Mirren

I moved her into a smaller cage inside yesterday so I could watch her more closely. She has been climbing and trying to fly but flopping instead. Her father is a lutino, mother is mid-grey with white accents. Lizzie is a shade lighter than dad. Her eyes are black. One of her siblings had red eyes. What does that mean?

Liv- she wasn't fat, but she seems to be getting fat because of this. Our birds all get fresh veggies every day, especially the breeders. The parents and her at weaning have corn, spinach, broccoli, celery and egg and biscuit. I tried what you suggested. I'm not exactly sure what I'm feeling for, but she flaps, but feels anchored firmly to my hand. It that a 'no' to lift? okay, photos- Please bear in mind that it's feezing outside and she's fluffed up a lot, so looks somewhat chubbier. Wing all present and correct (I think) Other wing While I'm here, what colour is she called? Can non-flighet Budgies breed (because I'll tame her if not). And do female budgies talk (I'm pretty sure it's a hen).

Lizzie (formerly Gizmo) hatched on 22/5. She was the youngest of 4 and the only surviving chick of that clutch (cold snap). Mum laid more eggs while Lizzie was still in the box and Lizzie was fully-feathered, but clumsy when she finally came out. She won't climb, except up a ladder. She perches on a low perch (about 10cm high), but won't venture to higher perches. I've put her in with 4 juveniles (about 14 weeks), in a large cage/ aviary (about 6 feet by 2 or 3 wide and 2 deep, no nestboxes of course!) in the hope that she'd get the idea and have room to practice. 2 weeks later- nothing. She's included in cage life. They come down to eat from the floor and low bowls with her and feed her or just sit with her. She seems to have the same posture and baring as the others. Her wings look strong, no feathers missing. She hasn't been sick, that I can tell. She just flaps and flops, quite heavily. Is it just something that takes time for some, or should she be well and truely flying by now?

I'll keep you posted, one way or another.

okay, so it's agreed- it's either a boy or a girl.

Oh good. Not that I'd have minded either way, but the breeder said male and it's nice to know you can trust people... Although another male from the same breeder has a brown ceres when I saw her head-on. Ozzie and Marmaduke seem to be special friends, more so than the other 2 I bought at that time. They pretty much ignore the girls! The last time this happened it was with 2 hens. They are now having their second clutch (number 4 hatched today, 3 eggs to go). The lutino 'hen' was a male. Now I know about pink ceres. To think I thought Budgies would be straightforward! Thanks Kaz.

Congrats!

okay, here we go- Marmaduke (or Matilda if female) in natural light. Marmaduke and Ozzie- the reason for my confusion! Ozzie looking more male. Unless I'm wrong there? It's a bit hard to see sideways, but his ceres is blue.

Yeah, that did come out a bit blue. It's purple with white around the outside. Let me try again.

This violet budgie is good friends with a male and looking more like a hen every day. I just wanted to check with the experts.

And Dad just came down and spent about 10 minutes on the tray feeding with her, but didn't feed her.

okay, every time I check on her, Dad is showing no interest and she's been on the seed tray eating. And eating and eating... I will check her crop too though. Thanks.

I've been away for a few days and hubby was bird sitting. I got home this afternoon to find our remaining baby Budgie Gizmo (I think Gizma, if I fell the pubic bones correctly), is alive and well. I've placed a nestbox on it's side in the bottom of the breeding box, with the lid ajar for her to have as a hidey hole. I put down a tray of food and a small water dish, lower than the parent's one. I also put in some low branches for her to perch on, because she can't fly yet. She was hatched on the 22/5, making her 5 weeks, give or take. Her legs look straight. She's been waddling around and I'm hoping she'll start to perch. She's been eating the seed. Mum and Dad have more eggs already. I was going to block off the nestbox until spring, but they had eggs and babies at the same time. They acted so fast I didn't get a chance to stop them! Anyway, my question is- how do I know for SURE that little Giz is ready to leave the breeding box? How do I know that the parents aren't feeding her at all?

Not necessarily I'm not sure if I should smack myself in the head or aim it at you! Maybe both... What other birds have you come across?

