Pebble

It might just be my phone but mother looks violet green and dad looks opaline. The pied chick is interesting but I cant tell if its dominant or recessive from the picture. Judging from the photo I am guessing your cousin is colony breeding. If so there may be more than one father to the clutch.

There are some excellent pinned posts in budgie mutations that will answer this question.

Fantasy

Aviary

Hi JimmyBanks. I have only been a member for around 18 months but have read pretty much every post archived so I feel like I know you already My dream is to breed show quality Australian Yellow Face Blues. I love blues although I own more greens. I have only 12 birds at the moment but will breed some more after summer. Glad you are back I am always keen to learn about show budgies.

Yep the 1.0 are cocks and the 0.1 are hens. Its interesting how much variety you get when you start playing with multiple mutations. Makes you realise that breeding with them should more be for fun than in expectation of a particular mutation being passed on. The expectations are just too small! Great site though.

Wow what a fantastic structure withered. I am really enjoying this post. I am yet to make a start on my birdroom but I unfortunately dont have your skills so I will achieve nothing so sophisticated. But yours is very inpirational. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Ahhh thats better

Hehehehe. The things we do for our little mates Flip! That is really funny albeit necessary

I see other people on here use the smiley faces in their posts. Could someone tell me is there a trick to get them to work? I can't seem to get them working and I love a good smiley face : ) Thanks

Fantastic pictures Birdlove. You were very clever to catch them. I love the final shot. I feel the need to salute him back!

My birds have access to shade all day as a result of a half solid wall in my aviary. If you don't have one, I would set one up using shade cloth. On really hot days, I go into the aviary and mist them with water every 2 hours or so. I also put out a little dish for them to splash about in if they want to. I take this dish away at the end of the day as I don't want them drinking from it once they have bathed in it. When I am talking about hot days, I do it any day when I see them sitting with their wings out off their body. I try to make sure they are never so hot in the aviary that they pant. I have not lost any due to heat yet.

Great to hear some good news for you budgie mad. I hope the chicks fulfill your expectations : )

Great story Flip. I love a happy ending : )

Thanks Rachelm. I will be more aware if I see this in future and will force feed some medicated water immediately. Wysiwyg thanks so much for your detailed answer. I really appreciate your perspective. I am just starting a new business so I dont have much money just now. But if I have further problems I might speak to my vet about a necropsy. Your answer has made me think about the aviary. I think I will change the water dispenser to be sure its not getting dirty through the day between water changes. I always remove fresh foods so I dont think its that. If anymore get quiet and I hospital cage them I will hand feed and water first thing to ensure hydration and energy. Thanks once again to both of you. I feel better now as I feel there is more I can do to help. I hate feeling helpless and having them slip away in front of me like that.

I feel like I only post when something bad happens with my birds. But last night one of my original and favourite birds - Garlic- died. The story goes that I noticed she was quiet in the aviary and had some hard poo stuck to her bum. I brought her inside, cleaned her up and put her in my little hospital cage. Being a hot summer I didnt put any heat with her as the room was hot and I didnt want to dehydrate her. She seemed fine but still a bit quiet. I was not happy with the amount of food she was eating so yesterday I gave her some hand rearing mix just to support her. Last night she was happily perched for the night. Not puffed up or anything. I had been in bed about 15 minutes when I heard her flap. I went into her room to check on her to find her dead on the floor of the cage. This is the fourth bird I have lost in 12 months. Am I doing something wrong in the hospital cage or is this an average mortality rate for aviary and young birds? Please advise me if I am making a mistake. I only want the best for my little mates!

Wow what cuties they are Paulie. Looks like they are doing well.

Looks amazing Jazman. I'm sure you will really enjoy it. Looks like you have plenty of room for more budgies now. Congratulations.

Beautiful chicks rachelm. Thanks so much for sharing. Allows me to live vicariously through your great efforts ; ) I hope you are able to post another look at them once they are fully feathered and fledged.

Perhaps what is available in pet stores reflects what is NOT desirable in budgie shows.If I understand the ANBC Standard correctly Spangles are listed around 15. So most birds combined with spangle must show as a spangle. However people may simply be breeding with spangles to improve size etc rather than wanting to show spangles. Hence most of the chicks bred would be sold on. Just a thought.

How are your chicks going rachelm? This is such a great post. Thanks for the info and pictures about the different tail feathers. That is excellent to know. I hope your chicks are healthy and you are happy with how everything is going : )

Hi Mikayla. I think you may find the mess on your chicks faces is food where the parents have been messy feeders. I lost two chicks earlier this year where it happened in the evening and the chicks missed their night feeds. If I had my time again I would supplement those chicks with hand rearing mix unless the parents fill their crops again very quickly. I found the gunk peeled off easily once dampened. Your chicks are lovely. I hope they keep going strong.

Here cere looks just like a couple of my hen's when they are going out of breeding condition. If you look closely at the picture, I think you can see the smooth cere coming through at the edges. Hope this is all it is.

A couple more photos of my aviary contents! <img src="http://i870.photobuc...zps6283e23f.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo AviarySitePhotos020_zps6283e23f.jpg"/></a> This is the whole flock on the tiered perch I made myself from eucalyptus branches. <img src="http://i870.photobuc...zpsc4b30df2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo AviarySitePhotos017_zpsc4b30df2.jpg"/></a> Hanging out on a swing perch. <img src="http://i870.photobuc...zps212d9ca6.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo AviarySitePhotos016_zps212d9ca6.jpg"/></a> Two of Onion and Garlic's babies. <img src="http://i870.photobuc...zpsa9150f72.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo AviarySitePhotos015_zpsa9150f72.jpg"/></a> The sky blue hen is a show quality bird I bought at an auction recently. The little cock bird sitting next to her is one of Onion and Garlic's. I was considering puting them together to breed when he is old enough. <img src="http://i870.photobuc...zps9dffd0fa.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo AviarySitePhotos014_zps9dffd0fa.jpg"/></a> My unphotographic cock bird Dollar (grey bird) and the violet green hen I recently bought at auction. I will eventually put them together, but would like to put her to some of my blue birds first to see if I can get some visual violets in the future. I am not sure what she is genetically carrying, so I don't know how long it will take to get the violet back out. Hope you like my flock : ) Sorry, not sure why the pictures are a link and not an actual picture.

Thanks robyn. Yes he has gained weight and as long as there are no more nose bleeds I will put him back in the aviary in a fortnight. He is only a pet budgie so I just wont breed with him again. It is a shame because he is a pretty thing and his babies are lovely. But I intend to breed show birds so I will focus on my show stock and just keep my pets. I would have liked to have bred his sons to my quality hens to improve my general stock. Not sure now just in case the healthy sons are carrying the same problem. What do you think? All opinions from experienced breeders would be very welcome.