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Hi Budgie_Mad. Thanks for asking. Unfortunately the hen died yesterday after deteriorating very rapidly. I don't know what she had or how she could have caught anything given that she lived in a house with no other birds. It's a mystery to me. My birds on the other hand, live outdoors and are quite possibly exposed to more than they should be. Maybe that gives them a certain resilience.

Hi rachelm. You certainly seem to be having a successful breeding season. Your new chicks look gorgeous, and you have so many of them too! It would be useful for the less experienced forum members like myself if you are able to share some information about your breeding set up and processes. I, for one, am always looking to learn from others. By the way, I didn't know you could foster a chick to a nest with no chicks (noting the required age of eggs) - thanks for that.

Thanks for the help. I doubt that the vet took any samples for testing but I will check. My friends give her salad greens and corn, so I don't think poisoning is a factor. She doesn't look too happy today so I suspect that I may lose her. Unfortunately I don't know how to crop feed. I am continuing to give her water. I do have some other antibiotics available - Vetafarm Triple C - should I try that as well?

I am looking after a sick budgie for family friends - I have it as I have a hospital cage. This is a 14 month old Aussie budgie hen (actually bred by me). This bird normally lives indoors and has no contact with other birds. My friends noticed she was sick 2 days ago - sitting fluffed up, quiet, some vomiting, wheezy breathing. The took her to their vet who was unsure re diagnosis (not an avian vet). The vet gave her an antibiotic injection, and also made a comment that it could be canker. I now have this little girl in a hospital cage set at 29 degrees. I have added Turbosole to her water as a treatment for canker (in case). Her current symptoms - lethargic, perching on 2 feet, fluffed up at times, audible squeaky, raspy breathing, holding her head angled upwards. Her droppings look normal and I haven't observed any vomiting. She's not really interested in food today. I was also worried about dehydration so I have administered some water via a syringe, a drop at a time. On the basis of the above, can anyone guess what this budgie may be suffering from? Is there anything else I can do? Also, I suspect she doesn't get exposed to any sunshine (I'm a big believer in the importance of sunshine or vitamin D supplement in the absence of that) for birds. Could that be a contributing factor as well?

I vote for rachelm's no 6 photo too.

Hi L_J. Just thinking about your chicks again. If neither parent is a visual pied, the chicks must be recessive pieds. I could be wrong here but I believe a bird can be split for recessive pied but not for dominant pied. It's either a dominant pied or it is not. My 2 dominant pied cocks always throw all pied chicks.

Robyn is absolutely right. Your 2 chicks should be fine now. Perhaps you give them some millet spray as well, as hat will encourage them to eat. Don't worry if the chicks lose a little weight to begin with as that is perfectly normal.

Hi L_J. It looks like you have 2 white and blue pieds there. They are very cute. I'd hazard a guess and say they are probably dominant pieds given the clear edges to the flight feathers. Do they have a band of clear feathers across their bellies? You'll know for sure when they are older as dominant pieds have an iris ring and recessive pieds don't.

Hi Jaff. Hens will often start laying their second round of eggs whilst there are still youngsters in the nest. I've had this happen frequently. Its good to keep a close eye on things in case the hens do become annoyed with the chicks. To date, I haven't had any hens, or cock birds for that matter, turn on the chicks. In fact a lot of my pairs seem to play happy families with mum, dad, up to 6 chicks and a new clutch of eggs in the one nest box - very squeezy. The main issue I have had is that the chicks tend to kick/knock the new eggs around the nest box as they are moving about and climbing in and out, and the eggs often become addled. I've lost a number of second clutches this way. If you have another pair who are laying eggs at the same time you could transfer the egg to them. Otherwise I would suggest you leave things as they are, watch carefully, and remove the chicks at the first sign of trouble or as soon as they are weaned.

I am definitely not an expert and seem to spend a reasonable amount of time trying to work out the mutations of some of my flock. However, I agree with Nick 123 re the colours of these chicks. And the last picture of a male chick looks like a yellow face blue - however, difficult to tell without a photo of the entire bird.

I've used Avimec and it is very effective. One drop on the skin at the back of the head once a week for several weeks, depending upon the severity of the condition. I found it cheapest to buy it online.

Hi Rachelm. Your pairs look gorgeous. I'm looking forward to hearing about their progress. You should get some gorgeous babies from those pairings.

Hi. Have a look on Gumtree. Lots of breeders advertise their budgies for sale on that site, and you should be a be able to find a new bird fairly locally. As you have a male budgie you could get another male or a female and all should be well. 2 males together usually get on well as do a pair - 2 females together can be quite another story. So unless you plan to breed the budgies in the future, then it doesn't matter which sex bird you purchase.

HI. I've had budgies in the same aviary with cockateils and Bourke's parakeets before, and have never had a problem. Providing you have plenty of space in your aviary, and you carefully monitor the introduction then I think it should be fine to mix your budgies with neophema parrots. Just keep a close watch on the birds over the first few days as any difficulties/aggression will be more likely to appear then. Good luck.

Hi there. I would also give the hen some egg and biscuit mix. My breeding birds seem to crave this when they are rearing young. I use Passwells Egg and Biscuit mix. As for weaning, whilst the male is often the main attraction with this part, Iast season I lost a male when the oldest chick in his nest was about 3.5 weeks old and the hen was quite successful, if a little tardy, in weaning the chicks. So I wouldn't worry about that part right now. It sounds like your hen is doing a great job at present.

