Sherlock

Hi Kev, their cere is still light with a distinct white ring around the nostril. Rio has been sold along with her ? two Lutino sister hens. We have kept the other YF Green maybe to breed with next year. We still think she is a hen. Sherlock

I think you may be right Robyn, cock snuggled in the corner and hen next to him, keep us posted as they develop. We have 3 from 7 eggs with 3 dead in shell and 1 not fertile, looks like all hens, 2 greens & 1 Lutino .. we just can't seem to get boys !!

Hi Jimmy, So glad you got JJ back. We know what it is like when that happens and you do find your bird again, happened with our hand reared Cockatiel a few months ago, even though he had one wing clipped it was growing back and he just took off from my shoulder and just kept getting elevation to disappear out of sight with a huge crow after him but we found him 4 backyards down. I think others more experienced may have to help you with this one for JJ. We are starting to look at our chicks from week one and recording what they look like and what sex we think they are to fine tune sexing from a young age. We'll see how we go over time. Hi Jimmy, Here is a picture of a baby recessive pied male from F.A.Q. Sexing Budgies, in this variety the cere will remain pink in the cock birds There should be no white ring around the nostril or nare, is there on JJ or not ?.

Struck out with the other large pet store not selling cage fronts ... guess I will just have to keep looking

Hi paulie & Robyn, I contacted the seller of the budgie cage fronts with external supports for the nest box and they are out of stock & can’t source any at present. Pet Barn in Coffs don’t sell cage fronts at all. I have another large Pet Shop in Coffs I’ll try tomorrow.

Thanks paulie & Robyn The ‘Cage Front Gal /Small Door 600 x 370’ looks like just like what Daz had and what I am after, I will contact them for exact sizes as they suggest as I am going to make my own

Yum, yum We've just got some of the seed feeders in your photo, work great with budgies, but a disaster with canaries who just keep picking through for the ‘best’ seeds and empty the glass jar in no time at all !! Our 4 young hens are in a nursery cage also & are very flighty and bossy with each other !

Thanks Jimmy, nice photo of JJ. If you got JJ about mid April & they were 6-8 weeks old that puts them close to 6 months old, with what looks to me to be a white ring around the nostrils or nare, I’m staying with my original pick as a hen for JJ ... but ! A photo from directly in front showing both nostrils/nares would be better.

L__J, did you ever make those cage fronts ? I’ve been looking for ones Daz had on a Post he did on making breeding cabinet making where he had the nest box suspended off the front of the cage wire front, these were made by a Gatton breeder. Have not found any like these.

I recall reading one of the site’s administrators not putting too much into the size/shape of the cere to pick sex. I’ve gone with some white around the nare which is clearer to pick up on first bird, not so with 3rd one. Jimmy do you have any other photo’s front on with budgie one & three ?

Hi Jimmy, girl, boy, girl, nice birds

Our Spangle Opaline grey hen produced 3 (2 survived) albino hens approx. 11 months ago, one I gave my sister who they named Milkshake and Milkshake now talks, Milkshake resides within a covered in rear veranda next to a Cockatiel named Spot and Spot's owner says 'hello Spot' everyday & Milkshake now says 'hello Spot'. Milkshake's sister, Hedwig which we kept is not talking. We now have Snow a 4 month old albino hen from the same Spangle Opaline grey hen inside next to our 11 month old Cockatiel, Cinnamon, who is wolf whistling and starting to say 'hello' and beeps like the microwave etc, so we are hoping things might rub off on Snow. We would like to get a nice size albino cock to pair with Hedwig (who is a nice size hen @ 11 mths) next year to get some albino boys.

Hi Daz, I have only been on the Forum for about 8 months, but going through old Posts it is very clear you have left your mark as many others have with lots of great information and advice, thanks heaps and enjoy the next journey life is taking you. In your breeding cabinets making Post you have wire cage fronts that hold the nest box on the outside, did you purchase these ? and if so where ?. I really like the idea of the 10"(250mm) deep nest boxes to keep the young chicks in longer and have not seen any this deep so will have a crack at making these. thanks again Sherlock

Do post some pics off offspring robyn for all to see ... I now have a few articles to read about genetics, just need some rainy weather to keep me indoors ! thanks paulie, great links, I have my reading sorted for a while, many thanks

also check out this link on the Basics of Genetics (for budgies) http://www.geocities.ws/Petsburgh/4333/genetics.html

also check out this link on the Basics of Genetics (for budgies) http://www.geocities.ws/Petsburgh/4333/genetics.html

thanks paulie, see 2009 link below http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=26590

Hi Robyn, I found the 2009 link below to the Forum that is an interesting read. I have also found other reading on ino's. Without knowing the parentage of my daughters two pairs we might mate her sky blue up with a normal. Intere sting stuff this. http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=26590

