robyn

Sorry to hear things haven't been so good for you. Glad things are looking brighter now. Did you keep the parents of your yellow chicks? Maybe you can repeat the chicks with a bit of luck. In second picture was there a flash of lime green between wings on that one? Would have been pretty if so. Good luck with your new chicks.

Hi, If your splayed chick is a month old it may be a bit late to fix it but worth a try. I use pipe cleaners when I get any splayed. I can't get the make-up sponge to work (there are articles on f.a.q for help) I make a loop around one leg using pipe cleaner go through legs in figure 8 around second leg gently ease hips into correct position, you may have to do it a bit at a time, by leaving pipe cleaner a bit longer between legs and ease it a bit tighter over a few days, until hips sit in position I do it around ankles, sponge method above knee is recommended. I hope this makes sense, its a bit hard to describe but when you try it it's easy enough to work out. Leave on for at least a week then check for any improvement,if so leave for another week. Even if it only improves enough for it to perch it should help it. Keep an eye on the circulation in his foot, see if colour improves he could have a break or dislocation more than just splayed. Were your one legged chicks hatched that way or had they been attacked? Do you only have budgies in aviary or mixed birds? p,s pics may help us give more advice if possible.

Hi Jaff, Sorry I'm just catching up again, if they are both cracking seed you should not have to worry about them feeding themselves. Better to move them out of harms way if Mum is on the war path, they can do a lot of damage, even kill chicks if they get too bad. Just keep the seed etc in reach for chicks. I find once they decide to get up onto perch they seem able to fend for themselves from there on. I leave them in the "kindy" cage for a couple or three weeks before they can go into Aviary without any problems.

Do you know if younger one is cracking seed? Does it call for food from Dad? If older chick is back up top did it climb or fly back to nest box, if parents are not worried about it being back at nest maybe they would still feed chick, if it's put back into nest but be on guard in case they do hunt it. On the other hand if it's cracking seed it could be having a pick here and there on it's own enough to keep it going until it learns to eat more. Just to mention I was told to feed egg and biscuit dry as it can get contaminated quickly if wet, going sour etc. not good to leave it for any length of time. Others could advise that have used it more than I. I usually give it to breeding pairs when feeding chicks but I give it dry.

Not up with genetics but I'd say rec? clear flight sky pied. close as I'd get, JUST A REALLY ROUGH GUESS, l.o.l.

Sorry Kaj, I haven't been keeping up on here as much lately. Glad you finally have a chick from Rainbow which proves she is fertile as her mate must have been. I don't know the reason we get d.i.s. and weak chicks when we seen to be giving the birds every thing we think is needed for successful clutch's, Mother nature is a funny old girl. Hope your chicks continue to thrive. I have heard chicks chirp in shell ,usually about a day before they hatch.

Looking at pics I'm not sure what it is. As he reacted like he did they must bite or suck blood. Either way it looks like a parasite of some form, if it's feather quill mite I read they are pretty hard to get rid of. Can you take bug or picture to a vet to see if they can identify it? Until you know what it is it's hard to advice any treatment. Ivomectin may kill them if it sucks blood but if not you may need some form of insecticidal powder to puff on to bird. I don't know if it would be connected to cere changing or not. I really think you may need a vet.

It's very possible, depends on what the parents are split to. You have a very pretty collection of chicks to show for it. Well done.

Old post this one, good to see someone interested in the "old stuff" as they make good reading. Your birds are lovely, haven't seen a t.c.b, in the flesh so to speak yet, they are very nice. Good luck with your breeding plans.

At 27-29 days your chicks should nearly be ready to fledge, can you remove chicks to floor of cage with Dad? Leaving Mum to lay her next clutch in peace would save addled eggs. Dad should still feed the chicks even if they are out of nest box. Or as suggested use the wait and see approach .

Your pictures don't really look like scaly face. BUT I had a male whose cere kept changing from blue to brown. I was advised it could be a hormone problem and to add some liquid Iodine (Aqueous Iodine) not sure of spelling just now, to his water for a few weeks. It's fairly expensive for just a bird or two but I put it in all my birds water (50) birds. Within a couple of weeks his cere had changed back to blue, he bred some lovely chicks also. His cere changed a number of times, usually when he moulted but I still add the Iodine to my birds every 3 weeks or so. I haven't had any other problems and the birds do need the iodine in their diet. It may be worth a try, even adding Iodine bells to their cage could be enough. Do you have those in Turkey? Like calcium /charcoal bells but Iodine . If you have treated him with Ivermectin that should get rid of any mites making him itch, also any worms he may have. Hope this is of some help.

