Ross Laidler

I was thinking the same thing

Here is the remaining baby , pretty ugly at the moment but is looking better each day. Sorry they are not very clear

The latest is that I only have 1 chick left after the attack , it is slowly recovering . Ross

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i have sadly lost another overnight and 1 of the 2 remaining doesn't look too good , but I will have to keep all fingers and toes crossed and see what happens . I have noticed that the hen has not been leaving the nest much so she has been eating the seed and millet that I put in the nest box . Here are the parents Ross

Hi Jlee welcome to the site I only started breeding budgies this year and I thought that I would let nature take its course . I only have the breeding cabinets now thanks to Dave as he was throwing them out , all of my birds have been getting on great until the other day, I was at the aviary when 1 of the babies was thrown out of the nest box and that is what made my mind up for me . Thank you for pointing out the post about setting up nest boxes in a aviary as I will admit that mine do not come anywhere the distance between boxes . If my reply has come across as that colony breeding is a no no I am sorry as I was only trying to save you from the heart ache that I have gone through I would still love to breed as a colony and see what colour birds I get but for me I am not going to go through the pain of seeing a baby killed by another bird . I wish you all the best with the ones that you have in the aviary and lookforward to seeing the results . If your husband is handy I would say that a cabinet would be fairly cheap to build as you both have just built your new aviary. All the best with your breeding Ross

Hi Tonilee welcome to the site I started this year colony breeding , do your self a favour DON'T as it is too heart breaking to see the chicks that have been killed by other birds , I have just gone through it yesterday and lost 5 chicks and I have put my other birds in breeding boxes . But that is only my opinion but I know a lot of others on this site agree with me . Your birds are all beautiful by the way. Ross

I went out to my aviary and checked up on my babies today and found that the hen and cock from the next nestbox have been attacking the babies resulting 4 out of 7 were dead. I took out the remaining 3 babies and the mother that was feeding the chicks and put them in 1 of the breeding boxes that I am now setting up . I never put the cock in there as he also had blood on his face . I have put flour on the wounds as per Dave 's instructions and the hen has been in the box with them so I will keep my fingers crossed that she does not reject them and they survive the shock of being attacked. I have made the decision that from now on I am a caged breeder only , the stress is too much for me Ross

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I cleaned it out this afternoon and put some oats in the bottom and a hand full of seed , the babies are all doing great . Cheers Ross

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What is the best nest material as I have seen a picture on site of seed in the nest box Ross

Hi I am just wondering what way you all clean out the poop in the nest boxes as I have 1 with 7 babies in it and it badly needs a clean out. Thanks Ross

No I had put up the post before you put yours on offer Dave , your old ones are doing great. Thanks for all the replies. Ross

44 came on everybody this is getting a bit 2 sided

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I will probably leave them and watch as they seem to get along fine , when I looked today the 2 hens were on the nest with the 6 babies , I guess at least there will always be one in the box to feed and keep the birds warm

I see the 2 hens in the box more than I see the cock.

No not sisters as 1 is only about 12 mts old

I have a nest with 5 chicks now but I have noticed that there is another hen sitting on the eggs , the 2 birds below are the parents this is mum and this is dad has anybody else found this with colony breeding. I will put up a picture of the other hen when I can get a picture.