robyn

Things sound good so far, I'd give her any extra nutrition e.g. the egg and biscuit, you can, although if she is not used to it or any new foods she probably won't take it. Maybe a bit of vitamins in the water may help. When the oldest chick get to 2 weeks or so, remove any nest material and add seed to floor of nest box instead. This encourages the chicks to crack seed /wean themselves before they fledge so they come out of the box already eating for themselves. Mum may also eat seed in box for younger ones. Can't work out why pet store would say remove last 2 eggs to freezer? If they are fertile and hatch I'd say she could cope.

Hi & Welcome, If you go to the forum ."WHAT SEX IS MY BUDGIE." on here, there are 2 pinned articles ALL ABOUT BUDGIE CERES.and SEXING BABY BUDGIES.at the top of forum. If you read through these (there are also pics) they should give you some clues what to look for. At 8 weeks there could be some colour to help you decide, boys seem to be a pink/purple colour where hens seem more light blue to whitish colour is the only way I can describe it, it's like the more you see them the easier it is to pick, I still get it wrong after a couple of years, with green normal chicks it would be easier than most mutations I'd say. Also as an added "clue" if it bites really hard it's more likely a hen l.o.l. even if you could download a couple of pics off those articles to, say your phone, to compare the chicks to it may help.

Most use photobucket to add their pics. you could try it to see if you can work it out.

I'm no expert but I'm leaning towards male. If you look at top of this forum there are 2 pinned articles, .1,. all about budgie ceres. 2. sexing baby budgies. If you look through that info it may give you a clue. Also just to add you really need to quarantine new birds, to make sure they aren't carrying any disease your existing birds could catch. It also takes a bit of adjustment when new birds are introduced, usually a few hours is enough for them to accept a new member.

Hi Rhiannan, does your bird have a ring on? He looks to be a few years old going by his feet, my opinion only mind I'm no expert. I did buy some like this (non fliers) when I first started, off a "breeder" ??? that must have had the birds caged in little show or breeding cages as they could not fly either,( which you don't find out until you release them into aviary). The ruffled look on his chest feathers could be a sign of stress, as I also had this on a bird and was advised this could be the cause. He settled down and the ruffled feathers settled also. If your bird can't fly and has been caged to breed he must have been in the cage for some time. To get back to the flying I put mine into the aviary with food and water on the floor so they could have access to that, then every time I thought about it I'd go in and gently hunt them around to make them fly, a little at a time they gradually strengthened their wings and could then fly with the rest of the birds, it took a while. I cage my birds to breed also but only ever 2 rounds of chicks at the most, they are then returned to aviary, still able to fly at that stage, to regain condition and fitness etc. Hope this is some help to you.

Same here. Probably have to re-do pics on p,bucket.

Glad they are feeding well for you, they are really young if oldest is 8 days. They need the warmth, which is hard to do without the glare from lamp. I'm not sure what to advise or if the glare is harmful, if you had nest box in a cage with or without Dad could you put a dark cover over cage but still let the warmth through from a lamp e.g. keeping the nest box darker as that is what they would normally happen. Some other members who have had experience with hand rearing may be able to give better advice. In the f.a.q. section I think there is an article about hand rearing, if I can find it I'll let you know where to find it. The article is under BREEDERS DISCUSSION a pinned item by Daz. called Hand rearing budgerigars. It would be worth the read and may give you more help.

Well done for removing box's etc., if your birds are only young it means they are too immature, so it would take a toll on their bodies as well. If you are colony breeding if you have young birds I'd leave the nest box's out until they are breeding age. Your hen may have just been to young to cope with egg laying, incubation etc.but keep check on your birds daily for any signs of illness, if you have lost a couple to unknown causes. Does it mean you have 2 or 3 chicks left? Either way I'd say you may have to hand rear them, you could try to put Dad and nest box into separate cage it may work, if chicks call for food he may feed them. I think I'd still feed them with syringe a couple of feeds to keep them going in the meantime, if you find their crops empty and Dad hasn't come to the party then, looks like a hand rearing job. If there is any sign Dad has attacked chicks remove him straight away. Good luck with it it could go either way. Just read Flips reply, I didn't think about Dad keeping them warm, if he's not going into box at night you would have to remove the chicks to a warm area, a small nest box with a, say 40 watt, light globe over it for warmth also some form of nest material, rolled oats wood shavings etc to help keep them warm.

Hi Rose, if they have been in earshot of each other etc. I don't think you would have a problem placing them both in the one cage, especially since they are male and female. Hens could fight but a pair male/female are generally o.k,. he may put up a show of " it' s my cage" type of thing until they get used to each other. You could maybe place their cages next to each other for a couple of days to see how they react to each other. If she has been quarantined for a month I'd say go for it. No nest box no babies, they may mate but that will be the end of it.

