Phoebes

Very pretty birds. It's the first time I see birds like these they look a bit like budgies too.

[media=] [/media] Her daddy Noah With mom Allie

I only had one clutch so I am not sure what will happen. However I would watch for the return of the male. We had a budgie escape for a day outside (when I was a kid) and come back the next day. We left a cage outside that he was familiar with and he entered the cage. If your budgie comes back he may try to find a way to get back in with the female.

This is Loki, she was a rescue with a limp. She has possibly suffered a small stroke but is in relatively good health. October.

Robyn the beauty of these birds is killing me. Why do I live in Canada?

Thank you robyn and birdluv this has cleared things up.

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I heard of someone spraying cooking spray on the cage so the poop won't stick. I haven't tried this though. I'm afraid they might taste the bars and like it. I found out after ordering my cages that what the manufacturer considers and labels bird "safe" still has some levels of lead in the paint. I was under the impression that lead was banned here. I don't think any lead is safe. Unfortunately replacement cages in stainless steel are around 1200 each and the smallest bar space available is 5/8 inch.

I've been searching quite a bit for an answer for you. I just have one question to ask. How is the humidity level where your budgies are? I found a really experienced breeder who said if the humidity level is too low the babies stick to the egg and die. Then I remembered another breeder I know had a humidifier really close to her breeding couples. My apartment is really limit as far as humidity goes. I have a thermometer to check it and it is really almost too humid. If I boil water I have to open a window. This is just a shot in the dark but maybe something to look into. You probably have more breeding experience than me (having had just one clutch) so maybe this is no help.

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s501/bbbirdie/af5f70f3-c139-40da-92c1-d7a0270c73f0_zps54df23ff.jpg [media=] A couple that looks a bit like Emerald and Charlie but inverse.

I have heard of many people supplementing calcium with Oyster shell. I have mineral blocks and such but I have heard that the cuttlebone is sometimes contaminated. I wanted to purchase a pure form of calcium sold for birds from Dr Foster and Smith but they told me they were not allowed to sell to Canada. Do any of you use Oyster shell and what do you think of this practice?

I don't think so either as you mentioned the water is changed twice daily. I was just responding to the comment robyn made about the contamination not being passed on once the embryo is developing. My daughter worked at Glaxosmithkline in the vaccine department. The procedure for making vaccines does involve the use of eggs. I am not aware of the specifics because it is "top secret", although even my neighbor who knows the guard at the parking lot can tell me way more than he should know. (lol) My daughter was a microbiologist there but is now a mathematician. Unfortunately I have learned way more about bacteria and viruses than I would like to know. What I am trying to say is that sometimes the egg is laid with the infection already in it. Like in the case of Mycoplasma in turkeys, even the semen of the infected males is infected. There are other examples of disease being passed on in this way. (from the hen) http://www.chickenve...keys/index.aspx :Mycoplasma can also be transferred through the egg from the hen to her poults..

I really wish I could find the papers I had before. They spoke of the parents passing on some illness that made the babies die in the egg. Those breeders did not change the water twice daily like our poster. They had tube systems or water from a machine. In both cases the pathogen was found in the water systems. I usually keep these papers in my favorites for at least a year but recently purged the list because it was too long. I was really surprised myself that something could be passed on before the egg was laid that killed the babies. From the documents (reports from microbiologists) it seemed like the breeding facilities were large scale. I can't find the same papers but did find this info: http://www.prettybird.com/researcharticles/waterqualityarticle.htm Facility #5 This facility was experiencing excessive dead in shell and cultures revealed Pseudomonas aeruginosa predominately. Attempts at treatment of birds were palliative. Injection of antibiotics into the eggs was frequently practiced. Upon visiting the farm it was discovered that the breeder was using water bottles for the breeding birds. All water bottles were cleaned and bleached weekly. Bottles were exposed to sunlight. Pseudomonas infections were common in the breeding stock . The breeder removed all bottles and installed a fall through watering system. All adult birds were treated with Enrofloxacin (according to antibiogram) but some subsequent failures of therapy were found. These birds were subsequently treated by use of an inactivated, autogenous bacterin. Subsequent egg infections and mortality was within normal limits.

Thank you robyn, there is just something about him... I hate to be the kind of person who plays favorites. At first Charlie was really friendly and I really though the girls would love him. This little guy is the tiniest and he nearly bled to death from blood feathers he broke on a wing as soon as I brought him home. I didn't think he would hit if off with the ladies. Yet somehow this little guy is the man. I can't let him out at the same time as the other boys. He steals their girlfriends and beats them up. Everyone seems defenseless against him. I guess nature gave this little guy some spunk.

I'm in the heart of the city but from what I can tell the farmers in Canada seem to sell hay. Even if you look it up on the internet there is no mention of alfalfa being sold. My guess, having lived on an island where there was only farmers (l'isle D'orleans), is that they feed bales of hay they rolled themselves. I remember when there was a crisis in other parts of Canada our farmers had enough to share the hay. It doesn't seem like anyone is selling alfalfa. I will keep doing research on this.

http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/diseases.html Check the number one on this list.

http://i1055.photobucket.com/albums/s501/bbbirdie/31827bbf-cb90-40af-8fb4-cc0a6aec2bb0_zps9a4a157c.jpg

Paulie's babies won my heart. I vote for them

Many people may be using a cleaner like this to clean the bottom tray of the bird cage daily. Others may use vinegar or apple cider vinegar or bleach ect. Did you know that bacteria actually gets use to the acidity of the cleaner you are using and can become resistant. So switch cleaner for a while and clean the bottom tray using borax which is alkaline. Make sure to rinse thoroughly with hot water and dry the tray. If you have any other cleaning tips for cages or aviaries feel free to share.

A while back I had a problem with my water quality and did some research. I was surprised to find many scientific studies that claimed that a very large number of baby fatalities was caused by the water quality. Even a breeder using bottled water had his set up checked out and the water machine was contaminated. That problem was solved by having a water bottle not hooked up to a machine. They had a contraption that just helped tip the large water bottle to fill birds water containers. I have lixit water bottles and sterilize the rubber stoppers with boiled water each time I clean them. I used to get a slimy bio-film on these stoppers that had been rinsed with plain tap water. http://www.birdchann...water-care.aspx I can't find the same papers I found a while back but they specifically said that parents pass on to chicks diseases that are water born and the chicks can die before hatching.

If you have a Photobucket account it's easy to re-size the image. Then you can copy the link on the right of the screen under "Links to share this photo" copy the one that is "direct". On this website click on the Image icon shown in the image and insert the "direct" link you copied.

Lovely photos and the birds are very beautiful. If I could only get my hands on such pretty birds. Good thread thanks for posting. Will be happy to follow this thread.

I saw the steam cut stuff on a website but that website only sends it to Indonesia. So the steam cut is superior? So far this is the only place I found where I can get alfalfa but it doesn't look like it's steam cut. Could there be parasites on this? http://www.drsfoster...cfm?pcatid=5899 Or is it a question of dust? I am trying also to find seeds to grow some. I can never grow enough for sure though because I tried growing lemon grass and eucalyptus trees and they eat them faster than they can grow and die. Our growing season is too short. I checked out the kaytee site and this alfalfa I can get is sun cured. Here is what seems to be available, but I found what you buy on a website that says it only sends it to indonesia. I can't seem to find it here.

Hi and welcome to the forum. I think many of us share your passion for looking at these colorful little guys. Looking forward to hear more about your birds.

I don't know if they are staying warm all spread out like this. I only had one nest so far but mine tended to stay in a heap.