jetrick57

Since Sunday I now have 7 chicks from a total of 102 eggs. I've had a go a candeling the eggs and now expect maybe a third to be fertile.

Sorry had trouble last post loading this picture of my second arrival today.Dad's a Yellowface and Mum's an Albino.

Dad would have to be split lacewing to get any lacewings or you would only get 50% normal/Lacewing cocks and 50% normal hens So my cocks from this nest and the previous could be used with their Aunty at a later stage and I should get some Lacewings?

I had to go and check. They are black. Dad's a Normal Grey and Mums obviously a Lacewing. Last year this pair had one round and produced two chicks which were a Normal Grey Hen and a Skyblue Cock. I am hoping for some Lacewings. The Hen's sister is in the next door box with another Grey Cock bird and sitting on 8 eggs also. Also my second arrival just hatched from my YF Cock and Albino Hen. It's getting like a maternity ward out there in the shed!

Just wanted to share with you my first arrival this morning. Hopefully more on the way. Excuse the picture quality!

Hi Jimmy Thanks for the birthday wishes. No I haven't this time,but I am hoping for arrivals from tomorrow onwards. I will post a picture the minute I get one. That should be from a Yellowface Cock/Albino Hen pairing. He has been extremely fertile in the past and she was from a quality breeder I bought at Auction last year.

Sorry I was referring to an egg being soiled by the hen. I have read that this can infact cause a problem for the chick when hatching. Apparently you can carefully place the eggs in warm water to clean them , but I'm not that keen to do so.

Thanks for that I will give it a go. I have one egg that needs a bit of a clean as well which I might do with a cotton bud etc. Cheers Pat

Thanks for the well wishes and Happy Birthday to you too! To be honest I have been reluctant to touch them.I am probably being paranoid but after reading about the germs that we transfer by our hands, which inturn can be absorbed into the egg, I'd rather wait.Going by past experience a number of them look quite good, but I'm not going to count my chicks so to speak!Pardon the pun.

Just checked my nest boxes and now have 90 eggs between the 16 pairs out of 20 that have laid. This Sunday by my records should see the first hatchlings. Fingers crossed!

Hi Liv I started going to BSSA meetings as a kid in the late 60's, and even had some birds of Mr Logans. In the 90's joined NEBS and had some birds of Mr Duffield who was also a great influence. I have recently joined the BSSA again as it's closer to home and the meetings don't conflict with work as much. As for my flock I am starting out all over again and it's great! I will make sure to say hi at the next meeting of either club. Cheers Pat

The cages are stacked on top of one another and secured to the back wall of the shed. I have also attached each cage together for added firmness. The white boxes you can see at the base of the cages are some storage units I had left over at work and have worked out well, as they allow me to vacuum out feathers and seed etc. As this is the first season using them I may look at purpose built shelving down the track to improve the set up. While it's working I am reluctant to change anything. Let's hope it results in lots of good chicks. Can't wait!

Glad to report I have 16 nest out of the 20 I put down on a total of 73 eggs. I don't want to get too confident, as we all know how quickly things can sour. A couple of hens are now on 8 eggs each, which is made all the more comfortable I guess with the bigger nest box. They are all happy which as a plus!

Just checked all the next box's and I am pleased to say 15 of the 20 nest have now laid eggs. A number of them have laid 6 eggs so the average is still at 4 per box. One box which laid today is an Opaline Yellowface hen paired with a Cinnamon Grey cock bird (probably my best birds) so chicks from them would be great!

Not real good at this but here goes. This picture is of the my birds as they were being paired up on March 1st. A number of spare cock birds remain in the bird room to help with vocalising! http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx85/je...57/P1020412.jpg

I will get on to the pics over the weekend. Pleased to say the twelve nest has now laid. I don't want to get too excited just yet, but all the hens are being so placid which makes inspecting their nest less of an issue and they seem very happy, which is a good sign.

I just thought I would share with you what is happening with my birds during this March/April breeding round. I put 20 pairs down on March 1st using all wire breeding cages for the first time, and nest box's made per Daz's design. So far I have 11 pairs sitting on an average of 4 eggs per nest nest. I still have some hope for a few of the remaining pairs. So far so good!

Strangely enough I just had a neighbour knock at my door to offer me cage that belonged to his Grandfather in Ireland. Realising I had birds he thought it may be of some use to me. The cage was infact a travel cage. It's about 300x250x200 and has a sliding entrance at both ends. One end has a rubber wall at the entrance hole to prevent the birds escaping as your place them in or catch them up. It should come in handy. Funny how my budgies were the conversation starter after years of living near by.

I received some birds from interstate recently and the travel cage used was w260xd260xh150. The cage was hand built from timber and masonite with a wire front and door made from mesh. Five birds traveled comfortably in this on the plane. Hope that helps!

Recently when making my nest box's I also found making a concave something of an issue.Every hardware store I approached told me there was no such tool and that I would need to chisel it out myself.With thirty plus to do that wasn't going to be easy. Fortunately I was put in contact with a member of the BSSA in Adelaide who shared with me his method and kindly did a run of them for me using a Rotary Saw. Firstly he created a timber template with a hole in the centre for rotating and then placed my intended concave secured in the centre of the template. Once secured he lowered the saw down in contact with the wood and rotated the template creating the circular concave pictured. I was extremely thankful and somewhat amazed by this older chippy's speedy skill at doing something I was told couldn't be done. I should add this method is not recommended for safety reasons in todays work shops. Also sorry if my explanation isn't quite clear. Most importantly the birds seem to like them! http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx85/je.../P1020409-1.jpg

Possibly, I've got an old book that tells me to build everything out of Asbestos... not sure that would be a commonly held view nowadays... :fingerscrossed: I'd love the Publisher info if you could get it for me that would be wonderful! As Kaz said The Budgerigar Man is written by Roy Stringer, and my copy list him as the Publisher as well. The book was first published in 1991 Cheers Pat

The book is called "The Budgerigar Man" and I bought it about fifteen years ago. I don't have it with me but can forward you the Author and Publishers name later if you want it. It has a handy chapter with Harry's suggested pairings for most varieties as well as ones to stay clear of if you are wishing to breed exhibition quality birds . I like it, but things have no doubt come along way since it was published.

I am pleased to say two hens have layed today. One is a White Lacewing with a Normal Grey Cock. The other is an Albino with a Yellow face cock. I have based all my pairings on the suggestions of Harry Bryan in his book. While the Yellow face is not a great bird himself he is very fertile and produces young far better than himself. The Albino hen proved to be infertile last year so heres hoping the YF can change things for her this time around.

Hello there! My name is Patrick and I have just recently joined the forum. I have been keeping Budgerigars on and off for over forty years but have never shown them. I currently have about seventy birds of which I have just put twenty pairs down to breed during March/April. The pairs currently cover most varieties but that may change as I develop the line and cull the flock in the future. Though my wife would say, I wouldn't let any of them go! I have one large external flight and two smaller ones which come in handy. I have only recently converted 2/3's of my shed into a birdroom and will be using all wire breeding cages for the first time. My nest box's are made per Daz's design and appear to be well received by the birds. Thank you Daz ! It has been eight days since the birds entered their breeding cages so I am hopeful of eggs any day now. I will keep you posted, and look forward to learning heaps from all of you! Cheers Patrick