Hi looking at your last picture's the aqua Hen? on the coconut (I think) could have mites or something as she looks to have feathers missing around her eye. It may be still scaly face but if you are taking one to the vet I'd say pick out the one you think is worst affected. Phoebes, I have never tried to buy Ivamectin on line, I presume you could from vet suppliers. There seems to be different spellings but I think it's all the same product.

I don't think you need to add oil to their seed, if you have scaly face mites you can treat it with Ivamectin, probably sold under different names. It is one drop on back of head if using it. OR you can smear a bit of vaseline over cere, possibly feet as well if affected, to smother mites until you get correct treatment for scaly face. Do you think your birds may be moulting? If not the feathers should grow back if you stop oil and treat for scaly face using correct treatment.

Hi Pinky, Pictures will be very interesting on this. Did your parent pair have RED eyes? What do you mean by clear eye ? I know some terms are used differently in other countries, in Australia I don't believe there have been any pink/red coloured birds (buds that is). An albino here has RED eyes or you can have a black eyed bird that looks like an Albino, D.F. spangle, dark eyed clear etc. BUT if red and blue make purple, when mixing colours and we have violet coloured birds, is it a stretch to think one day a red bird will mutate?? Just to add if you have colour showing on your chicks one or both parent must be split to some other colour I think, not pure Albino's, or else you would have only had pure Albino's I think. I'm very unsure on genetics as a whole.

Hi Karyn, I think I have read that they come into breeding condition about ever 3 mths, usually when they are in condition the aviary tends to get rather noisy, little squabble's etc. as well as bright blue/tan cere's. Not all will come into condition at the same time, in between breeding cycles they will moult etc. If you get a couple more hens I think you should have a happy little aviary.

I think it depends where you are, I get a 50ml bottle of Ivamectin for birds from a vet' practice for around $10.00 I have on average 50 birds and get at least 4 rounds of treatment, usually ever three months out of that bottle. I think the shelf life is over 12 mths. Ring a local vet and ask their price, no postage if you can get it local.

Hi Karyn, You probably won't have much trouble with either even or odd numbers. UNTIL you either add breeding box's or you have squabbles with hens in breeding condition. I have found after a couple of years breeding I seem to be looking for hens. You would definitely have to even the numbers if breeding is on the agenda. Cages are best for that if possible, rather than colony breeding.

Great news, don't forget to add a picture or two as the chicks feather up. If chicks legs are sitting in correct position they will be okay.

Some beautiful birds there Rachelm, good luck with your breeding,sounds like a promising start. Except for the egg eater, could you try to rescue a couple of hers to foster? At least you may get some chicks from them.

Good luck with this round.Hope it is an improvement on last lot, so disappointing to wait 3 weeks for nothing.

Welcome back Kaz!!!

Hi Jaff, Well things sound a bit positive, if your first 2 are that old they should be o.k. I'd say your last egg is a dud or even d.i.s if it hasn't hatched by now. Why chicks die is anyone's guess, there are so many things it COULD be it's hard to say what it is. As you get a bit more experience with breeding you can pick up signs of things that aren't quite right so you have time to try and save them. How have you managed with the splay legs? You only get a week or so to try to fix that problem before their legs are too far gone to repair?

If the two older ones are being fed properly, active etc they should be okay. how old are they now? make sure parents have a good diet seed/veg etc for feeding chicks. What happened with first clutch? Infertile eggs, dead chicks or d.i.s.? If chicks hatch it's not a fertility problem, could be a weakness in either parent causing chicks deaths.Genetic maybe, have either of them bred chicks with other partners do you know? There are also things like yellow belly that chicks die with but I'm not exactly sure what it is as I haven't been unlucky enough to have this yet, (touch wood). Other than dead chicks seem to have a very yellow abdomen, whether it's a bug before hatching or in nest after I don't know. More reading needed to find out. It's very hard to pinpoint.

Maybe it's just a case of too much too soon? Only try to train him for a few minutes a day, if he's not interested just let him play by himself for a while and try again later. He needs time to adjust to his new home, new people etc. I'd suggest you just take it slowly, he will only get more agitated if he's continually pushed to do things not natural to a bird.

Hi 21 feet, Is there any way you can find out if they are related? With similar colouring they could be siblings, if they were I don't think breeding them together would be the best plan. Both lovely birds either way.