Maddy

Just read through the topic for the first time. Learning from mistakes I find is the best way to learn. But take everything that is being said on board birdlover, it is what I did, and though it may seem like everyone is picking your ways to bits...it helps in the long run What Kaz means by suffusion is the blue you are seeing on his belly. So if the df yellow spangle has olive green on its stomach, than that is suffusion I'm going to take a guess and say that the df yellow spangle is a girl as well...I see a bit of white there. But the pictures are badly lit so I could be wrong Try and take some in natural lighting with no flash from the camera Also, don't mistake biting for signs of females. They don't all do that, especially at such a young age.

I have been so busy lately its not funny. I get maybe one day a week free and I have to spend it cleaning. Its so hard having 3 jobs. Anyway, I have made time slots during my week for the birds. I still try and check them at least once a day. If I can't do two there's not much I can do about that. But they are all doing good. No problems whatsoever. Okay, egg update. Pair #1 - Grey cock (Gandalf) x Cinnamon Grey hen 5 eggs - 3 dark with the first due to hatch any day now (if the first egg laid is indeed one of the fertile ones) Pair #2 - Split clearbody Dark Green cock x Normal Cobalt hen 1 egg - only laid yesterday Pair #3 - Normal Cobalt cock x Grey hen No eggs - Am planning to block the nest hole with cardboard to encourage more interaction Pair #4 - Yellow Df Spangle cock x Cinnamon Grey Spangle hen 7 eggs - None showing definite fertile, 2 showing early signs (I have a hunch that the first 3 may be clear) Pair #5 - Normal Cobalt cock x Olive Recessive Pied hen 2 eggs - laid one off the perch so there would of been 3. Too early to show fertility So everything is going good. I am quite excited about pair #1 as they both have excellent qualities. Pair #4 and #5 are also ones I'm really looking forward to seeing the outcome. This is so much fun I spent all this morning cleaning out each cage, topping up pink powder, sweeping the aviary. I find it is my thinking time as they are not tasks that require a lot of thinking power. In this time I came up with a name for my flight / breeding room, so I will no longer have to type flight / breeding room But I am working on a sign for the door so I will post it up together at a later stage

From reading all these bad experiences from clubs I am so glad and happy that mine is nothing like that. For instance, today the club went out for an activity together (nothing to do with budgies) and then joined together for a bbq lunch and budgie chat. It was a learning experience as well as a fun one. I really find myself grateful that I haven't come across any of these bad apples...but I know the people you are talking about. They take the 'competition' side of things way to seriously, and if they don't win they take it personally. They don't care who's days they ruin by b******g to everyone about how their lives are bad and horrible and taking it out on everyone around them when things don't go their way (basically, a child tantrum) When I know people who have it a lot worse or harder that walk out of the house every day with a smile on their face, no matter how cloudy. They are the glass half empty kind of people. You just need to be a glass half full person GB and do whatever you want to do, ignoring what everyone else around you wants

So egg update. 5 eggs for pair #1 (grey cock x cin grey hen), doesn't look like there will be any more for this pair. 2 of the eggs are definite for fertility, the other 3 are still showing up clear. But signs of fertility make me happy. 4 eggs for pair #4 (df spangle yellow cock x cin grey spangle hen) 1 is showing possible fertility, others are still showing up clear. Still only the two pairs breeding. One of the other hens just sit in the box all day not doing anything and the other pairs don't have much interest in the nests at all. One of the new birds i bought last thursday passed away, only after a week. But the pet shop was nice enough to let me pick out another one. The hen i got (it could be a cock I'm a little confused with this one) isn't as good quality as the one that died, but she has good size. Little small in head and mask, but good length and feather direction.

Well, putting the trap on top of the cabinets seems to be the way to go as I have caught 2. They were both dead. One just, the other seemed to have been eaten by the fresher one But I've had this trap for months now and haven't caught a thing till i moved it up there. Sneaky little things. Also, egg #4. WooHoo

This is the first sign of mice i have ever witnessed in my aviary, and its been up for a while. Also, I couldn't tell whether or not they were fresh as the top of the cabinets had water on them (the way I found the droppings in the first place. The trap that I have set on top is a humane one, so no it will not scare the birds. When I have a free day I will go through and find any gaps. Now that the roof is all fixed I can focus on the mice, as I had made that a priority. I have a roll of aluminium mesh sitting in the shed waiting for this day. It wasn't that I was putting off using it, I just don't know how to apply it to the aviary. But now that this has become a potential problem I will have to find a way. The problem is the bottom of the aviary is pavers, and while the gaps in the pavers are okay, the bottom of the aviary doesn't sit entirely flat against it. It also doesn't line up with the edges, so it makes it very difficult. However, like i said these could be old. I have had a clutch grow without any problems, no evidence of mice whatsoever. So hopefully I have some time to figure it out.

