Bretto

I have posted before about breeding pairs and our lack of action.. We have decided to pair the birds up and have one pair in the breeding cage now. They have been there for close to a month with nothing happening. She has gone into the box and there are feathers inside plus they do seem to have bonded. Should we just keep them in there for longer or what? Advise would be helpful.. Brett

Thanks Flip. The answer is yes to all of your points. What we have done is place the other birds inside the aviary in other cages. So they can all get used to each other without the older ones hurting the younger ones. It seems like we just have to wait. As I said when we have a few more we are going to have two breeding cages and pair up four selected birds each year. We all have a favourite colour and will breed for that. Thanks for the replies. Brett

Thanks guys.. Where I live it doesn't get overly hot, but still hot sometimes. The nest boxes are on a shelf indie the aviary room ( not in the flight). We don't have any perches in the same room, would this be a reason? At this stage the birds will not be in breeding cages. I now have the one pair that I think are at breeding age. We have three other younger birds that are in a separate cage for now. We will be colony breeding at first and then progress to paired up breeding. Brett

Hi all. My first post for a while because a lot has been happening. Can't say that we have got off to a good start to our budgie breeding hobby. The kids and I have lost 6 of the 7 bird that we started with. We had a hawk come and terrorise our birds and scare them to death. We were about to go overseas so left it until we got back to get more birds. We were given another cock bird to pair with the Cinnamon hen we had left, ( a big thank you to the local breeder and friend of ours). But they just don't look at all interested in the nest boxes we have for them. The cock bird is a Colbart bird , and the hen is a Sky Blue Cinnamon. Can I ask, ~ is it to early to be thinking of breeding? ~ Do they need to be in the aviary for a while to get used to it? Not sure what we are doing wrong? If I was a budgie I would love to live and breed in our avaiy. Regards Brett

Hi dilster I got our birds off a friend of ours. Bretto

Thanks Robyn.. We were not sure if they both stayed in there or not. You have done a great job explaining it. I just have to get the money together to buy the breeding cage. So I think that we should be underway. At first I was just going to let the kids pick two birds to breed and see what we get. This would be okay,,,right? I will be posting progress reports as we go. Bretto

okay guys we have our aviary, we have our birds and we have our favourite pairings. So, can we start breeding now? Or should we wait? Also when we pair them up do we leave the Hen and the Cock in there for the whole process? Or do we take the cock out at some stage. If so, when? Bretto and the skid Lids.

Thank you Birdluv for the comment. Hi Paulie If you are talking about on the inside room, all is okay. I lined the ceiling first so that the tin sits up tight with no gaps. Bretto

We got 3 hens and 2 cock birds. That will give us a good start. My boy wants to get a pied cock bird as well. Bretto

Well what a hectic past month. Sorry for thr lack of updates but with work an all the rain it was hard to do any work or post to the site. But I finally finished the aviary on the weekend and on Ella's birthday. The plan was to have our birds to release on her birthday but the rain put an end to that. I stared this thread as " day one" I'm not sure what day we are up to but today we got our new birds and it was smiles all around. Thanks for the interest in these posts. It has been fun and something I hope the kids will remember. Bretto

Looks great. I would be great to build one using bricks. Brett

Finally done the door. I was worried about doing this part, I wasn't sure if I could or not. But overall I'm happy with the result. One of the original posts from the cubby was a bit out so it made it harder, but it all fits in well and adds to the rustic feel. Now all we have to do is the rest of the wire around the safety door/room and wire on the right hand side. So not long until we can pick up our birds. It has been a lot of work but I have enjoyed doing it and I know the kids will remember doing it as well. Cheers Brett

This is a shot of the safety door so far... This was as lot more work than it looks. Not much to go just some doors and then put the wire on one side. Then we can do my daughters favourite part.....decorating! Cheers Brett

Thanks Guys it has come to a stand still at the moment but I will get back to it soon. Robyn the pavers I managed to source second hand are realy think. What I did was layed them on compacted "crusher dust" and then used Brickies mortor instead of sand in between the gaps. That way when I wet it down the mortor has set and made the pavers very steady. The kids are very excited (just like their Dad) and have been out recycling things off the local hard rubish piles.It has been amazing the things we have found. Just like the old saying "one mans trash is another mans treasure". We have found food dished water bottles, things to use as pearches and a cage for us to use as a nursery for our babbies. I will post some more when finish. Cheers Bretto

Hi L_J I really like the pattern in the wings on this one. I wouldnt mind seeing abetter shot from the front to get a good look at the face. Brett

Thanks for the feedback guys. Brett

Hi I was wondering what sort of feed stations people use in their aviaries. Is it better in a large flat dish or a seed dispenser? Help will be appreciated. Bretto.

Great looking birds Nadene.

Here is the latest updates.. Just one side to go in wire and then the doors. I am really happy with how it is going. It's all getting exciting now. Bretto

Maybe next time. It is hard when you don't know what someone looks like. Were all the birds at the front for sale? Nadene are all your shows at that hall?

I took the kids down to the budgie show in Picton today for a look. They loved all the birds and we all had our favourites. I must say there were some really nice birds and the difference between them and the ones you see in the pet shops is very noticeable. Bretto

Hi mark Welcome to the forum. I'm only very new and gave found it very helpful. Your birds look great. I particularly like th way they look against the corrugated iron. I have started to build a aviary and lined it with corrugated iron myself. I think it shows the birds off nice. Regards Brett

Thanks for the feedback LJ but I'm not sure that the room is big enough for that idea.

Just a quick question on breeding cages inside the aviary. If I have only 2 breeding cages inside the aviary and I have 3or more pairs can I have a pair nesting and the others free in the aviary/ flight with no problems? The reason I ask is that we are only beginners and I want to be selective with the breeding pairs and the amount of birds we keep. But I'm not sure if it will create issues with other birds that are not paired up. I hope this question makes sense. Brett

Here's the latest addition to our Aviary. It's back to work for me now so it will be a few day like this before I can do any more. I have been told that I shoulkd concrete the flight area. I can't really afford it and was going to pave it. I would like to hear from people that have pavers and hear the pros and cons. Thanks Brett