robyn

Good work Nadene, it's great when we can give mother nature a hand. Also good to put in the memory bank, one never know what will crop up. Has your first chick coughed up any more "fur balls"?

At 3 weeks it is a bit late to try to fix this but you could still try. You can follow the sponge method. Mine tended to keep falling forward with this method. I ended up using pipe cleaners. You wrap a loop around one leg above the knee, (if this slips down I have done it above ankle) then through the legs to 2nd leg in a figure 8, wrap second leg, holding legs in normal position, not overly tight but tight enough they can't pull foot out of loop. Cut off excess pip cleaner. I'd leave it in place for at least a week before checking. If still splayed repeat for a few more days. Even if you can improve legs enough for bird to perch/stand etc it may be okay. even if it's not perfect, as long as birds quality of life is good and it doesn't suffer any problems it's worth the effort if you want to save your chick. I'd still give it extra calcium in water to improve bones. P.S I don't think I'd try the sticky tape suggestion as it would probably tear skin on legs getting it off. Good luck let us know if you succeed.

Sounds like your birds have finally heard about the birds and bees, now it's a waiting game to see the results. Since Oct you could have chicks by now, any updates?

A lovely little family of birds. Does your Sunny have red eyes? He could be split for some other mutation, which could give the markings on his wings.

Hi Finnie, Don't know about Phoenix's birds but mine are only now starting to look a bit decent. Does anyone know if weather conditions play a part in moulting? Our temps have been all over the place 22 one day 36 the next, next to no rain, wind. Our garden is showing the results of the weird weather so I suspect birds are as well. Barely out of a moult and then moult again seems to be the pattern. I began to wonder if they were lacking in something but they seem to be starting to settle a bit now. FINGERS CROSSED.

Well correct me if I'm wrong,( I usually am on genetics.) BUT if chick is cinnamon and neither parent are visual cinnamon, Dad must be split cinnamon as Mum can't be split as cinnamon is a sex linked factor? That's if you have caged pairs not colony breeding.

Hi Nadene, Well I'd say that's your answer, where Dad would chew and spit, l.o.l, bub must have chewed and swallowed. At least it got rid of it, hopefully with no after effects. Another case of monkey see monkey do? As long as it doesn't swallow again when it's in a breeding box.

Chicks look great Nadene. As to your last picture. as cinn chick has been out in aviary could it have been chewing on some type of fibrous material? Looks a bit like a cat's fur ball l.o.l. Don't think Dad would feed chick that sort of stuff, does he still feed it? Very odd is it the only one that has done this?

No one will "hate you" for colony breeding they will just try to show you the pit falls you could face, it's your choice. If you are only pet breeding and don't mind which birds pair up that's fine just take note of the things others warn you about and look out for potential trouble and try to stop any bad outcomes from occurring. You may have a round with no problems and then next round have heaps of things go wrong. Good luck and let us know how you go.

Hi, can't help with genetics but very nice chicks. Somebody with more knowledge should help you.

Sorry you again lost your F.D. Tania, it's hard to watch a little one lose it's battle when they were given such a handicap to overcome in the first place.

Hi Nadene, thought you had a little violet from the photo, nice little chick either way and you have 1 to remember your hen by.

So sorry you lost your Finnie. Don't blame yourself, we can't be aware of everything 100% of the time. Do you still have some of her off spring to remember her by?

Very pretty birds L-J, as to Ivomectin I hope she gave you the bird strength, ONE DROP, back of neck. Repeat in 2 weeks if needed, also do ALL your birds. They could all be infected so it's a good idea to treat the lot.

Pictures would help. If you go to "Budgie Pictures" at head of forum it shows a pinned article about how to post pictures, that may help.

They look great Nadene, Mum left the violet in her chick by the look of it, is it pied or normal/cinnamon?

Welcome to B.B.C. Lots to learn on here!!

Hi, If you are near a produce store, check out their budgie mix seed. I buy mine at $25.00 for 20 kg bag. It's very clean seed, no dust or rubbish, lots of millet, canary seed etc.you can see through clear section of bag at what seeds are in it.( plus it's listed on bag). I have not had any feeding problems and my birds are all healthy active breeding birds. It works out a lot cheaper than buying from a super market. Then add whatever vegs you can get your birds to accept. Mine get. corn on cob, spinach/silver beet from garden. carrots, tops,roots, dirt and all I just pull one out of garden and add to aviary, beetroot raw, cut in half and put in dish also leaves of beetroot. cucumber, some like it not others. To name a few,I also give them various small branch's of bottle brush, gum leaves (now and then), thorn less rose clippings, seeding grasses, chick weed BUT ALWAYS CHECK YOUR SAFE FOOD LIST. Before giving them new things. If it's bought vegs I wash them well, garden I don't as we don't use any chemicals etc on what I feed them. Generally try them with whatever vegs you have that are cheap and good.(not stuff going off) If you wouldn't eat it don't give it to birds. Also you have to keep trying, they won't eat new things first time you have to keep adding little bits until 1 starts to eat it, then, usually, others will try it Then you need your cuttle bone, shell grit Iodine/calcium blocks etc. All my water bottles are sipper type bottles (similar to guinea pig) this keeps water clean, no droppings etc can contaminate water. My birds all learnt to drink from them from breeding cage age, even older birds soon learnt to use them very quickly. I add soluble Iodine to my water bottles every other week also. I have "gone on" a bit but hope this helps you a bit.

Sounds like he's doing great. Good job, trouble is, when they become so special it will be hard to put him back in aviary. I agree with Nadene, I also add seed when first chick is around 2-3 weeks they all then start to forage around and learn to crack seed in their own time.

Hi, if chicks are that old I'd say she decided to start round 2. Dad should finish weaning chicks on his own. Mum could sit on eggs on her own but they may not be fertile if she lays any more. If you don't want her to have second round you could foster both her eggs to the other hen. (See if you can mark eggs so you know which are the foster eggs.) I'd then remove nest box from Mum's cage to discourage her from laying or sitting for nothing. See how you go.

Hi & Welcome, your young 7mths are too young to breed but they will probably try if there are nest box's in aviary. Cocks birds seem to "hang out" together more than hens. They like perches fairly high, for security I suppose. Tree branch's are fine, if you have nest box's on a shelf say, not very close to each other so the birds have their own space, all about the same height it may work but be aware of the problems you can have as Jenny said. Good luck with it and keep posting to let us know how you go.

They look like new pin feathers coming but the "pattern" of moult seems a bit erratic/strange to me. Looks like definite new feathers so I don't think it's anything to worry about. Keep an eye on them and see what they are like in a week or two.

How old are other chicks? Was the attacked chick the youngest of clutch? If so I would put chicks on floor off breeding cage with Dad left to feed them and let mum have sole access to nest box. Add an ice cream container upside down e.g. cut out so chicks could hide under it. If she has laid one new egg and you remove her from Dad, her next eggs may not be fertile.

You say they never come out of box often, maybe they are incubating eggs. How do you know they are all duds? I presume they are paired with cock birds not just hens on their own. More info will help as B.J. says.

If you are only having a pair or two in budgie side with nest box's I can't see you having a problem. By my guess your aviary as approx 7'x 6' so each half should be okay for breeding. Although depending on the number of chicks they rear I'd try one pair first and see how you go. As to needing more than one pair for breeding, it won't matter if your birds are a bonded pair and in condition. I'd say go for it, nothing ventured nothing gained.