Was expecting egg #4 today, but no luck So sitting on 3 at the moment. Candled them, none appear to show signs of fertility. Pair #4 (cinnamon spangle hen and df spangle cock) laid their first egg today though. I didn't expect them to do anything after the little aviary flooding problem i had. Only because they are on the bottom of the cabinet, and the cabinet kind of absorbed some of the water which in turn got into their cage But I've fixed the biggest leak and just patch up small ones that come along, so that shouldn't be a problem anymore. I also found rodent droppings on the top of the cabinets, so I set a trap up there and will have to keep an eye out for anymore.

Look for a budgie club near you. Members always have birds they want to cull.

I got a second egg yesterday They both look quite large too, compared to the last clutch i saw, but that could be because this hen has bred before. I have to take this particular nest down to look in it because its a top open nest and the aviary is a little short. I almost dropped the whole thing though when a baby huntsman crawled out from underneath it and scared the **** out of me It also started pouring today, and when i went out to the aviary i found it flooded Well, exaggerated, there was water everywhere. It seems that every time I fix a problem a new one comes up, or i just notice it because I ruled out some causes by fixing them. So I had to get the caulk out and seal up the tiny little gap between the sheets of corrugated iron that makes up the roof. I'd like to see any rain get through that roof now.

I never thought of a book light. But I got a little $3 LED from the variety store near my house. The first candling torch i got was a normal torch with a long piece of plastic attached, so that the light came out the end. I've put that plastic bit on the torch and it seems to work There was no egg this morning so I dated it for yesterday. I found the same thing happened with my eggs, the first 2 hatched at the same time, so I figured it doesn't matter if I'm a day off

I have one egg from Pair #1, which is the grey normal cock and cinnamon grey hen. I didn't get to check the nests yesterday though because I was running late for work, so it could of been laid yesterday. But I'll wait for the next one and date the first one being laid 2 days prior. Now all i need to do is find another candling torch, as mine broke AGAIN

There's a pet shop near my house that 'specialise' in birds. When I say that, i don't mean they are experts, they just sell more birds than anything else. I like to pop in there every now and then because I know that they get their budgies from breeders, and I like to keep my eyes open for potential winners for my flock. Today, i noticed that a few of them were starting to develop some scalyfeet and face but one caught my eye. He's a beautiful little sky blue greywing, and his feet are shocking. it was also starting to spread to his face which was quite bad (not as bad though) So I took another quick look at the rest of the birds there, and notified the person there at the time. They see me come in all the time to browse, and I didn't make it out like they were bad, I just let them know. They knew what it was, and even she was quite shocked at how bad it was. I asked what they treat them with. They stated some brand they keep on the shelves, scaly barrier or something like that. I offered to just take the poor bird and treat him at home. There was no arguments, she seemed all for the idea. I then told her about ivomec, and that it would be a lot better than whatever she was using. I purchased these two birds from the same shop The cock has a mild case of scalyfeet but the hen is fine. I treated all three of them. So that was my pet shop save, plus I got away with 3 birds for the price of two.

Thats Gandalf (the one in my sig) Found him in a pet shop last year, October I think. No leg ring, but I was told he was about 18 months when I picked him...the owner tried to convince me not to get him, thinking I wanted a pet so I think i got the truth out of them lol So I guess he would be close to 2 years old now I'm really hoping that pair will be successful. Also, did everyone spot the cock in the first pair? I thought he was being depressed (moving from a flight to a cage) But I sat on the floor and waited until all the birds forgot I was there so they would act normal (so I could see which pairs were starting to bond), and he went to the corner anyway, sang to the wall, and tried to feed it lol He is quite strange. But that pair seems to be the most bonded regardless of his fruitless wall feeding.

One of the last picture updates for this clutch I will most likely post more once they moult and get their adult feathers in. Lets look back at the pink little lumps they started off as. Leela is the one under Gloria's head (rip), Ace is on the far right and Potato is the little baby on the left. Its such a journey and an experience to watch them go from this to what they are today. Leela Ace (next to dad who did a wonderful job looking after them) Potato, my little blue ball of personality This was supposed to be the four of them, but potato waits at the door and doesn't hesitate to leave. Leela follows potato, but is cautious and doesn't stray far of my hand. Ace tends to stay back in the cage with dad, nibbling on my fingers. They're so full of life and have their own unique personality. I still get Ace and Leela mixed up though. Hopefully I can repeat this wondrous journey with my new pairs: I have come to the decision to sit back a little and watch the magic. I won't ask for as much advice (unless of course its an emergency) I want to make my own mistakes and my own solutions, as I've learnt that other people's don't always work for me. So I've gone ahead, looked at my birds, picked out potential partners and this is whats I came up with. I've decided to go against advice some of you gave me, and I paired up my recessive pied hen with the naked spots. She is living and has lived a perfectly happy life without some feathers. If she has chicks like herself then they can live out their lives in my aviary. However, if she has chicks that are perfectly fine, then hooray! I got both of these birds for free so I have nothing to lose but some seed. She is a wonderfully beefy hen, so i hope for happy, healthy, beefy, feathered babies

I have the same question as Amy, as this is looking spectacular, and would love to do something similar when I get my own place Its so simple but so effective And I love how its all raised. One question from me is where you got all the materials from?

