phoenix

Yes, it seems to be a real mystery. I have been looking about the net and there are so many different views. I've spoken to one breeder who has had a bird for 10 years and its clutch mate was fine. She hasn't had any other birds with the disease since and the infected bird is still in the aviary.

I've been reading and it seems no one is really sure. Some think it's an infection they have from the mother inside the egg.

Thank you for your help. Unfortunately one of the cocks died yesterday, it was the old boy and he just died naturally. So I now have 4 cocks with only 3 being interested in the hen. How long is the French moult virus live for? The french moult guy has a red ring on his leg, not sure what year that would be. He doesn't seem to be suffering with the illness any more. Since I have had him he has grown tail feathers and all his other feathers are in good shape, he can fly better than he could when I got him although still not a well as the others as he is smaller. If there is a chance the virus could be passed on to any chicks then I wont breed from any of them.

She seems to switch between the three males mentioned. Bit of a tart really. I have seen all three feeding her at some point or other. I would love to have babies but that's my problem and the reason I didn't want to breed, I wont want to get rid of any and will end up with hundreds if I'm not careful. So I forced myself into only getting cocks but this little minx crept in. I think she has already mated as Her bottom is "plump" and I have seen her pulling at the feathers around her vent and rubbing at it with her foot. She is also keeping away from the cocks or chasing them off when they get near. Before she was chasing them to be near them.

I have an indoor aviary with 5 cocks and one hen (that was supposed to be a cock) The hen looks like she may be about to lay. She is in breeding condition as are the males. But I don't have a nest box as I didn't intend to breed, hence why I wanted all cocks. My question is, if I give her a nest box would she be okay with the other males? We don't know who the father is but it could be one of three, the other 2, one is an old boy who takes no notice and the other has french moult and keeps away from the rest. I have ordered a nest box but don't know if it would be okay to put it in the aviary with her or to take her out and guess at the father. I am worried she will lay in a feed bowl she seems interested in and will attack the males if they go there to eat.

Please think about the wild birds out in the cold. When you empty your food bowls, throw the spent seed outside so the wild birds can benefit from any left over seed. And don't forget they need water too.

This is the male.

This is all three of the youngsters together, the one on the bottom left is the older boy. You can see the missing tails on the 2 affected. Thank you for your help. It worked.

I can't seem to post pictures on this forum. Every other forum I use I just copy the image code from photo bucket and paste it in the reply but this one seems to block me. I don't get the paste option when I right click. can anyone tell me if there is a secret to it?

The french molt guy is over a year old. They have been with him since September. They have the feathers under the tail. It's just the long feathers that are missing. The female is worse than the male. She has areas of pin feathers on her head, whole patches. I'll try and get some photos.

Thank you, that is interesting. My aviary is inside but the room they are in is colder that the rest of the house. It wouldn't surprise me if we have a bad winter, our summer was non existent this year. The wettest summer since the 1930s. I don't think there is anyone picking on them. I have 6 budgies. One is the same age, maybe a month older. One is a very old bird who keeps well away from the others. One has French moult so also keeps away from the others, he is very small and virtually flightless. The last one would be the only one who would be likely to pick on them but he is too busy making out with a toy or chatting with the French moult guy. The 2 that have lost loads of feathers pretty much spend all their time together and chase off the others if they come too close.

The 2 that are moulting are a male and female that seem to have paired up. They get quite excited, for want of a better word. The male keeps trying to stand on her back and she is begging for food all the time. I am wondering if they are pulling each others feathers. She is not in breeding condition yet though.

2 of my aviary budgies are having a severe moult. They have no tail feathers and whole patches in their heads where there are just pin feathers. They look awful. There doesn't seem to be any sign of the tail feathers growing back. Is this normal and what can I give them to help? I have "feather up" powder and have given them egg food. But is there anything else? I have had birds all my life and never seen such a severe moult except in my chickens. Could it be that they are only babies?

There are some images on google of these kinds of birds.

Photobucket is playing up so here is the picture again. I can't see it anymore on the first post. hope this works. And now it's back. Thank you for your reply. I think the male has some blue in it's parentage. It will be interesting to see what I get. I would love some blue budgies at some point. I may just have to invest in some.

Anyone? I know I wont get anything of show standard, I'm not interested in that. Just want to know what mutations I might get out of interest.

When I first saw the picture of him I thought he had french moult too. I have a french moult bird and he looks similar. I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong and upset you. The only difference is my bird has a wide gap between his wings at the back. His tail looks very similar though. I wanted to put a picture of Titch in here but it wont work.

These 2 seem to have paired up. They are too young yet to breed but next year maybe. The hen is a cinnamen.

Aww, that sounds quite cute. Thanks.

Thank you. Things are so different with other bird species. Chckens for instance will reject a bird if it's absent from the flock for just a short time.

I don't think so. The small budgerigars the Americans call "American budgies" are just small pet shop birds. Why America thinks it invented the budgerigar I will never know. I wondered why they have English and American budgies when they all come from Australia.

I'd guess the green is Male and the other female. The have had a bad wing clip and the green looks like it's tail has been cut too. Bothe look under 3 months.

In the USA they have 2 types of budgie already. The small kind and the bigger ones they call the English budgie. Is that the same thing?

I'd say first one male, second female.

What happens when a breeding pair have finished and you return them to the aviary? Do the other budgies remember them or do they get picked on by the others?