fordmob

Haha, that photo is one I must have accidentally downloaded from my phone, it is one of those photos that is preloaded. Nice shot. We do have some nice beaches here though.

Thanks Julie. All of the good ones are opaline or op cinn at this stage but I don'y care. It was all about trying to breed some quality this season. The opaline grey green just above could be something really special. Still yet to see it stand properly as it is still a bub but all six of it's siblings have good wing and stance so I am hopeful. Easily the best bird I have ever bred and by a long way. Some of these good ones can be sooks when they fledge as you know so let's hope he is okay. He seems like a spirited little fella.

the brother of the bird above

This one is 30 days old and he looks okay .

You already know what I use. Other than my upside down bottle jobbo the guinea pig drinkers are the best i reckon, for the breeding cages that is.

okay. I am no vet but everything I have read and been told by vets is the opposite to this. 1: A broad spectrum antibiotic kills bacteria, even good bacteria which is why it is recommeneded that after you treat a bird with pro-biotics after a course of antibiotics. Antibiotics will weaken a birds immunity. That is why the use of antibiotics is recommended to be done sparingly. 2: Antibiotics is only useful for treating a bacterial infection, what causes french moult is thought widely by avian vets to be a virus not a bacterial infection. As for what can be done, I have had french moult many years ago but it wasn't widespread. I got it in about 10%-20% of chicks. I know of several people who have had every chick come out with FM. The only thing you can do in situations like this is stop breeding. This has happened to one of our very experienced (40 years plus) breeders in our club this season. he has tried everything to contain it and you could eat of his birdroom floor. If you are just getting a few with FM then maybe you just have to wear them as acceptable losses. In short there is very little you can do except contain the offending nests and maybe spray them with a virucidal spray, offer fresh air and hope for the best. Don't take my word for anything, you can read several articles on FM that have been published by various vets. I will try to find them and post some links. NB: Apparently there is a vaccine that has been developed for the main virus that causes FM however it is not commercially viable http://www.bcv.asn.au/French.html Many people use Virkon S as a viricidal cleaner but this is cheaper and pretty safe from what I understand. http://www.ebay.com....49#ht_500wt_922

I get excited when I see chicks with a brow like the grey green on the left. I make a note on the breeding card when I get one like that. Failing some major fault they are always keepers. Do you suspect an infection in your birds? Doxy will have no effect on a virus and will do more harm than good.

Is the sister better Julie? She looks it from the photo,

I am definitely fancy phobic GB. I don't like the word being used in connection with me, There ain't nothing fancy about me. It was definitely said Julie but you had photo shoots and autograph signing so you were otherwise occupied. Logies, some crappy actors have won them, surely we could come up with a better nickname.

I use builders spaghetti. It's easier because it's pliable and you just throw it away when you have used it. I should video it one day.

Just worked out a deal to get Golden Cob Supreme for $33 at Corio Petstock. It is $5 dearer than the Leeton seed but in my opinion is a better/cleaner mix with added Vita D and amino acids. It is RRP at $39 but I wrote them a letter explaining that I was a member of a club and asking for discounts on their seed and products. They sent a letter back offering the discounted seed and 10% off all avian products for Geelong Budgie members.

Some nice birds there, I like the cobalt, is he the one that has splayed legs?

After a few Beers Im going to try this on an old bird. On second thoughts, Might start with a young good looking one at the pub , never know might just picture up the ONE!! Sheez mate whatever you do, DON'T put a ring on one.

Free enterprise and freedom of choice is at the core of democracy. When governments start to make choices on what we consume, will they then decide what is best for us to watch, to read, to worship and to say? It's a slippery slope into fascism my friends. (You can use that if you can understand it)

Bit of a budgie-egg scenario though isn't it.

Agreed on all points.

In my unprofessional opinion no, it could be a number of things. In the absence of anything else, keep her heated to about 25 degrees celcius by placing her near a lamp or similar. Make sure she has plenty of water and that it is easily available with little effort for her to get to it. A little bit of citric acid (or lemon juice) in the water and I also put gatorade (or other sports drink) in it.. Of course get her to the vet asap.

May be it is, it was referred as "the fancy" again during the presentation at the UBC shield, made me cringe...

Nice Kaz, really like the sky hen on the right. She is really nice.

It was a great day with 171 birds benched which is a good effort for a UBC show at the moment. We had a number of out of towners make the trek. Well done to Matt Mayor who is an Intermediate at our club who took out BIS with a really nice blue. 10 y/o Digby was very happy with his fallow win, truth be known he didn't have a lot of competition. Still he is well and truly hooked. There was loud applause when he went up to collect his prize and he was pretty happy. He is meeting a lot of great people and learning heaps. The fallows are his and he checks them about 15 times a day! He is a determined little man and he will end up the best breeder in the country if he keeps his current level of enthusiasm. Has been in love with the fallows ever since a visit to PT. Thanks for all the congrats, it was good to get some birds to a show again. A lot of my birds got knocked for short tails, back when I finished up as long as a bird had a primary tail it could be shown, now apparently the primary feather needs to be longer that the secondary tail feathers, so I learned that. Good to see that structrally what I had measured up okay at this early stage. NB Well done to Wayno for winning the crested

Great recessives. Nice width.

Place the ring next to the bird, then visualise the ring going on the bird. Accroding to Oprah the universe will obey your comands if you believe it will happen.

Bizarre. It doesn't look like feather mites to me. The greywing colour seems to be suffusing through the body colour on the feather tips. Zuzel, can you remove one of the body feathers and take a good close up photo of it? That way we can assess if the feather has any damage. I am guessing that the grey colour is on the tip of the feather. I suppose that could be hard to see in the photo.

I the budgerigar artiste known as Fordmob and tongue in cheek referred to as the Good Stud Cock even though I was gelded some time ago sincerely and solemnly declare that I will not sue Generic Blue if she happens to paint or draw any of my very poor photographic images that I post on this here site even though I think there are many better photographs to choose from. When Generic Blue makes millions of dollars from the sales of said drawing or painting I will make no claims against said millions but I would accept a meal at a restaurant (not a fancy one, I love Nandos). Generic Blue can do whatever she wishes with the images that I post on this site, forever and ever. Amen Signed Fordmob