Hah that's okay squeak, I have learnt something there in case the scaly face doesn't clear up I've put another pair in a cage today. I'm taking my time with determining the condition of the birds as they are look as either just into condition or just about to start going out. However, I do recall when they were in quarantine (these are the birds I acquired for $10 each) that they started in condition but went out about halfway through, and it was obvious. So by logic they must be coming into condition. One of the hens I've been watching seems to have skipped the 'cinnamon cere' stage and gone to 'chocolate cere'. So I may put her in with a male without a nest and see if they bond. As the babies that started as eggs in the beginning of this thread grow bigger every day, I feel that I will post less and less in 'First breeding Journal' until I don't anymore. But then I can start a new journal with my new found knowledge and rather than being a barrage of questions and mistakes, can be just a daily dairy of my birds

I was a little worried about that....so instead of the 4-5 sprays per bird I only did 2. And I will do it again in a few days or a week.

I removed the eggs and the nest and put her in another cage as you said. She kept laying eggs though and would sit on them despite being on a wire bottom cage. But I removed them as soon as I saw them. Hopefully she won't lay any more and she can go into recovery mode. I've put another pair down. They seem to be in condition and all plumped up ready for breeding. I caught them and gave them an ivomec spot and a mite spray before putting them in. Its lucky I did because I proceeded to mite spray and ivomec the rest of the flock and found visible mites on another bird (couldn't see any on any others, but that doesn't mean they're not there) So that is something I'll have to keep a close eye on in the future. For extra measures I sprayed the inside of the cage and nest box as well

Both of the hens are blue ringers and I think the owner said they are about 9 months. You can slightly see the blue ring on the light green hen in the picture. They came from the same cage in the sale area. But age is something I definitely check before purchasing (or in this case just acquiring) birds

I am adding some birds to the equation. Once some of the pairs I have planned out using GB's advice (because no one else has given any yet lol) have come into condition then I will be pairing. Cobalt opaline cock Cobalt recessive pied hen These two are the pair I had in the breeding cabinet about 2 months with no success. I have no explanation for this as they were bonded and mating and both in condition. So I figured I would try them with different partners and see what happens. Normal cobalt cock YF sky cinnamon opaline hen I dunno. Her wings look brown. Light green opaline hen These three I got for free at the last bird show. The two hens are on the small side, but I love the cock. I also got some better pictures of Nimbus, the Violet spangle cock and the opaline hen as I felt the pictures did them no justice. The pairs I have definately decided are: Gandalf x Cinnamon grey hen Normal Cobalt hen x Dark green cock Though if you have a really good reason why i would be better off pairing them with others I would love to hear it.

They're going really well. I havn't been able to get pictures because my life is being stressful and hectic but I will be sure to keep up with the thread Its strange....it seems Potato is fully feathered but the others are not. But I go out there and they are all sitting on the perch watching the birds in the flight across from them, and I barely ever see Leela off that swing lol Doormat is finally getting the blood off her face. She's sitting on 3 eggs (I just let her go) but I'm sure as she is by herself, that they are not fertile so I'll let her sit on them as long as she likes The other pair I had in the breeding cage above them, I finally let back into the flight as I came to the conclusion that nothing was going to happen. I had paired them on the 1st of February and I saw them mate but nothing ever came of it. I will most likely try them with different partners and see if I have better luck.

No doubt in my mind

I've only just read your response GB, so it is past 24 hours now. But I checked on them this morning and the babies are happy (and alive) Leela has even discovered the joys of the swing, though how she got up there in the first place is beyond me Don't be too harsh on me, I am very new to this. I will know for next time, even if I had to learn the hard way.

Terrible, sad, disappointing news. I went out to the aviary this morning and was greeted by this: and Gloria's broken bloody body on the bottom of the cage. The way she looked....I never thought birds could be that malicious. I've been holding back tears. I loved Gloria, she was my favourite. She was sitting on the perch next to Dad and exploring the seed. Like I said, there were no signs of aggression before this. I saw Doormat chase her off the perch every now and then, but it wasn't viciously. Just a bit of a bump...no pecking whatsoever. I feel like it was my fault. But what I've learned from this is that half tissue boxes cannot hold back a desperate mother like I was informed. So there was a frantic baby and dad move this morning to an empty cage. And then there were 3

I have half a tissue box on the bottom of the cage just in case, but like I said she's not being aggressive. The thing is Taboo, I don't want her to lay again. I feel she's not in top condition to have another round. Thanks nerwen. Hopefully she won't lay any more eggs but if she does do I just keep removing them?