moglet

Cooool! We've been dying to know. How can you tell at such a young age? My daughter is so madly in love with Red. It's one very cherished and loved little baby, she has been waiting AGES for our first chick as I promised she could have it for her very special friend. Should I try to get a picture in daylight tomorrow? I have a strong macro lens so I can get within millimetres if needed. The problem is Red jiggling around sticky beaking and trying to climb up Grace's sleeves.

Wow! My first breeding Journal. Very excited about by bird's goings on Firstly I had several pairs set up. First pet type pair (Sparkles and Cosmo) had 6 fertile eggs, only one hatched. I learned the hard way to put in lots more nesting material after Mum has started to lay so the eggs don't roll around if she startles. Red (the baby) is 3 weeks old today, and looking like a light green dom pied like its Dad. It's gorgeous. I have posted updated photos of it under the breeding page "welcome to Red". Second pair - Maiden albino pair. Just starting to fluff around with the nesting box when disaster struck. I was rearranging the bird room and had two cabinets in the door way leading to the verandah, I was RIGHT THERE vacumming and a ~!@#$% butcher bird slammed into the cabinets. Before I realised (I didn't hear it over the vac) both albinos had fluttered out of the cage in the hole where the nest box had dropped in when the butcher bird impacted. I went dashing outside with a net, but we back onto a big park and by the time I had vaulted the fence and had located the cock he was dead and the butcher bird was starting to yank out his feathers. I never found the poor little hen. I was so devastated. Third pair - a beautiful big normal grey and a gorgeous sky blue hen. I bought them both from the same breeder and the cabinets too, so I put them in together in the cabinet as both looked beautiful and she was in season. Within a week she was laying, and then I realised the Cock was wheezy. I got him onto Triple C but he died in a few days. The hen sat on 6 eggs for about the next ten days before she decided it was just too much and ditched them. I really didn't think they would survive as by the time I realised she'd stopped sitting they were very cool. I popped them under another pet type hen (Possum) that was about the same stage and had six of her own eggs. I'd candled them and it looked like at least 5 were fertile. When I candled Possums own eggs a few days later, I realised they were ALL fertile too, so if every egg hatched she would have 11 babies!!!! Not goo for a maiden hen. So I sneaked the foster eggs one by one over the next week to be under Sparkles with her single chick. She accepted them and I was totally amazed to have a baby hatch this last Tuesday.... then another yesterday! She has three more foster eggs and big fat Red to look after now. But she seems to be coping very well and all three chicks are well fed. The foster father is just brilliant and so diligent, so I got very lucky with these eggs. I am hoping they will be gorgeous quality chicks given their parents looks. Here is a picture of 'Lucky' the first foster egg to hatch this Tuesday, it was taken a few hours after hatching. It has quite a bit more fluff than Red had on hatching. Fourth pair are pet types. A Cobalt T2 yellowface cock and Mauve dom pied hen. She is a brilliant sitter and I am expecting her six eggs to begin hatching either today or tomorrow with no dramas.... famous last words!!!! Next pair - another large grey normal cock and a stunning cobalt hen. She began laying, but she stopped sitting and is now wheezing too. I have been treating both birds with Triple C they had a full 7 days, now I have sprayed them for several days with a pyrethrum based lice/mite spray at the suggestion of a breeder. The cock never seemed to develop the wheezing and she sounds maybe a smidgen better, but not hugely so. I have removed the nestbox and am just keeping them isolated until she gets better. Any suggestions on treatment from here would be VERY welcome. I have been reading up and am wondering if I should treat her with Ivermectin (?), but am a bit hesitant. She doesn't seem distressed or unwell and they are both quite active, eating voraciously and chattering away, she just seems to be breathing harder than normal, especially after exertion. Last pair - a spangle green/aqua male and a big sky blue hen. She has just laid her first egg on Wednesday, so it's all just starting to go to plan there. I have another pair I think I will set up this weekend. I'm just trying to decide on which hen, I have two in mind.... So I will let you know!

Red is growing beautfully. He is 3 weeks old today and just adorable. His Mum has now hatched two foster eggs I sneaked under her when a hen stopped sitting and he looks ginormous next to the newborns! This photo was taken at 18 days old.

We've just hatched out first baby 10 days ago, and I tell you that incubation period was excruciatingly long!! A word of warning, apparently we must have startled the Mum too often on the nesting box and she scattered the egss and 'addled' them. Out of six fertile eggs, we only got 1 baby. The rest had babies in development in them, but they were dead. Even thought we used to tap on the box, she'd stay and then anxiously startle off at the last minute when we opened the box. Put some nesting stuff in there to help stop them rolling around too much. Congrats!

