 pairs are laying close together, it gives me a good opportunity to foster the chicks around. I will probably put a pet type pair down in my nest I had fallows in, for fostering.

When you have 20+ pairs, with hen's that let the big one's out before they lay the eggs, it can get very messy! especially when the cock birds like to sit on the same place on the same perch everyday, and basically just s***.

I have never used wire cages, just because when collecting cages i was always offered wooden ones. I think another pro of wire cages you didn't mention is that you can just take out the trays, and everything falls down. When It comes to designing my own breeding room, I will use wooden cages. They are easy to clean (the walls) and it also offers a sense of security for the hen. They cannot see other birds and get distracted. It also isn't possible for a deep litter system, if you ever want to try it.

Hi Matt Will you be freighting any of the birds for sale? Look forward to pictures!

You don't get creamino's from a lutino to albino pairing. A creamino is a Yellowface Albino budgie. A lutino is not a yellowface budgie just because it has a yellow head. Yellowface is a seperate mutation. Good pairs Dave!

5th chick arrived today, put it into the cinnamon hen's nest. I am going to candle the eggs again tonight, remove the clear ones, transfer the oldest egg into the clearbody nest. I will remove the clearbody hen's eggs that I am certain aren't fertile.

another chick in the spangle nest. So we are on 4! I put him into the cinnamon blue's nest. I will have to do some shifting, she is on 7 eggs + a chick. So tonight I will go out and get rid of the clears. Her first chick will be hatching in the next few days hopefully.

Pair 1: ( yellowface blue X sky blue) hen cleaned her nest out as well, ate all the eggs. I think I will leave them go again though. I added more shavings. Pair 2: ( Pair 3: (cinnamon blues) Still waiting, eggs looking fertile so far Pair 4: Pair 5: (spangle X normal) another chickie! egg count on 3 now. Pair 6: (clearbodies) 5th eggie laid, one or two looking fertile by eye. Pair 7: (yellow clearbodies) nothing yet Pair 8: (normal green and blue) first egg today Pair 9: (lute X clearbody) nothing yet Pair 10: Hen is very protective and tame in nest, not something I am happy about as she is the only hen I have to get on a stepladder to check the nest. She is on 2 eggs though lovely hen, can't wait for chickens.