Lady

Welcome Buuzbee, If you have your dates right it was very eairly for the little fellow to hatch, that only makes the egg 11 days. How old are mum and dad? sometimes this can happen if the parents are young! In your other post you say she is not sitting on them. Did you candle them around 5 days to see if they were all fertile? They may not be. Good luck and keep us posted.

Hi james2710 can you pick a mate you want her to breed with and put them is a separate breeding cage. It is alot less stressful on her and you if they are left alone when breeding. Also if you dont know who the father is how are you going to breed them when they get old enough? So you don't interbreed. She will have the egg if it is ready to pass, if she doesn't have a nest she will pass it on the ground. Good luck and keep us posted.

Hath do you have more hens than cocks hatch or are they about even?

YOUR VERY WELCOME BEV

That would have to be the worst plucking I have seen! I'm glad you are looking after them. The 1 on the right looks like the feathers will grow back, and the 1 on the left, well just wait and see if the pins start to come through. good luck.

:angel1: I'm so sorry Bev you did the best you could and that was an excellent job (well done to you). Mr burns you were the best>> :angel1: Take care Bev

Great to hear all is well and they are growing up so fast. There colours sound lovely and their names match. What colour are mum and dad?

Well done on the feeding wrk . I hope everything works out. Highlighted in pink there is a how to post pictures on the fourm. Have a look and see how you go. good luck.

I agree with Rainbow to, the dad should feed the little guy. Just keep your eye on them and make sure he is a good dad. good luck.

Are your birds laying eggs before the young have left the nesting box? I think this is where you are haveing problems. You should mark the eggs they are sitting on now, and take any more that they lay away when they lay them. this may sound crule but letting them breed through winter is cruler unless you are breeding inside. They need a break too. How many nesting boxes do you have ? How many pairs breeding?

How old are your birds? You don't want to breed them if they are to old or to young. Your hens foot may be still sore and she wont want any male on her, because she has to hang on hard which may hurt her foot. Have you got a photo of your birds and if so can you post it or more? We can make sure you have a male and female.. What are your other points as to why they wont go in the nesting box?? :ygbudgie:

Hi wrk, you have had a rough time or should I say your babies have. Can you put a picture up so we can see them. then we might be able to tell you how bad the plucking was. Are they feeding okay with you? If so thats great and good luck. I have a plucker and I am not sure if I am going to breed her again , because I have to foster her babies out. I hope yours are doing well with you feeding them. Good luck

Hi Bev, You have done the right thing by brining her in. Very cute.... and at 5 weeks she should eat herself. Don't expect the crop to be as huge as mum fills it but you should feel a small ball in there. Good luck Bev and keep us posted .

Have you opened the eggs that have holes? Are there dead babies or just yolk? If it is yolk the eggs weren't fertile. Good luck with the other 2 eggs.

IMO the hens I would go to 4 depending on there health. Males, 6yrs is where I would stop and again depending on the health of the bird.

Hi Bea, I think Bev brought the arrowroot biscuits for the bubs.

Thanks Bea, that makes me feel a lot better-- ps. Want a packet of arrowroot biscuits??? (Laughing out loud) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Love the ps Bev very funny (Laughing out loud) (Laughing out loud) (Laughing out loud) :(Laughing out loud):

Well I hope your are wrong. That is very sad BUT very exciting your babies are beautiful, it makes me want to start breeding again now.

I'm not sure either- same as you rainbow- I would wake up and there would be anew baby- so I guess you should hurry up and go to sleep that seems to do the trick to get the babes here faster <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes the same here, they are an excellent morning present. Go to bed go to bed. Good luck :ygbudgie:

Thanks Rainbow and Chirpy I will let them know. Have been busy with kids, hopefully give them a call tomorrow. Thanks again

It's not that easy, it may take them longer to leave the nest. They can both feed the babies for some time after leaving the nest. They can even start to lay their 2nd clutch of eggs before the last chick has left the nest. then you are left with the eggs and what to do with them. :nest: Breeding without breeding cages can be very harsh on all your birds they can fight over nesting boxes and it can become very bloody. They may like 1 nesting box more than the others and fight to the death if you aren't careful. Some hens can even throw out other hens eggs. Sorry I'm not been very positive about this, but I'm sure you would want to know what could happen, and on the other hand nothing may happen and they may all breed without anything happening. I'm sure you have looked into all of this If you take the hen away the male may not feed the babies and they could die. The other hens may want the nesting box and kill the bubs. Good luck with everything and keep a watchfull eye out on your birds when they start to pick there nesting boxes.

I think they are just gorgeous and they will grow up to be gorgeous too. Well done on the pics. Just 2 more to go, good luck and keep posting pictures..

Thanks Chirpy for the reply and moveing my post (silly me) But on the serious side they did buy mite spray and have done that. I told them to clean his cage and to watch him to make sure he is not doing it. Here is the other picture and both wings have been cliped This is the other side and is nearly the same. I will tell them the info you have given me Chirpy and thanks again.

My friend's partner went and brought a budgie from a pet store and rang me the other night so I went and had a look. It has some feathers missing on the shoulder areas. They have had him a month now and say it was like it when they got him. One says it has got worse but the other doesn't think it has.. I took some pics and here are the best 2, well I hope they work. Sorry second picture to large, I will make it smaller then post it. I said it could be the other birds picking on him or stress I'v never seen it on the shoulders like that before. Has anyone? any info would be great. Thank you.

Some do and some don't , for eg: One of mine lay every other day but the first 1 hatches on day 21 then 20 then 19 and the 4th is on day 18 so her first 4 are only a day apart then the rest are on their 18 days. I think they are all different just like us.