hath

it is not the size of the aviary but the space on the perchs there is a formula to work it out ill try and find it for you

yes it is normal for the hen to swell up around the vent area

fits and seizures arnt uncommen i have a bird in one of my flights at the moment which suffers fits and there is nothing you can do

buy a water based maker pen and number the eggs as they are laid so you know when they are due to hatch make sure it is water and not oil based

budgies would not die of the cold in winter but would not be able to find food

i would be extremly suprised if the new hen was incubating them properly and the eggs were not dead already

this is the first time i have heard someone foster eggs to a hen that didnt already have eggs normally the new hen will throw them out to answer your question i would take out the eggs and let them lay there own if they are the ones you want

yes it is okay for a simple wire cage your cage does sound a little small(although i'm use to inches so i might be wrong) you could attach the nest box on the outside of the cage so there is more room in my experiance this is old for a hen to breed but you do get exceptions my boxs are 6x6x12 deep and are all home made but in the uk you can get them male order or some petshops sell them it is always better to ring them then you can prove the age i find around a third have problems with their first round it makes no difference to the size of egg

i've returned your pm the only part i have to sort of dissagree with rainbow is about the number of eggs she can handle yes some might not hatch but do not be to disapointed if the first or evan the second round chicks die due to the hen not feeding them as it somtimes takes a couple of rounds for a maiden hen to relise what to do,looking back at my notes i think it is about 35 to 45 % lose their first round but go on to be very good parents

dont put sawdust put wood shavings that you buy from the pet shop for rabbits sawdust will kill the chicks as they breath it up as i made this mistake when i first started breeding

dont panic they will practice breeding but it would be very unusual for her to lay eggs without a box and if she did just remove the eggs

i cant say i have noticed as i dont check the hens that closley after they have layed

you dont say if she is distresed if she was egg bound she would be panting on the floor of the cage or in the nest box not moving if she is egg bound i would not expect her to live longer than 24 to 36 hours and certainly not over 48 if she is not distresed then i would think the stress of moving her has stopped her laying

give her cod liver oil with her seed and also smear some around her vent put her in a hospital cage if you have one if not a small cage that you can keep warm.is she panting or lying on the floor ? if she has cracked it inside i'm afraid i dont ho;d much chance and it would be one of the few times i would recomend a vet

in exhibition terms 6 is an oap where 8to 9 is ancient,

when the chicks are ready to leave the nest the hen will attempt to get them out as she will be ready to breed again,keep a close eye on it as some hens and cocks will attack the chicks and kill them at this point

i have bread birds from the first time from 3 years but i do think the male could be to old

budgies will breed very well in an aviary you only need cages for selective breeding programmes as for the fighting well this depends on how brave you are they will sort it out but the worst result could be one kills the other although i dont think it will go that far mine fight quite a lot when in the flights as they are coming into breeding condition before i pair them up but have not lost any through this yet

the **** willtake over the feeding once they have left the nest

the male will contiue to feed the young when they leave the nest and should be left with the young till you can see them feeding you should supply a box of about 3.5 inches high so the young can hide underneath if the parents attack them once they have all left the nest i would remove the female if you dont want them to breed again or let her lay the next clutch and remove the eggs remove the chicks once they are feeding them selves

you can get the magazine in the the america by sending subscribtions $60 to budgerigar world 624 w 9th street suite 100 san pedro ca 90731 you can also get it in the rest of the world for ?36 sent direct airmail this is for 12 issues

male fertility starts to drop at two yearsand steadily declines at six years your bird would probably be getting to old but saying that there are always exceptions

the magazine is available in europe but i know some people in australia get it e-mail terry himself and he ill be able to help you he is very friendly

i'm with rainbow on this the first thing i would check would be dust of the seed

well ihave had this extracter on order for 4 weeks and the company now tell me they dont know when they will be able to get me one so its back to the drawing board any suggestions would be most welcome