hath

its confirmed in france and some swans not 25 miles away from me have been tested for it but they must be clear as i havnt heard anymore

this is a very good question and i looked into this a few years ago as i know canary breeders do this so all the chicks hatch at the same time after doing quite a bit of research and asking a good few breeders who had tryed it it would appear for some reason it does not usually work with budgie eggs anything over two days and it didnt grow in the egg

use wood shavings if the hen doesnt want them she will discard them which can in fact induce breeding as it replecates cleaning of holes out in the trees used to breed in the wild

you can put it either but if you place it 3 inchs of the floor it will provide hiding space for the chicks i put wood shavings in but the birds do tend to take them out soft food in the bottom of the cage so both parents can get it the cock stays in and helps feed but you do have to keep an eye out for a rougue bird who sometimes breaks the eggs or kills the chicks

totally agree i just put up the info as a reference as she asked the question could they be and everybody said no which i agreed with as i never heard of it before then this appeared

daz whats the normal term for a parblue again

this might be a little late but there has been an article in budgerigar world this month where a cock bird died when the chicks were young so the breeder left the chicks with the hen to raise which she did but laid again when the chicks were ready to leave so he left the eggs for a while before removing but checked them before he did clutch of 4 eggs 1 fertle time since she was with the cock bird 6 weeks

as it was the only chick i think the hen lost interest it and so stoped feeding it does happen if this was her first time breeding then what you descibed does happen quite a lot

make sure their shavings and not dust

as i said 95% of them chose to sleep outside no matter what the weather well these birds are thriving evan though most are old birds i dont think that would be practicle i doubt these birds in the uk today have very little in the way of wild birds

if you are going to lock up your birds on a night ie 15 to 20 as smilyl wants to keep then this will be pretty time consuming and possibly upsetting to the birds im not to sure chasing them around a flight ona evening will be benificial

not just the eyes and head, spots and mask were not what i would have expected

pixie please read what i wrote mine have access to an indoor area all the time but they do not sleep in it sorry 95% dont use it to sleep in no matter what the temp its been down to -9 last week and they still slept outside yet you said you mighten be able to let them out if its to cold ? as for foxs you will get more attention from the normal plague of cats during the day that is why i would recomend that people with a outside flight double wire it this wont stop them scaring them but will stop them geting them with there claws

ive got to agree lin that was my first impression when i saw them :fear

sorry pixie your wrong most of the birds in my retirement flight sleep outside in all conditions including freezing weather as long as they have access to an indoor flight and they are quite funny playing in the snow the only reason i would have the roof totaly covered is to protect them from wild bird droppings

have a look http://www.angelfire.com/ma/lowmaz/ http://www.bcv.asn.au/

sarah do as doccs says and if the club is anything like ours one bird is no problem you will get to know people who will pass on advice and offer you birds but do not be supprised if these are not there best birds take one that is not as good but look at your bird first now and look to see what needs improving buy a bird with this trait and then start your breeding programme

if this is the first time your hen has bred was the chick fed they do not seem to relise they have to feed the chick

better of asking the wife my bird house with everything installed £3000 seed for the year including millet ect £200 then buying your birds good show birds can cost £100's but a good start bird will be 50 to 60 pounds so thats around £100 pair you will need 3 pairs (and they are not gaurenteed to breed) chicks from these will sell at £10 till you start winning shows then you can start charging more (but it is not easy to win) but you will want to keep these chicks from winning stock,vets bills on an average £350 to £500 then when your as daft as me you give away 35% of the chicks to try and get the younger generation interested oh i forgot society fees ring, ring orders and show cages and covers and in my case the electricity to run two fans, heater, lights there sure are cheaper hobbys but in my opinion none more rewarding and satisfying

if your breeding in cages your hens could be going to the nest to quickly and not allowing the cock to do the biz 1. put your pairs in for two days 2. then block the nest entrance for a day 3. then open it for a day 4. then block it for half a day 5. then open for one and a half days then repeat steps 4 and 5 two more times

no not really remember this year i only have 8 pairs to breed as i am starting again after what happened if there are no eggs by 3 weeks and this is the max that i would leave them with no eggs i would think there is a problem give them a rest then try again

must admit i'm a bit different here if my hens haven't laid eggs by 3 weeks they are separated from the male put back in the flight and tryed later after 7 to 10 days approx

i will have to get back with the causes and percentages as they are in a file in the bird room and i have locked up after doing my final check for the night

i know because i check my birds you would feel if a bird was suffering from malnutrition ie breast bone showing probably 75 % of birds that die in my main aviary are sent away for an ortopsy by dr j baker you have the option to join the veterany dianostic service when you join the budgerigar society so i am 100% certain that none of my birds died from malnutrition

i totally disagree with this statement i have kept budgies for well over ten years now in large numbers my birds are fed only seed (no pellets) veg and millet and i know i have never lost a bird down to malnutrition