The Black Doctor

The door of my avairy is about 1800 high and I'm worried that one of the birds will escape, especially when I get more. I thought a door curtain would do the trick, as I can open the door, go through the curtain and have no escapees! I am currently looking at either a PVC style curtain: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Klimdt-Door-Curtain...=item230ab16214 Or a bamboo style curtain: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Bamboo-Door-Curtain...=item27b536f2cb I'm a bit worried about the birds chewing them and just wondering which one is safer (I think the bamboo has be treated, so I'm leaning towards the PVC one). Any thoughts or other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I've just built some nestboxes and now I'm onto my breeding cabinets. What methods do you guys use to attach the wire front to the cabinet. Do you use pleats, horseshoe nails or some other method?

Has this chick suffered from feather plucking?

I now have another chick and it's much bigger than the first two. Both chicks are doing really well and I'm hoping for another one today or tomorrow.

I hope on not over-stepping the mark here, but I think these two FAQ's will also be quite helpful: http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/faqs/i...&artlang=en http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/faqs/i...&artlang=en Kaz - not meaning to hijack this thread, but just on the FAQ's - all the photos under the 'Standard Requirement....' for each variety under 'Budgie Mutations' are gone. I was wondering if this could be updated, as there are many birds that may be visually similar, but their cheek patches, feet colour, other differences etc. help to indicate what variety of budgie they are. I believe it's very useful for a beginner, such as myself.

Thanks Rachelm. After yesterday, I was half expecting to find the second chick dead this morning, but I was very happy to see that its still going strong. Maybe I'm pushing my luck, but I'm also hoping for another hatchling this afternoon!

Thanks Robyn. Just one thought - the shells from the first two hatchlings are still in the nest - should I remove them?

Thanks guys. Kaz - I didn't think it was the cock or hen - as you said there's no blood. I didn't think about getting cut by the shell - that might explain it. The chick was a tough little character then, as it appeared healthy enough and lasted for 3 days. Oh well - hopefully it was just a one-off and I'll leave the setup as is. But I'll be checking my chicks more thoroughly in future.

I've posted this under Breeding Help: http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....showtopic=29663 so please reply there thanks.

I posted this under 'My First Egg' topic in the Breeders Chat, but thought this it was probably more appropriate to do it here. Well everything was fine when I got home, but I found the oldest chick dead this morning. It appeared healthy, then I noticed a tear near one of it's legs. To me it doesn't appear as though this chick was attacked, but I may be wrong. I inspected the other chick very closely and it is fine. My thoughts as to why this may have occured are that the chick: - Had a deformity - Was trodden on by the cock (he's always in the nestbox) and/or the nest box is too small - Was nipped by the hen or the cock I haven't done anything except remove the dead chick. I am wondering whether I should: - Remove the cock - Change the nestbox (I made bigger one's to the specs on this site) Any help would be appreciated.

Well everything was fine when I got home, but I found the oldest chick dead this morning. It appeared healthy, then I noticed a tear on one of it's legs. To me it doesn't appear as though this chick was attacked, but I may be wrong. I inspected the other chick very closely and it is fine. My thoughts as to why this may have occured are that the chick: - Had a deformity - Was trodden on by the cock (he's always in the nestbox) and/or the nest box is too small - Was nipped by the hen or the cock I haven't done anything except remove the dead chick. I am wondering whether I should: - Remove the cock - Change the nestbox (I made bigger one's to the specs on this site) Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks guys. Can't wait to get home today to check their progress and to see if there's another new arrival!

I think I'm getting better at picking their sex now. I just hope I get it right with my new youngsters!

Love this light green spangle! Is it a cock bird?

Baby No. 2 arrived this afternoon. When they're just born they don't move much - that's the second time I thought I had a dead chick, but it is moving! The first one is full of food and growing exponentially!! Hopefully the second one is the same.

Congratulations Kaz. I like your cobalt.

Thanks Sunnie. The first baby is doing really well and I can see what look like chips out of the shell of one of the other eggs. Hopefully No. 2 isn't far away!

Thanks so much Kaz. I've been searching around the forum for the past 30 mins looking for that same article and came back here to find you posted the link to it! I just had another peak and the baby is doing well. I'll take it out and check the crop in an hour or two.

I now have my first pinky! It was in the corner of the nestbox when I first checked and thought it might be dead, but there was movement when I picked it up. I put it back with the other eggs and I left it for about an hour and it's still alive and tucked in with the eggs. Mum's been very restless and dad's been in there a fair bit, so I hoping it's getting fed properly.

Phew! That's a relief!

Well she stopped at six eggs about 6 days ago. 5 are fertile and I'm expecting to see the first one hatch in about 3-4 days. Can't wait! I've looked all over the forum, and I've seen people's post that allude to it, but I can't find anywhere where it says what to look for to identify what sex/colour/variety a chick will be once it starts getting it's tail feathers. Can someone point me in the right direction please?

I hope this isn't a trait of most cock birds who like to go into the nestbox - because one of mine is in there all the time!

Dean - hopefully in the not too distant future I'll have one of each - then I might be able to determine whats what!

Thanks for the bump Kaz.

okay, took some more photos this morning and she doesn't appear to be a DF skyblue violet, just a SF cobalt violet (from my novice observations!). It was very overcast when I took these pictures, so there wasn't anywhere near as much light as there was yesterday: She's not very photogenic - she kept flying away from me and turning her back!