This is our beautiful baby Red today at 10 days old. I think from the little yellow wing spikes he will look like his Dad Cosmo. This is his Dad, Cosmo. He's such a gentle soul.

Thank you. I was wondering the same. As a single mum for the last 5 years I can totally relate to her feeling overwhelmed! Possum seems to have accepted the foster eggs. I just hope she can cope with them all. We are preparing to have to feed the chicks from a young age because if she hatches all the eggs she will have about 8 chicks. As a first time Mum I'm not sure that she could cope with that. I guess now it is a waiting game. I put Hermione (the single hen) back into the flight aviary and she looks soooo happy to be back with other birds. She is chirping and singing and nibbling on all the treats. I think it was just too much for her.

My single hen has up until now been doing wonderfully well. I candled the eggs last night and she has at least 4-5 fertile eggs. In one I could even see a tiny heart beating!! It was amazing. All was good this morning, I went out for a while and when I came home she was sleeping on the perch. I left her another 15 mins or so and just observed from a distance, and it was quite evident from her behaviour she had no intention of going back in the box. Up until now she would dive out for a quick bite and dive back in again asap. So I checked the eggs and they were quite cool, not dead cold but very very cool. I have another hen on 4 eggs that is about 3 days behind this hen, so I have marked them and popped them under her. Have I done the right thing. After being so cold to they even stand a chance? Will it upset the foster hen? Why would she suddenly do that? Sorry about so many questions, but I am trying to get my head around all of this. By The Way red the baby is doing famously, it has its eyes open now and seems a lot more aware of the world around it. It is soooo fat!! Being a single chick with two doting parents!

Ahh. That makes a lot of sense. She has always been a skittish hen around us. We got her as an adult from a pet store, and despite months of being with us she is still very nervy when we do anything in the cage. We always tap on the box and giver her time to leave before opening it, but she tends to stay and look anxious then suddenly startle out of the nest. At least the other three hens I have on eggs are very used to us and quite relaxed with us and tend to just shuffle aside while yelling at us to get out when we look in there. It cracks me up, such tiny feisty girls yelling for all they are worth!! I love them so much Hermione (our now single Mum) is doing brilliantly, she is eating and diligently sitting. She now has five eggs. I will candle them in a few days. I suspect she has 3 fertile ones at least. I hope one of them looks like Johnathon. He was a beautiful boy. I put a small dish of warm egg and biscuit in her nest every morning and it is always all devoured in the evening. I see her come out to eat, and sadly she seems to come out to call for Johnathon. I guess she has the urge to continue mating. Annie has 4 eggs, but I'm not sure how successful she will be. She never looks like she is sitting on the eggs. She seems to be up one end and they are up the other and never terribly warm. It's her first time, so ..... hmmm! Adam is being very attentive and has discovered he looooves warm egg and biscuit in the morning. Possum is a natural. She has three eggs and is fabulous. Just moves aside gently to let us peep. We've had her since a tiny girl and she is very comfortable around us. Whizzbang is being his usual good natured loud self and is looking after her well. These two are pet types, and I already have some eager and excited homes for them. My niece in NSW is waiting every day with bated breath for news of her babies.... they aren't due to hatch until about the 29th, but I have to send 'news' everyday to her on email. I sent her some photos of possum with her eggs and it made the kindergarten news of the week!!! they should be just the right age to travel with us to Forster in NSW when we go to visit later this year. I will take some more photos of Red this weekend. I had forgotten how fast they grow and change! It has been fabulous for the kids to observe.

Well Red is growing beautifully. He doesn't have any siblings at the moment. There is one egg left, but I'm not too hopeful. One appeared to die hatching, and Sparkles kicked the other 4 eggs out, when I opened them they were fertile but not fully developed. Any suggestions as to why? Red is totally gorgeous. Loud, well-fed and growing at an amazing pace. I've wanted to take more photos but it has been so darn cold. We heated up the kitchen this evening to whip it out for some photos. I was desperate to photograph our baby! Sparkles went nuts while Red was out and came out to the kitchen to find her baby. Welcome little Red, hatched last Friday.

She now has 4 eggs, so she's laid another today. the first was laid on the 5th July. I just candled them and at least one is definitely fertile. the others I think might not old enough to see yet.

The big grey male, Johnathon, was dead this evening when I got home. Am very sad as he has a gorgeous personality. He has left Hermione on 3 eggs. What is the best option: • Put food in the nest box for her everyday and let her continue? • Foster the eggs to another hen who has just started laying? • Put another cockbird in. Am not keen to do this as I don't know why Johnathon died. Very sad. Vale Johnathon.