Hi all,It's all good. I probably did take things the wrong way and I'm sorry. okay, let's see-The hestboxes are there because they've been there from the start. It was my intention to try to breed the budgies in together, because I simply don't know what the perfect forumla is. We have 3 Eclectus parrots in an aviary flight together and know people who breed them and other large bird in together. 1 person we know has 7 pairs of Alexandrine together and they all breed.Budgies (for those of us who don't know better) have a reputation for being laid back and (seem to be) kept in colonies to breed a lot. The pair seperated were removed because we were experimenting and had a spare, good sized cage. As I said before, I thought we had 2 bonded females and a spare male, so the nestboxes seemed more or less redundant and it was harder to remove them than to leave them there. Removing them means rolling the cage up staris and results in much bird-trauma!okay, so I need either 2 more nestboxes or none?And it's a boy. okay, at least that is sorted!Also, I've never heard of there being a difference between quarentining at home and otherwise. it was my understanding that is simply meant separation to avoid speading disease. I realise that it's normal practice amongsy larger birds to let them get used to each other before they're face to face, as we did with our Alexandrines and ringnecks (cages side by side for a week), but was told it was okay with budgies because they're laid back.It's hard to know who, out there, are experts when they speak with confidence. I have to say budgies are more complicated than all our (28) other birds!

Agree....................some kinds of advice we dont like to listen to despite it being best for the birds 2 Nestboxes. 4 birds. 2 pairs, so it seems. They weren't hanging pots, they're coconuts. They used to sit on them, not in them. They stayed in there until just after I took the picture because the only one who shows interest in them these days (since the bonded male and female moved into their own cage) was the grey hen. I figured since was bonded to a female that it wouldn't cause too much issue. Since her mate now seems to be male, it was suddenly an issue. Just so you know, I've come here open midedly and in good faith for advice from more experienced people, not be talked down to. There are more respect for posters on other bird boards, but they are not budgie boards. If you are truely interested in helping people learn and bettering the lives of their budgies, then perhaps you could be supportive? I guess this will get me banned, but honeslty, don't bother. I feel very unwelcome, so won't be returning.

About... 15 months old. Why does it look male to you? I assume there are characteristic other than the cere that would show it?

Yes, she was quarantined. She was away from other birds for over a month in her previous home. Not sure how clear that is, but it's hard to get a good angle to see the cage. The young 'lady' in question. 'Sugar' and a bit of her mate Cutie.

Sorry I didn't come back to this sooner, I didn't get any emails saying there were replies. I did end up getting a hen. She seems to be trying to make friends with the male (follows him, no aggression), but he keeps moving away. It's only been a week though. I'll take some pics later today, as I have another question. My yellow hen mated with my grey hen yesterday. Could the yellow hen be male? I'll take pics and upload them here so you can see her (it, him).

I have a huge cage ( 6 foot by 2-ish) that was the only colony cage for the budgies. 2 of the budgies paired off, so we've moved them and a nest box into another cage. That left 2 females and 1 male. We had another male, but he snuck out the only way out that we hadn't thought of. Anyway, the 2 females have paired up, leaving the poor boy left out. The yellow hen is quite aggressive and is now chasing him around the cage. She is letting him eat, but not sit in peace. She'll land next to him and sidle up, only to snarl at him when close enough. Tricky little critter! Anyway, I know this is all normal, but what do I do? Do I get a male and hope the boys make friends? Do get a female and hope all 3 hens don't gang up on the poor boy? Or do I leave them alone until they reestablish the pecking order in the colony? I would like to have 1 more, but is now the best time or the worst?

The cocounut (actually 2 of them) hang from a rope and they all hang off the outide and chew it. They don't really go in there. There are three holes around it, so it's not that enclosed. But I'll keep a lookout. If they go in there a bit I'll take it out. Phew, the hazards of budgie breeding!

If I can get my camera to work I'll share as soon as I can.

Hi all, I thought I should introduce myself. My name is Mirren. I live on the NSW South coast with my husband, 2 kids, 1 cat and 29 birds. I have a flock of 6 budgies who live in a HUGE cage outside the loungeroom window. I have the pleasure of listening to them twittering all day through the back door and can look over and watch them buzzing about or snoozing. The flock consists of a grey female, Cutie, Yellow female, Sugar and white and blue female Polly. The males are all blue and white- Wavy, Sky and George.

Agreed. No birds under 12 months should be in an aviary where there are nestboxes. To the best of my knowledge they're all over 12 months or more old. We have few other different kinds of parrots (Eclectus, cockatiels, kakarikis, quakers and conures) and I've discovered that they all have their own quirks and ailments. So before we get a new breed we do a lot of research. But things always arise that didn't come up in a google search before! Budgies seem to be delightfully quirky in a whole new way and I wish I had some sooner. I didn't end up buying any from the petshop (besides the fact they're expensive), but they'd have been quarentined before joining the flock.