Well I had a spare aviary leftover when we built the bank of 4 so I put my breeding boxes in it for now- nice and secure and close to the other birds. It has turned out quite well I put 5 pairs down (a couple a bit later than the first 3) some of which have been painful in the past to get anything out of, this time they were bonding straight away and have given me roughly 3 eggs each so far. The other 2 pairs are looking good but nothing in the nest yet.

This is the little fella I bred a while back and had inside, still a character and loving this breeding game!! He grew into a lovely big long bird, and (not that it shows in the pics) a nice blow and mask.

Getting excited!

His 'woman'- shes a lovely big hen, long mask and good head!

 

Pair 2- greygreen opaline cock (old picture) and op. Dom pied hen she is a solid buff hen with huge head and mask hoping they will compliment each other although I would have preferred a non opaline for her. Related to the green male above

 

Pair 3- 2 lutes. Started having a bit of trouble with him last year, but have put him with a young lute hen this time to test them both, may swap him over after this clutch to a better hen. He is not so great to look at but comes from good lute lines.

 

Pair 4

Opaline to op spangle. Another test pair for now, needed to separate him from his mate in the aviary also. She is a young hen I bred last season turned out really well

 

Pair5

Grey spangle cin cock

Light green cin hen

Both from good lines, hen been giving me the sheets since I bought her grumpy old thing but has paired up so fingers crossed now.

Great news Pie. Looks like fertility central at your place. Very nice birds too

 

Hows young William going ?

Lol- it is here, I have 3 female dogs in season out the back also Driving me bonkers!!

 

Little fella is going well, I could just eat him up sometimes!!!

 

Due for a few more breeding boxes soon.

Everyone looks good, I really love the greygreen he has a beautiful coloration, I don't favor green like I do blues but I really love the greygreen coloration.

They look good Pie, looks promising for some nice chicks

They look awesome!!! I look forward to your updates

Well the impossible (or so I thought) has happened, I have an egg from the grumpy old cow in pair 5. Soon to see if its viable but it was her last chance and Id given up on ever getting anything from her she has never taken any sort of interest in anything.

Quite chuffed, even if it eventuates to nothing I know there is still a chance another time!!!

(eggs still appearing in other nests)

Good for the grumpy old cow

Budgies are full of surprises arent they

Good luck with them pie, cograts on the egg

Yeah I have a nice looking show type hen I bought last year she had had about 3 batches all clear, the first cock I used with her with wasn’t proven. So I put her with a proven cock, she had one clear batch, so I have always used her as a foster Mum, well on her second batch I had another young hen lay on the floor of the cabinet so I gave some of the eggs to her, one egg hatched I thought for sure it was from the egg I gave her. Then I gave her two foster chicks, all three have grown up Cinnamons, so I had a thought about that & it turned out that the chick that hatched had to be hers as there’s no way it could have been from the eggs I gave her, so I will be hoping on her next batch for even more success. So some just seem to take a while before they click.

Yep sure has taken a while, plus she was an older hen from another breeder (and another before him if I remember) so she was certain to give me a few problems. Obviously I have set things up just right for her now.

My little boy had his first chick hatch today. It is absolutely freezing here today so no pics of it- I'll get some when its feathering up as thats when they're worth photographing!!

I thought cage 4 would have been first to hatch- I havent candled any of the eggs so time will tell, more of a surprise too!!

Can you tell he's my favourite? LOL

He cant wait for his softfood to be delivered each day- although these days the time of day varies!! He still likes to come and sit on my shoulder or hand while waiting and have a good scratch

Very nice Pie!

 

I like them all!

 

Best not to disturb them when it's cold. I only check mine once in the morning and once in the evening.

 

I like the Normal green to Grey green opaline pairing.

Your birds look great Pie I especially like your favourite green boy too

He doesnt look it but he is a very long big bird, one of mine that didnt get rung.

The green/ gg opal pairing hopefully turns out well. The pairing of these birds was a bit harder as my better birds are opal or split opaline but its a bit of a test run this time, after seeing what they throw the next pairing will havea bit more thought to it, I already have a few thoughts on a few swaps all going well.

Only checked once today been freezing, they get checked quick when I do the soft food and now they are hatching once more later on, weather hasnt been too bad during the day but a very cold wind today.

4 or 5 so far in cage 1- green / greygreen pair, look okay have started ringing chicks.

 

Dom pied / greygreen pair had a chick that I found on the cage floor, not sure if she threw it out or what. I shifted her next to hatch eggs into the nest of the older hen.

This morning there was a young 'lute' chick in the older hens nest- that has made it easier to determine which ones are fosters!! The greygreen cock in pair 2 is split lute, so hopefully the hen chick gets mums mask- that is one thing all my lutes are lacking from last year.

 

Doesnt look good so far for my lute/lute pairing should have had something by now.

Still waiting on the other 2 pairs, nearly time.

 

THey all go mad when its feed time, walking up with their soft food to the aviaries there is a wall of budgies on the front of the wire waiting!! the breeders cages wait by their door and my green boy cannot wait for me, he gets out and helps himslef while waiting.

"Will you HURRY UP with that softfood"

 

"GRRR dont worry I'll get it my self"

 

Youngsters in nest 1- greygreen normal; normal; opaline and not sure!

 

Nest5

Lute hen (foster from pied hen)

2 cinnamons

2 more lutes (assuming fostered eggs)

 

Lutino pair are back in aviary after a clear round- hen may need a bit longer to mature

Congrats they are looking great pie, and that 3rd picture of the baby looking at the camera is endearing you should enter this picture in Budgie of the Month .

Buggered if I could get good pics of them but here is a couple I took a little while ago. Camera wanted to blur all pics last night.

3 greygreen normals and a greygreen opaline. Nice big birds heaps of feathering- very fluffy! And looks like good feathering over their head

 

 

Also got a Lute a Grey cin spangle; 2 green cin spangles and a young green? cin spangle in the nest feathering up

Oh WOW Pie, look at the heads !

Nice big feathers To

* can you tell i am learnign the show ways

Great looking chicks Pie

Nice chicks Pie, I like your favourite Green bird too, looks nice.

Very nice looking chicks Send them my way I'm not having much luck at the minute