Hi, first if your hen was only 6 mths old she was too young to breed anyway, it is better at least 12 mths. or older. How old is the Cock bird? if it's his first time breeding he may not know what he has to do in rearing the chicks. At eight days old Dad should be helping to feed Mum so she can feed chicks but the Cock will feed them as well. If you have had other deaths you could have some sort of infection in your birds it's very hard to tell. Do the chick's look like they have any food in their crops?Dad may have fed them when you were not there,if not they will die (possibly within a day) without you giving them hand rearing mix or even baby rice cereal mixed up and given off a spoon if you can get them to take it. Do you have any other chicks in other box's or are these the only one's? Give us some answers to these questions and post again for more help.

Hi, why are you giving this to them? Do you want them to breed or is it just a supplement to their diet? The thing is if they aren't used to soaked seed etc it take a while before they tried it, like all new food. Is it something you could add to their seed dry? I haven't had and need for this so can't give you much advice.

Just as a precaution .If skye is the one you are worried about, tail bobbing is not a good sign, can you hear any squeak type noise when it breathes? If so you need to get some Ivomectin (for birds) from the vet 1 drop on back of neck. It could be a lot of things air sac mites etc, The Ivomectin, costs about $10.00 or so, you would only need 20ml if that, I would treat both birds with it, it would also clear up any other worm/mite problem skye may have. It's a good thing to have on hand. BUT I can't stress enough that you act urgently if you hear any squeaky noise, fluffing up etc. as they can die within a day or so if they are ill which they hide very well until it's nearly to late to help.

Hi Alannah, sounds like your hen is doing well, she obviously incubated eggs, the hen feeds the chicks crop milk for the first days anyway so if she copes with that the she will go on to feed them, just as she would if Dad were there. It may take a bit of a toll on Mum but I think she could do it, as long as she has good food and water in easy access. Maybe a bit of vitamins in her water may give her a bit of a hand, just keep a good eye on her to see if she is coping okay. Good luck and keep posting to let us know how you go.

Hi, I think you said he is only 8 weeks old. If this is so he's still a baby, it will take months of training for him to sit on your finger, learn to speak etc. I think you might be expecting to much to early, don't worry over everything he does or doesn't do and let him settle into a routine that he will create for himself .

Hi Phoebes, it's hard to tell but I have seen similar behaviour in the aviary with hens in breeding condition. Maybe it is just a breeding thing, does she look like she is in breeding condition? It could be just hormonal. l.o.l., apart from that I don't know, I don't have indoor pets just my aviary.

The trick is little and often, try one new thing at a time, when they accept that go on to add a new veg. Sweet corn raw or cooked, not so much lettuce it's supposed to give them diarrhea, silver beet is good. A bit of bread is okay, not very often, like us it makes them fat if they get it a lot. Just try the things on the safe food list until he gets used to new foods it takes a while for them to accept it. In an aviary it's a bit different, once one try's something the others seem to follow, also when breeding, whatever veg's you feed parents the young seem to accept when they have fledged.

Very pretty fellow can't tell you mutations, other than a type of pied, he looks at home already.

I also vote for Budgie mad's pair. To add Dec:

Did you add a picture. of your chick? If so it hasn't posted you may have to try again. Glad you have got your little one even if we can't see him yet.

I'm with flip on this, Mine come to the entrance and call for food, they reach out sometimes to the extent they then fall out but manage to get themselves back into the box, (if they are really not ready I put them back in). I have had some come out into cage but at night they return to the box for a couple of days. I find once they come out, if they perch they stay out, sometimes there is a huddle in the corner when "the giants are there" but as soon as I go out they start to wander around the cage trying seed veg's etc after seeing parents eating it.

You just have to ask: "which would I rather, no bird or a clean floor" I think I heard "go the bird"!!! l.o.l.

I may be wrong here but I did read somewhere, on here, that the fumes given off when cooking with teflon coated pans is toxic to birds, unless you had your birds very close to cooking area and used the teflon pans a lot, I don't think there would be a problem.

This sounds like a good plan Finnie, if I had the room or separate aviary's I think I would use the same method. As I only breed pet types I have all my birds in together until I "get clucky" and decide I want some new chicks. Then I close off half my aviary and add cages to one half and leave rest for birds. I agree with leaving no box for 2 weeks, as I got caught this season with 2 " ring in" chicks from an aviary encounter, before pairing my birds.

November: or November 2 awake

Swings, bells, even cotton reels mine play with, hanging rings e.g. large curtain rings attached to a length of chain with rings hanging along it, mine love to climb from one to the other. Make sure anything you put in is big enough they can easily get in or out of without getting stuck. Depends if it's just for small cage or aviary, mine are all in aviary but the flight area is open to sun and they play there all day or just enjoy the sun. Another thought, don't put anything in that may be seen as a nesting place if you don't want them breeding.