Posted August 7, 200816 yr I never know where this falls, so if a more experienced moderator wants to move it, then by all means, please do so. I went to Missylu's the other day to pick up a DF spangle. He is a nice big bird, bright yellow and seems very friendly. He was originally called Boof, but since there is already a Boof in my aviary, he needed a new name. Now, what would I call a big yellow bird that seemed quite friendly and likes to chat a lot? Hmmmmm... sounds a lot like Big Bird. So that was it. Big Bird did not come home alone however. He came with a lovely YF2 opaline hen who has had a tough life. I am told that she scaley face quite bad, and that has obviously damaged her toes and her cere as well. She seems in good health now but has a few issues in a smaller aviary. She will be fine in a bigger aviary with nice big natural perches to sit on. She looked at me with her lovely eyes and I got that "She's got Bette Davis eyes" line from a song stuck in my head, so Bette it is. Here are some pics. They are both in good health, poos look great ( as good as poos will ever look). They are inside at the moment and will get a dose of ivermectin over the weekend. Before worming and then going out to the aviary in 2 weeks or so. Punchy and Lego are my next 2, who will get a spot of ivermectin on saturday morning then will head into the aviary. They love their brocolli and have just learnt about the beauty of corn on the cob. Tam and edmund have been in the aviary for over a month now and they seem to be going great. Tam, being older is more solitary, but still spends time with edmund. Edmund has also made some younger new friends. Tam on the right Edmund Next oldest in joining my flock was Marco Paulo Brewster was caught by a student I tutored. She was hanging around the outside of a lovebird aviary looking for food. Brewster is in the middle in the picture. He who started it all was indeed a caught bird, king Humphrey My doors, well not the aviary door, are always open. Birds needing a new home are always welcome here. Big Bird was the only one bought in this lot, and his picture is included to show him with Bette.
August 7, 200816 yr Well done with the rescued budgies. Have you ever been to Langkawi. Theres a brilliant bird centre called Langkawi bird park and it has a massive avairy just for rescued budgies it's really beautiful with all the auzzie native plants and they probably had a budgies of nearly every colour it was amazing I just wish we had something like that at Auzzie zoo here in QLD.
August 7, 200816 yr Oh Dave, You got Bette. I couldn't take her as I know she will be picked on here. She is looking fantastic, compared to when Missylu first got them All the birds were in a HORRIBLE state we sat there treating all the birds clipping up over grown beaks, worming, trwating scaley face ( we cried when we seen her) it was soo sad, and well missylu has a soft heart and wouldn't leave one behind!!! I am sure they will be as happy with you as they were with Missylu congrats
August 7, 200816 yr What a lovely bunch of pretty misfits It's great to see they all have a home to live happily ever after in
August 7, 200816 yr You have a good heart Dave! They all look great and I'm sure will have a good life in your aviary.
August 7, 200816 yr Thanks dave for taking "BETTE" she wasnt very happy here she just seemed to stay in the nest box all the time. She has come a long way from when i first got her, her cere had a hole in it from scaley face she had two babies at the time and both died as they had red mites!It was quite a horrible place to be and because of that she is not very sociable. Anyways thats why i offered her to you dave because i know she will go well with all the other misfits. Thanks again
August 7, 200816 yr Very lovey, this would be something I would do would be to take in the misfits or the unwanted if I had the space , they are a beautiful bunch of budgies...hats off to you.
August 7, 200816 yr What a great bunch of birds....all colours of the rainbow....and happy in your care PS Big Bird is very cute
August 10, 200816 yr Author Just thought I would give an update. Punchy and Lego moved into the avairy today, and they seem quite happy about it, fluttering around, annoying others, learning pecking orders, meeting new birds and learning new things. The aviary got its regular vege update today, with borcolli, corn and spinach going into the aviay. My birds do not go without.
August 10, 200816 yr Thanks for the update. Do you find you get many casulities when you introduce newbies or do they seem to figure out the pecking order without too much hassle?
August 10, 200816 yr Author I am yet to get one single casualty. I say is because they are slowly introduced to each other. For the first 3 weeks of quarantine, the new birds are kept totally isolated from the othr birds, spatially. This means, they are in the house or garage, and although they can hear the other birds, and they can sing out to the new birds, they cannot see them. The weekend before and after the last week of quarantine, the new birds' cage gets moved to about 8-9 metres from the aviary, within sight of each other, but still far enough apart. They call out to each other, but there is still no contact. The next thing I do when i put the new birds in the aviary is to introduce them always at the same time as I put new corn, spinach and broccolli in there, as well as the new seed for that day. This means that the other birds are distracted whilst the new birds get a chance to look around. Most birds squabble and fight due to the lack of room. My aviary is just over 3 metres by just over 2 metres, and over 2 metres tall. There is plenty of branches in there, plenty of places to get food, and plenty of room to fly. There are less likely to be squabbles as even if a bird wants to "claim" or "defend" one bit of branch, there is so much room that it is eay to find another piece. And if there is a squabble, it usually lasts only 1 day. When I introduced Tam and Edmund, Edmund tried to scare all the other birds off "his" new 2 metre branch. The other birds were a little puzzled at first, and the young ones thought it was a great game of chasings. It last all of an hour.
August 10, 200816 yr Good to hear. Some excellent tips there also for people introducing new birds to an aviary/cage. Thanks for that Dave
August 10, 200816 yr Author pleased I can help love the avatar by the way. I know just how Pepe feels!!!!!!!!!
August 10, 200816 yr pleased I can help love the avatar by the way. Thanks I know just how Pepe feels!!!!!!!!! ME TOO!!!!! :hap: It's tough isn't it...
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