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I've also heard that indoor birds moult nearly constantly because with heating and air conditioning the temperature hardly changes.

She doesn't think she should be retired at least. But she's too old and not as fit and healthy as she used to be. Still, it makes me feel bad preventing her from doing what obviously she loves doing. Ah well, hopefully she'll get over it.

Urgh! Sorry but it looks pretty gross. :mellow: Now i know what scaly face looks like.

I woke up to a not so nice site this afternoon. Blood all over the aviary. Seems that even though they can't get in, the other hens are fighting over breeding rights and the breeding cages. Razzo has bald patches where feathers have been ripped out and a cut on her foot. Gerri has a few cuts on her wings and it looks as though Sandy might have got caught up in it too. I netted the injured ones, cleaned them up and checked to see how bad the injuries really were. Luckily nothing was too bad. After watching the group dynamics for a while it became really obvious that Razzo is the ring leader and the main culprit. I've brought her inside and she's peacefully sharing with Pickle. I'll monitor the rest over the next few days to make sure things settle down. I think they will. I'm also considering switching Pat and Akala for Lilly and Sandy (despite the fact i desperately want some opaline spangles). Lilly and Sandy are already kind of bonded so might get some results. Now for the cherry on top of a "fantastic" day, i candled Buzz'z eggs and one had a crack and an off center air pocket and another had an off center air pocket...definitely infertile. I threw the cracked one away and then later in the afternoon another egg had been pushed out of the box and smashed on the floor. A bit of good news, Buzz laid her 4th egg though i'm not getting my hopes up seeing as the others seem infertile. :oliveb:

I'm not sure about a rainbow but for an albino i think you'd need either an albino parent or a split-albino parent. Same with violet and grey, you'd need one parent that colour or carrying the gene for that colour.

I'm so glad that everything is working out well!! Keep up the good work daddy!!

That's great that she is managing well!!

Glad they've all settled back into a happy social life!

Oh i'm so glad you were able to do it!! i wouldn't have been able to do it myself i don't think!

I hope he starts improving again soon!! Perhaps another visit to the vet to get some more tests done would help?

Do they have obvious bald spots?

Could the mummy bird be plucking the feathers? How old are the babies?

Good luck!! i hope everything works!!

I think 3-4 weeks is the best time to start as they have some feathers to stay warm by then. Why are you worried about the mother?

Blinkie hasn't touched his millet that i gave him today either! Something is going on....

How long would it last do you think?

Parsly is fine in small quantities. Not sure what other herbs are good...

I'm sure i read something about the seed things not being good for budgies, that budgies can't have fruit seeds/pips so i would think the flesh is fine but not the watery seedy part.

I am going to copy from a book i have the mix reccomended for budgies, i don't mix my own seed so don't hold me to this. 30% canary grass 15% white millet 20% yellow millet 15% red millet 10% broken oats 1% each of red rape, linseed, niger seed, safflower 2% each of teasel, aniseed Like i said, this is just out of a book i have called "The Cage and Aviary Bird Handbook", i haven't used this before because i just buy Trill seed.

I'm not THAT strange!!

I've read about this on here somewhere and i think that the person had to **** it and release the air, i have no idea how you would do this safely though so maybe you could ask a vet?

It's bad for them because it's all dyes and preservatives, not healthy. They are a stupid thing to sell.

As long as it's not salted or buttered...just plain then it's fine to let him have a nibble.

Can you hand rear them yourself? If they're not being kept warm at night then they wont survive will they?

No, there are black faced budgies, they look scary. They're very rare. Tada!! Who's a genius? Here's the link to the website: black faced budgies