hath

at 6 months old the hens bones arnt fully developed so you will stand more chance of a egg bound hen

it can happen to any age hen although in my experiance it is mostly 3 years and older hens that suffer

you say she was in condition for a few weeks and had a really brown cere when you got her which means she was well into breeding condition so it sounds if she naturally came out of condition i would not put a box in you stand a far greater chance of getting clear eggs i would wait till she starts to come back into condition

12 months is the widley recognised breeding age, birds which are younger can breed but it takes a lot out of a bird to bring up healthy chicks you do not want to put your birds at risk by breeding to young

the american budgie and the pet budgie that most people in the uk have are the same size so hes 100% pet budgie

ah sorry rainbow i get you now but these birds i was talking about were pet pet size birds from a breeder who didnt have any show birds

our pet budgies are exactly the same as american ones

a hen knows how to regulate the temp she moves it to the outside of the clutch when it is to hot and further under her bwhen it needs warming as far as i know nobody has hatched a egg (budgie) using an incubator although i know of people who have tried

unless you have a foster hen to incubate the egg i am afraid you wont be able to hatch it

why i cant understand why he would say this

if your bird is sick and you cant get to the vet straight away for some reason keep it warm and to stop dehydration (which is one of the biggest killers) take a new small paint brush dip it in water and run it across its beak at regular intervals

no i dont think so but saying that certain colours bred give better qualities for show birds

yes it is but you need two cages and run the male with both hens ie one in the morning and one at night

got to admit they are cracking looking birds the recessive pieds

http://www.ifnw07230.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ian/index.htm have a look here go to pics then ians birds then click on whichever picture to enlarge

not so the only feather duster i have bred was from a pair of pet birds many years ago

they dont feather any earlier the feathers just dont stop growing this is a very good point they should also be retired from breeding and their offspring should not be allowed to breed

there size in the nest is the first sighn they are huge its when their feathers continue to grow thats when your sure and most dont live past 6 months

dont let them dehydrate that is one of the biggest killers

it kind of makes you think how the wild budgie lasted all these years on seeds and plants ect without such a balanced pellet and before you start im not having a go it just makes me think thats all

lin how old are the chicks

your birds dont need to bond to breed if you time everything right ie breeding condition you should have eggs 7 to 10 days if no eggs by 21 to 25 days i would seperate for 7 days then try again

i use a fan set about 6 to 10 feet away that moves so there isnt a constant draft

if its brown and crusty shes well into the breeding cycle