robyn

Most likely the father, they can be aggressive to chicks. As chicks are self feeding from hatching, you could separate Dad in future until chicks are older.

Hi Selina and welcome, wow with all those birdy friends it would be a full time job just caring for them all. Good luck with your budgie flock.

Hi Babychat I'd say it's a matter of choice. If you hose out your aviary the wood shavings could be a problem. I have pavers on mine and scrape off the droppings sweep husks etc vacuum it up with old cleaner, about once a month. In between I sweep up husks, old carrot tops spinach etc weekly. As long as it's easy to keep clean and dry and you can pick up any signs of trouble with shavings, (eg insects or spider, mice etc) birds would probably scratch around in them as well.

I'd leave Tilly's nest box in position. Can you move 2nd nest box a bit further away from Tilley's so maybe other pair may nest in it? As long as Bart doesn't decide he wants that hen as well. Just 2 breeding pairs should be okay. It's not that hard to make up a breeding cage. Even old book cases with perches and wire fronts will do. If you can cut hole in side and attach breeding box to outside of them,for easy access to chicks. As long as it's all enclosed so you don't lose birds, eg. end of aviary. Then you can pair birds so you know which parent bred which chicks. Hope this helps a bit. Good luck with Bart or( Romeo) and hope he's satisfied with one hen. l.o.l.

Very pretty chick,should colour up more when he moults. Love the cage also would be great for catching all the mess indoors. First time I've seen one like it. Will have to keep my eyes open for one.

Hi, welcome to bbc.

Good point Pebbles, I really don't know how you would catch birds quickly in that situation. Mine are hard enough to catch at the best of times. It's food for thought though, with embers drifting for long distances you don't have to live in bushland to have a flare up. In this extreme temps I have been misting my birds in aviary several times a day. This is the first time I've seen my birds resting on the floor of the aviary. After misting they go back to perch's. Don't know how they would cope with heavy smoke. I think the only way to try to save them would be to rig up a hose at front on aviary and leave it misting into aviary until you could get back to them. Other ideas would be great. meanwhile I hope everyone is safe from fire now.

Well I'm totally confused Rashu, but you have some beautiful babies, whatever they are.

Hi, I'd say vet would have said if she had any scaly mites. One thing I'd be concerned with is whether she would be contageous (beak & feather disease) to other birds. You don't want your other birds to be at risk.

Firstly I'm no expert but I'd say your nest box's are way to low in aviary, they like to nest higher up. If your birds are in breeding condition, even if they aren't bonded in aviary you can still pair them up in cages and they will usually breed after a while when no other birds are present. Do you have pics of your cage set up? Are your nest box's set high in them etc. If everything is right for them to breed they will , what signs are they showing of being in condition? It's hard to advise without seeing birds condition etc.

Hi, any sign of his tail and flights growing in? If not it could be another problem as Finnie said.

Hi, I've been off air more than on. Has there been any improvement? Is the breeder you got him off a recognised breeder or a b.yard breeder? (not that there's anything wrong with we yardies) we're their other birds looking bright and healthy? It's strange that he hasn't responded to something. I think I'd still try the older bird trick, so it can learn what is normal behaviour. Hope there has been some progress.

Looking at your pics, did you have chick at home in 3rd picture? I really think this breeder may have sold them to you very young and not feeding themselves enough. I think I'd take the chance and maybe put an older bird in with them, to see if they will start to pick up what they are supposed to do. Preferably an older breeding age bird who has reared young, (It could be like giving a baby solids before they are old enough to handle it).If their health checks were clear it should be fairly safe.

Hi Heletia, if you look at top left of page you will see F.A.Q. if you go to FOOD AND NUTRITION you will find TOXIC AND NON TOXIC plants. a-z. on those lists it will tell you the plants that are safe for your birds.

Thanks guys, I keep running out to check for any further discharge but it's looking good. Until his feathers around eye regrow he'll look a bit odd but he's not rubbing on perch etc now.

Hi Rachelrose, Just a thought, do you have any hand raising mix? Wondered if he went back to that for a while if he would pick up? At least it might fatten him up a bit and head him in the right direction. Maybe the flagyl is keeping him loose. I don't know why he would need it if his tests were clear for infections etc. can you tell if he's actually cracking seed or is he just "pretending to eat". Even if you put some hand raising mix in cage with seed and see if he picks at it. It's very hard to know what is the best way to go. I had one a little while ago, that I think just starved itself to death because I couldn't get it to eat, even when Dad and other chicks were eating normally. Hope it picks up.

Hi Splat, good to hear you. As to choko's don't know if birds like them but if you get them really young, lightly steam and serve with parsley in white sauce they are lovely, even baked, just as nice. Only trouble is if you grow them the vine takes over the whole yard. Meanwhile back to the birds !!!

Hi all. I have a violet/cobalt cock with a sore eye. Looked like start of scaly face so treated with ivamectin, no response so again treated it. Still no improvement, had a yellow discharge in feathers around eye. Looked as if some new feathers were irritating eye so plucked some out, put human eye ointment on it and prayed, (no avian vet near) still nothing. Finally yesterday I caught him again, cleaned all discharge from eye with cotton bud and warm water.I then trimmed the clumps of feathers away. Next eye ointment, which I put on bud and worked gently around eye. After all this I got a magnifying glass and checked all trimmed feathers. I FINALLY think I found the culprit it looks like part of canary seed husk that was dislodged onto cotton bud. it must have been lodged under eyelid. Today his eye is much clearer, no discharge and he's as bright as a button. I'm really pleased as I didn't want to lose him and didn't want him to be in pain etc either. Here's hoping he's over it now. Sometimes it's really worth persisting to see what the problem is.

Welcome Gaby. Just keep reading everything you can until your confident about what you want to achieve, e.g. pet or show etc. heaps of info on here.

"Please explain" One of her siblings has the genetic walking thing and twisted feathers.??? This is a new one for me, although I've only been breeding 2-3 years. Do you have any pictures to show this?

Hi, if he's got black eyes he's not a pure lutino so maybe he's split to something else. You probably won't know until you breed from him to see what mutations you get. He's lovely whatever he is. Could almost pass for a canary l.o.l.

He could be just going into a moult. Sounds like one lucky bird. See if you notice any pin feathers coming through on head area. If it's not a moult not sure what it would be, do you have any pics of him? that may help.

Great you got vet. advice, if they weren't worried I'd say they will improve soon. Post again with some pics if you can.

If your chick is looking healthy not fluffed or listless etc. it could be just the new surroundings etc. if it hasn't became any worse over a week then I think I'd just keep an eye on it for any further signs that it's sick. I'd stop any veges for a while to see if it picks up. How long was it on seed diet before you got it? It may just be a bit younger than other chicks.Keep posting if things don't improve.