Yes you are right. It's just nicer than saying IT. My daughter has named it "Red" so I shall call it Red from now on. Girls are just as cute! We had a lutino hen that was the friendliest pet we ever had. She was amazing!

He sooo gorgeous. He is growing soooo fast. I thought we might get another to hatch yesterday, but not to be yet. Sparkles has six eggs, but I suspect only three are fertile. So I'm not sure which one red was. He's wriggley and noisy as when you look at him. I haven't had the heart to take him out for photos yet as it was so darn cold here this weekend. Mum is being brilliant with him and he looks so well fed. Dad is gobbling up egg and biscuit mix in the morning. I am a bit confused with incubation times. I read different things all over the place, all between 17-21 days. I marked on the calendar at 21 days just in case, but he didn't hatch on any of the marked hatching days, so now I'm a bit lost!! I now have 4 pairs on eggs!!! I'm so excited. 1st pair - Sparkles and Cosmo, they have six eggs, one hatched on Friday. She is rec skyblue pied opaline, he is dom light green pied. (Bad pairing I now know, but these are just pet types so I'm not to stressed!) 2nd Pair – Hermione and Johnathon they have 3 eggs. Due to lay another today. She is an English skyblue normal hen, he is a huge grey normal. They came from the same breeder I bought birds and cabinets from, so I just quarantined them in the cabinet and they went to town from day one. 3rd Pair – Adam and Annie 2 eggs due for another tomorrow. She is a stunning Cobalt hen, gorgeous big headed girl, he is another big gorgeous grey male. I am expecting big things with these two! 4th Pair – Whizzbang and Possum Another pet type pair. He is T2 golden face cobalt, she is dominant mauve pied. Laid their first egg yesterday. So it is all happening and I am just over the moon!!!

:):) I feel like a fussy Mum, I know how bewildering it was when I had my own kids!!

Thank you! I just checked and he definitely has some food in there now. PHEW! It looks like a bit of an air bubble too in there, should I be worried about that? They are both first time parents. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow when it is warmer. I am grinning from ear to ear!!!! It's been about 25 years since I had a baby budgie :) I'm so excited. I will have to put a breeding journal with pics, being a photographer I am hoping to document it all with gorgeous images. I got some new birds and cabinets from a breeder in our club and I have one beautiful show pair on eggs, and another two about to set up nests. I am very excited about our first season. This baby is from our non-show pair. It is still so beautiful to see!

I just got home and had a look at our new arrival. SOOOO CUUTE! I'm worried as I can't see that it's crop has anything in it yet. I think it hatched around 2pm. How long should I wait before I intervene? I haven't got another hen to foster it under yet. Only Hermione is has two eggs. I have some Neocare here, I bought it just in case. If I have to feed it, how much and what ration should I use?

What a cracker! I have a boy that loves to get one leg on the side of the cage, one on the perch and somehow he does this thing where he manages to do a somersault by going forward and underneath between his legs while his legs are still attached to where they were. It's amazing!I love watch budgies do their stunts, they are such little showoffs

Sooo, like Albino's you can only get an opaline male if both parents are visually opaline? maaan, I need to cogitate on this one!!!!

Sheesh, I need a bex and a good lie down. I'm going to print that out and absorb it several times. Thank you!

GB, am very interested to learn. Why does the dad being a sky spangle mean it's a hen? And why single or double factor. I'm still a bit confused on the factor biz.

Yes, the flash has made him much much lighter and greener than he is. Is very very dark blue around the lower belly and rump, and the green on his chest is actually a whole lot darker too. He's my favourite boy, such a devil and very playful and friendly.

I have a T2 Goldenface and he is much more goldy yellow than this one.... see below... I wouldn't have said this baby was goldface, but then I am really new at this too!

I found him through the budgie club i just joined.I would really recommend joining one. I learned heaps in just our first meeting, and then found out about the show thing last Sunday where they had beautiful birds for sale and I picked up Adam.

I am!! Now I have two lovely quality boys.... I am in the process of chasing down some show quality hens. Not an easy task I gather He seems like a lovely lively guy, he's chatting away from his quarantine cage to everyone in the flight and trying out his new toys. He's obsessed with a bell apparently!

Thanks Twisted. He looks a bit scrunched up in that picture. He actually has a lovely line to his body but wasn't cooperating for the camera.... LOL. I'm going to pair him with a lovely mauve dominant pied hen I have. I wanted to buy some hens, but I wasn't quick enough to get there.... typical! I forgot to add before that I know top show birds can go for up to $300. I know a breeder who has national champions in her aviary, and some of her top birds will go for that and be snapped up when they come up for sale (like today!!!). A bit out of my league I'm afraid....