babychat

Hi all, I have set up 4 cages with breeding pairs, 2 of whom have successfully bred before. They have been paired for 6 weeks now but I haven't got an egg! It has been quite hot here and I thought that might be a reason but it has cooled down for a couple of weeks now and still no luck. Should I put them back in the aviary and try again later?

Hi all, I have a green and yellow dad and a yellow mum. Their babies are 2 yellow and green and 2 white and blue. Is this common? I thought they would only produce yellow and green. It is their second clutch and they have been separated from the aviary since well before the first clutch. I have attached photos. Thanks, Babychat Parents Babies

Hi all, I live in Canberra, Australia and am wondering when the new breeding season starts. I have seen my budgies mating but don't want to put them in with breeding boxes if it is too cold for the babies to survive. When do others start again? thanks, Babychat

Hi, I have a young budgie that I have taken from my aviary and am keeping inside as a pet. He is eating loose seed from my hand but will not eat anything else. I have tried apple, lettuce, endive, carrot, even millet(he has tried the millet but has not come back to it). I have tried holding it in my hand while he is eating the loose seed, I have pegged it to the side of the cage and left it on the floor of the cage. He is just not interested. Any ideas?? Thanks, Tracey

Thanks Budgie Mad :-) Here are the parents.

Hi all, Here are 4 beautiful budgies I have bred. They are all from the same parents, can anyone tell me what type/sex they are? (I know you can't see the white ones cere, I will try and get a better photo) Thanks

Hi BJ, I have been trying to follow your taming suggestions. I am working with a very young budgie, 2 weeks out of the nest. He is cracking seed by himself but he doesn't seem to realise that there are other types of food, ie millet spray, fruit, etc. He shows no interest at all even if I peg it to the cage and leave it there. I have tried putting the loose seed in the palm of my hand and getting him to eat that way but he is still not interested. If I put the seed on the floor of the cage he is straight there eating it. I am worried about starving him. Is he too young or do I just need to perservere with him? Thanks for such a detailed guideline, hopefully I can get it to work! :-) Babychat

Hi Hilly, thanks for that. Can you tell me what you are looking at that helped you decide that? Me too Birdlove. I have 2 female yellows, one an ino(red eyes) and one a clear wing(black eyes) (I think that is the correct terminology).

Hi all, can anyone tell me the sex of these babies? They are 5 weeks old. Are the photos good enough? Also, the blue one that has the black marks on its beak and cere, is that a normal thing to happen? I've never seen it before, (but I'm not very experienced!) thanks.

Hi all, I finally have baby budgies!! Yay!!! The first one hatched on the 13th April, then 14th April, 17th April and 19th April. There is 1 more egg to go. My question is about #4. When I checked it this morning it was fine, very little compared to the others but alive and squawking with food in its crop. When I looked in this evening it was dead, looked a bit squished. Would the bigger babies have squished it? If so is there something I can do to stop that from happening. I still have 1 egg to go and don't want the same thing to happen. Thanks for any advice, Tracey

Congrats! Waiting for my first, hopeful long and I'll be joining you!! Tracey

Hi Robyn, They are in a cage by themselves. I am a bit nervous about handling the eggs to mark them. This is the first clutch I have ever had so am very, very new to it. I guess I will get more confidence as I go! What sort of felt pen do you use? I keep reading non toxic but how do I know which ones are non toxic? Thanks, Tracey

I have a question relating to this too. I have a hen who has been sitting on eggs but they are all infertile so I have removed them. I have her in a breeding cage with her mate but she has now gone out of condition as well. Should I return them to the aviary or leave them in the cage? Thanks, Tracey

Hi Jenny, She had six eggs 2 weeks ago, then a big break and started laying again. I'm guessing the old eggs are infertile but I now don't know which ones are which. Vargur, I have candled them but they all look the same to me. If I understand correctly I won't see anything in the new eggs until 5-10 days, so I don't want to risk throwing out the wrong ones. She has laid another one so that is 3 new and 6 old. I guess I just leave them all in there for now. Tracey

Hi all, I have a hen sitting on 6 eggs for about 2 weeks now, three days ago she starting laying again, she now has 8 in there. Although I have read lots I have no personal experience as this is the first clutch I have had. I can't tell whether the others are fertile or not so don't want to remove them. Any suggestions? Tracey

Thanks Nadene

Hi, I know this is an old topic but was wondering if someone could post a photo of an unfertilized egg. There seems to be a bit of description but have been unable to see a photo. Thanks, Tracey

Hi, A quick update. I have moved the boxes up higher and changed the branches for perches and guess what,.... I have eggs!! 4 Hens have now laid but this morning one of the hens and another one (that hasn't laid) got into a blue. I have now moved all the pairs into separate cages with their nesting boxes and taken all other boxes out of the aviary. Will they continue to sit now that I have moved them?? Also, one of the hens doesn't seem to have a mate, she has no-one feeding her or paying her attention. Should I put another male in with her or can she do it all as a single mum? Thanks for your help, Babychat

Hi, My pair of King quails have just hatched 4 out of 5 eggs. I was very excited to see the gorgeous little chicks running around!! They are in the bottom of the aviary with my budgies. A couple of hours later I went to check and all 4 chicks were dead. They had been attacked by something. Would the budgies do that or would it be the father of the chicks? Should I remove mum and chicks nest time? Thanks, Babychat

Hi all, I have been putting wood shavings on top of my cancrete slabs for the aviary. Is it better to have just the concrete or use the wood shavings? I have 2 quail as well so I would still need to put something in for them to scratch in, maybe not quite as thick as I have been putting in??? Thanks in advance, Babychat

Hi, Thank you all for your suggestions. I have moved the nest boxes up higher and will go searching for some thinner natural branches. I do have dowel along the top back that they spend most of their time on so maybe that is a problem, although they do also play on the bigger braches. I feed them a finch food with greens every day. I will have a look at the aviary section to get some ideas but can you tell me why the food and water should be closer to the bottom? It stays much cleaner higher up. Thanks again, Babychat.

Hi all, I have an aviary with 13 budgies in it. 7 female and 6 male. All except 2 are over 12 months of age. I have been trying to breed them for 6 months now with no success. I watched and waited for a pair to bond then moved them to a separate breeding cage. No interest in the nesting box at all. I have done this with 3 different pairs. I have now put nesting boxes into the aviary. I know what people think of colony breeding but I thought I would try it as the separate cages wasn't working. Only one of the females has shown any interest in the boxes, she is one of the pairs, but although she goes in and checks it out no eggs have been laid. Her cere is now gone passed the nice light brown and getting a darker brown so I am thinking she is prob coming out of condition. I have attached a photo of my aviary. Can anyone give me any advice. Is it normal with 6 females of breeding age and at least 3 in pairs to not have any eggs laid? Is there something wrong with my setup? I am happy to go back to breeding cages but it is very frustrating when the birds show all the signs but nothing eventuates. Thanks, Babychat

It was under a bush in the front yard, no nest anywhere in sight. On another forum someone said a Blackbird. I have looked up other photos and they seem to be the same.

Hi, I live in Canberra and my son found an egg we are hoping someone might be able to help us indentify. It is slightly larger than a quail egg and a similar colour with speckles on it. Any ideas?? Thanks, Tracey

Thanks Jenny, How do I know if its a new blood feather?