Hi Birdlove, thanks, the photo I posted does not show Blue's cere that well, but here is Blue at 15 days old and I was informed hen, I'm syill wondering what colour blue, he/she is, thanks thanks for your reply paulie, I have PM'd you re your offer of 'light reading' thanks, need to get my head around all this. I've gone back to some earlier posts I have made and in January Hilly told me mum is a spangle opaline grey and dad a opaline grey and dad must carry the ino gene and any albino's we get will be hens, which four albino chicks mum has had have been hens. In April KAZ told me dad must be a split albino. Could the Sky Blue normal carry the ino gene ? So wish my dad was still around he was a champion show breeder back in the 60's in Sydney from the Caringbah Bird Club. Would love to chat with him about all this over a quiet ale. Today I checked my daughters Lutino hen who's on 7 eggs and time is nigh for first hatchling to appear, I was holding each egg up to the sun as my dad taught me as a kid & egg number 4 was chirping back to me !! that sound blew me away. Hopefully the first hatchling tomorrow. I've taken the nest box out from the grey hen/cock, will give her a few weeks rest & put it back in. Is feather trimming at the vent for mum and dad advisable ? I do this sometimes with my canary's.

thanks Paulie for your reply and the breeding run down, will have to think about which way to go with Hedwig

thanks Budgie_Mad, grey male is my profile photo, he is now 8 1/2 and dotes over the Spangle Opaline grey hen, photo below. L_J thanks also, I was thinking that he may be shooting blanks also. The only 3 eggs the hen laid with only the grey male were candled on the weekend and sadly were all clear. Paulie, thanks also .. so older male scan reproduce okay ?. Robyn thanks also, I have to get my head around sex linked Albino offspring that are only female coming from the male. The SO grey hen has produced 3 female albino hens and then one albino hen and a cobalt or violet normal hen, when the Sky Blue normal was also in the same cage. Could the grey male be the father of the cobalt or violet hen ? Grey male

sorry i f this Post is a bit long. I’ve found and read KAZ’s Mar 2009 Post, Correct Breeding Age by Dave Hansen, good article as I have a great little Budgie book but it does not confirm optimum breeding ages. My daughter has the last male budgie of her grandfathers a Opaline Grey which we’ve worked out from family photo’s was born in Nov/Dec 2004 so is now 8 & ½ yrs old and seems is now past it in breeding terms. In 2010 I got my daughter a Spangle Opaline Grey through a bird friend & from a registered breeder and it has a blue ring with 10 after the breeders ID. So, 2010 which makes her 3 yrs old. They are in a 80cm x 54cm x 90 cm cage on stand/wheels so they can be wheeled out into sunshine on weekends etc. The hope was to have offspring from my dad’s last male Grey budgie. In 2011 she had two clear clutches of eggs, thought she may have been too young, but now thinking the male grey at 6 & ½ in 2011 may have been too old ? In 2012 I got my daughter a Lutino hen & Sky Blue normal male from the bird friend who sourced the 2010 grey hen, he Colony breeds, these went in the same cage with the two Greys with no conflicts. In Sept 2012 the Grey hen hatched 3 albino chicks from 4 eggs, with two surviving (Hedwig & Milkshake), thinking the Grey male was the father as they had bonded very well. The Lutino hen had two clear clutches in 2012. In April this year the Grey hen hatched 2 chicks from 4 eggs, a albino hen (Snow) and a cobalt or violet normal hen ? (Blue). The Lutino hen attacked Snow at 3 weeks of age removing all heads feathers & resulting in a mass of blood. We removed the Lutino/Sky Blue pair into their own cage. Snow was treated for infection and has recovered well. The Lutino hen/Sky Blue boy have gone on to have their first chicks in mid June, two Lutino hens and two Green hens from 7 eggs (2 chicks died at 2-3 days old). All this has got us questioning, is the Grey male the father of the first two albino hens (Hedwig & Milkshake) from Sept 2012 and the albino and cobalt or violet hen (Snow & Blue) from April this year ?, or is it the Sky Blue normal male ?. My daughters friend thinks she saw the Sky Blue male have his way with the Grey hen & they did seem ‘friendly’ with the Grey male chasing the Sky Blue away at times, nothing nasty. We don’t know the parentage of the two Grey’s or the Lutino/Sky Blue normal. The goal of offspring from the Grey male may be in some doubt now. What do breeders think ? And we have two other questions, we’d like to breed with Hedwig (albino) now she is 11 months old, what type/colour should we consider as a male ? We also are now thinking of a new male for the 2010 Spangle Opaline Grey hen, again type/colour for a male. Thank you for any/all advice. Pictures should follow. Hedwig Milkshake Blue, sister to Snow Snow Lutino hen & Sky Blue normal who where in with Spangle Opaline Grey hen & Opaline Grey male when Hedwig, Milkshake, Snow & Blue were hatched

thanks birdluv, Corka, Nerwen & Finnie, sorry got sick back in January and forget to get back to this Post and then was away for a bit. Hedwig is now 11 months so am thinking about what best to pair up with her. Unlike her sister Milkshake who has some very light tinges of blue and talks, Hedwig has no blue in her.

thanks again birdluv, combined with the biting, we'd love to know what others might think, girl or boy ... four chicks and possibly four hens, although two chicks did not survive past 1-2 days unfortunately. My daughter had a go at the old post to identify the few day old chicks hens vs boys & only got the last one wrong which I thought was a terrific effort. Her mum Lutino hen is again on 6 eggs at present so we'll see what comes from this second clutch. Her Spangled Opaline Grey hen has laid only 3 eggs & we'll check on the weekend if they are clear or fertile, thanks again

here is another photo of our two 7-8 week old Greens, we think definite hen on the left & Rio on the right which shows the white around the nostrils better, different light can alter how a photo shows up features, so we are just not sure