Hi Tanja. I'm not completely sure, but my first guess would be male from the photo. Also, as Robyn said, females tend to bite more. So if you handle the chick and it's not nippy, and the cere is a pinkish purple colour, then its likely to be male. Also, an experienced breeder can determine the sex of a budgie chick from a very young age with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

Hi. Looks to be a female to me. If you can, do a gradual introduction. For example, pop her into a separate cage and put the cage next to the cage with your 2 male budgies. Gauge the reaction and if all good, then put her into the cage holding your birds, all under a careful watch of course. As you know, a few of us prefer to quarantine new birds before exposing our current birds to new stock. But do whatever works for you.

You could buy an infrared bulb (I've only used the ones sold in pet and reptile shops) and use that instead of a normal bulb. These are used in reptile enclosures. The bulb is a great heat source but doesn't have the glare problem that normal light bulbs have - I used to use one in a snake enclosure. Apparently reptiles don't see the 'red' light, hence it doesn't disturb their sleep patterns. I have a vague idea that birds may be the same. Anyway you can leave it on all night. Good luck.

Hi. It sounds like you have a hand rearing job now, unless you know someone who has chicks in the nest at present to whom you can foster them out - fostering is usually the best option. How old are the chicks? They won't all be 8 days old as the eggs hatch every other day. Is the oldest chick 8 days old? Was Dad providing any care at all - for example has he been keeping them warm? If Dad is keeping them warm then you could possibly leave them with him, though that could be risky in an aviary environment, and in this situation you may be better off removing the nest box and Dad and popping them into a separate cage. Besides hand feeding would be difficult if you had to go into the aviary every time the chicks are due for a feed. If Dad is not keeping them warm, then you will also have to provide some heat until the oldest chicks have a decent downy growth of feathers. I have never had to hand raise a clutch of chicks so there is bound to be another member with far more expertise and info here. But the key things are warmth and food. Most breeders who hand rear chicks, whether they be budgies or other parrots, usually remove them from the parents, pop them into a box of some kind with a heat source if required. As to breeding age of budgies, Robyn is absolutely right. Budgies should be 12 months or older before you should consider breeding with them. At 12 months they have the physical and mental maturity to embark on the whole arduous breeding process. Mind you there are some unscrupulous dealers out there who would tell you otherwise.

Hi Jaffa, I am trialling Passwells The Good Oil with my breeding pairs this season. However, I am using a recipe which Peter Thurn (a very successful breeder of show budgies) has put on his website, with a few minor variations. I add 3ml of the Good Oil to 100g of hulled oats and 50g of grey striped sunflower seed, and mix it together. I leave it for 30min to an hour (depending on how busy I am), then add lots of vege - grated carrot, grated beetroot, corn kernels, chopped silver beet, broccoli florettes etc plus a table spoon or so of E-powder. My birds love it and are waiting for it each morning. They certainly eat all the seed as well as the veges they want. I don't however soak seed overnight, and I don't use much oil. I am using this to improve the condition of my breeding pairs and breeding outcomes - so as Robyn stated, it is good to be sure of the reason for giving your birds a new dietary supplement.

Hi Smokie's Rose. Robyn is absolutely right. It all should be fine. The only thing I would add is that when you move the female into Smokie's cage, do it on a day when you are at home and can keep an eye on them. There may be some initial squabbling but it should all be fine.

I too would give the hen the opportunity to hatch and raise the chicks. You may find anyway that not all eggs hatch. As Paulie said, make sure that the hen has plenty of food and water and all within easy reach. Millet sprays and seed in the nest box is also good particularly if you think the hen isn't getting out often enough to the food. Keep an eye on the chicks crops. It is easy to see whether they are being fed adequately. If they aren't being fed enough you can always remove a chick from the nest, give it a quick hand feed and then pop it back in afterwards. I have done this before on two occasions where the hen was doing everything else right but just not feeding the chicks enough. As the chicks get older, often the oldest chick will help to feed the younger chicks. Good luck, and keep us posted as to how things go.

Hi KiwiBudgie, I agree with Finnie. The most important thing to do now is to let your budgie settle in to his new home. Be consistent with what you feed him and don't give him new foods to try at first. There will be plenty of time for this later. He's only a baby, and everything is new and strange to him now and you have to let him work it out and adapt to his new surroundings. Don't change anything or add anything now - whether it be toys, food containers, etc until he looks more confident and at ease. Also, don't expect too much from him too soon. He will settle down and you'll soon have a happy, noisy little bird. A brief word about food. When your budgie is settled in, you can try new foods with him. I find that most budgies are naturally suspicious of new foods, and you may have to try an item (eg, carrot, apple) at least several times before they will nibble it. Having said that, not all budgies will like the same fruit and vege. Some of my birds go crazy for beetroot, and others avoid it. Some love celery and broccoli, and others won't even try them. They all have their preferences. All my budgies love corn however. I use corn on the cob or thawed frozen corn kernels.

I agree - absolutely, the bird. Though I do sometime wonder what my house would be like if it wasn't littered with feathers, seed husks, dog hair and muddy paw prints. Oops, forgot the little cockatiel deposits left on the back of the couch (favourite perch location).

Hi kiwiBudgie. Your little guy is just getting used to his new surroundings so try not to worry too much. It can take a while for a budgie to settle down into a new cage and routine. To add to that he/she has to work out where the food and water are (they generally do find it). He also has to learn what is in his cage, familiarise himself with it - new toys can be treated with suspicion at first - and then decide what he can do with it. Give him a few days to settle in. Look for the husks around the seed dish - that way you will know he is eating - and don't worry if you don't see him drinking. When I bring my chicks inside from the breeding cages into the nursery cage they are always a little quiet and subdued to begin with. Within a few days they are much more active and playful. Enjoy your new little budgie.