I've wrapped up my breeding season for the year- I had had 6 pairs down but I came home from my hols to a lot of clear eggs....

 

After the 'unexplained' deaths I've put everyone to a course of Fungilin which will be over by the week's end. They'll all have a couple of days on KD Powder and then their monthly lice, mite and worm treatment.

 

On Monday 19th I commence the annual Doxy treatment. I cannot stress how important it is to do this for all you aspiring and experienced breeders. Doxy primarily treats chlamydia which unfortunately is very prevalent in today's birds. I first did this treatment last year and have been overwhelmed by a fantastic breeding season - sure there are other factors, but the Doxy 60 day treatment was the foundation for this.

 

2009 will be my last year as a Novice Breeder so I am busily planning this year's breeding season, after all for my budgies to continue to be successful on the bench they'll need to go straight into the Intermediate grade at a competitive standard.

 

This past year I bought heavily from 2 Intermediate breeders in Feb-May who are on the verge of transitioning into the Open grade. My current chicks look like they will easily attain the qualities of the parents, which bodes well for this year's showing.

 

But this year I will be buying in cocks from an established Open breeder. He is not the Top Open breeder but this Saturday I hope to be able to purchase a super Normal Green and Blue cocks to build up the size and feather of my Normals.

 

You see you have to get your Normals to the highest standard you can before you start working on the rarer varieties. So, fingers crossed, this time next year I should have 20 Normal chicks from these 2 sires as the foundation to my Inos and Greywings.

 

I'll post pics of my visit on Sunday.

Edited January 7, 200916 yr by renee

but 2009 just started you can't finish for the year!!! I know your talking about 2008 Good luck with everything this year. Hope all goes well :baby:

Edited January 7, 200916 yr by JimmyBanks

Budgie breeders work on more of a financial year when they speak about wrapping up for 'this year' JB as the main breeding time is spring-early summer and then maybe again in autumn for some

Budgie breeders work on more of a financial year when they speak about wrapping up for 'this year' JB as the main breeding time is spring-early summer and then maybe again in autumn for some

 

That's right MB, I commence breeding with my 2-3 yr old hens in April (after the doxy treatment), as a rule I let them go 2 rounds and then start the 'second cycle' with my maiden hens as of August.

 

The breeding period determines the budgie year, usually it's all over by January for me anyway but even if it weren't I'd still consider this January's chicks (despite having new rings) as being of the breeding season that started last year. Confused? LOL. That's because only this year the new ring issue date changed to January 1st 2009.

 

Still confused?

 

Perhaps I'll leave this to another member who can explain it better LOL. :baby:

Edited January 7, 200916 yr by renee

That's a good way to do it Renee, I'll have to remember that for when I have enough birds to have to worry about breeding cage space

That's a good way to do it Renee, I'll have to remember that for when I have enough birds to have to worry about breeding cage space

 

I do it this way because my garage/breeding room is East facing and of brick structure so with very little effort it keeps nice and warm throughout the winter. Also with the advent of Arcadia lighting I can keep breeding conditions at an optimum. So in effect my set up is best suited to this period.

 

Because the first chicks of the new season are hatched in May it makes sense to let them mature as much as possible till the following August, plus the weather starts to warm then and Spring starts to kick in and the birds normal hormones take over.

 

I have this year put younger hens down but that's because they have been bought in and are already mature (and always after consulting their breeder first).

 

I don't expect much out of the first or even second round of my Maiden hens, their first season is all about assessing their viability as top breeders and if necessary "training" them.

when you say "training" them are you talking about for show?

when you say "training" them are you talking about for show?

 

Not at all! I rarely show hens any way.

 

I mean that if my Maiden hens demonstrate anything but highly desirable mothering instincts I will persevere and try to teach them better habits.

Edited January 7, 200916 yr by renee

thats what I thought you were saying, how do you train a hen to be a better mother?

thats what I thought you were saying, how do you train a hen to be a better mother?

 

Feather Pluckers: foster affected chicks, replace with similar aged chicks and distract mother with millet sprays and open up nest box with clear partition.

 

Non-Feeders: foster hatchlings, introduce 3-4 day old 'noisy' chicks ... monitor and keep trying till dumb-dumb realizes she has to feed.

 

Tight-sitters: place marbles in the nest.

hmmm handy to know. thanks

Renee, You cannot hanging off too long this year as the breeding season will be short and you only have 9 months too produce those champs for 2009. Goodluck with them Hens.

Renee, You cannot hanging off too long this year as the breeding season will be short and you only have 9 months too produce those champs for 2009. Goodluck with them Hens.

 

Not to worry Lochlan, my breeding season will commence in April with chicks expected for May.

 

So long as Nationals continue to be held in May any of my future champion chicks will be 12 months old.

 

Of course the serious breeders will be entering chicks born in January 09 for National 2010 and therefor have an advantage from this year on of 4-5 months....

Well very very hot and tired, but we're home - the birds have been seen and attended to, so it's time for an update.

 

This morning we drove 2hrs south to Boyanup to visit John Payne, a respected and valuable member of our club, the South West Budgie Club (Mandurah). Thanks to some excellent directions we didn't get lost once and arrived safe and in one piece!

 

John Payne

 

His Aviary:

Front view

Side view

Inside Flight

Breeding Room

 

 

After some deliberation we chose 2 cock birds

The super Green Normal (06PJ242)

The super Violet Opaline (06PJ354)

 

I have focused on feather and mask.

 

Comments welcome.

John Payne looks to have a good setup. The bush looks so dry where he is. This hot weather you guys have had looks liek ti has done a number on some areas. You will be pleased to hear I am bringing with me a cool change on Monday - LOL.

 

Nice to finally see a breeder with some natural timber in there, not just dowel. Sometimes I think things are too sterile.

 

Nice looking birds. They look to have long masks with good spots. I particularly like the idea of the blue cock. The more I learn, the more I realise how important and difficult it must be to breed good quality blue birds

John Payne looks to have a good setup. The bush looks so dry where he is. This hot weather you guys have had looks liek ti has done a number on some areas. You will be pleased to hear I am bringing with me a cool change on Monday - LOL.

 

Nice to finally see a breeder with some natural timber in there, not just dowel. Sometimes I think things are too sterile.

 

I particularly like the length of his flights.

 

You can see from the Front View that originally the aviary was in the shade of a huge tree. John had to have it cut down last year 'cause at the age of 100 years it started dropping its main branches. Despite the lack of shade the aviary is remarkably cooler than you'd expect due to the design for cross breezes.

Edited January 10, 200916 yr by renee

Well done and good luck with the improvements these birds hopefully make. He looks to have some good sized birds, and such a simple but well setup aviary

On Monday 19th I commence the annual Doxy treatment. I cannot stress how important it is to do this for all you aspiring and experienced breeders. Doxy primarily treats chlamydia which unfortunately is very prevalent in today's birds. I first did this treatment last year and have been overwhelmed by a fantastic breeding season - sure there are other factors, but the Doxy 60 day treatment was the foundation for this.

 

I cannot agree with treating birds with antibiotic when it has not been prescribed for a sickness.

Many on the forum know how I feel about the use of antibiotics and they are probably rolling their eyes as they read this, but I do not agree with using antibiotics as a 'preventative' especially on such a large scale.

The reason why so many birds probably have chlamydia now is because of the overuse of doxycycline (and other anitbiotics and other bacteria) in breeding programs.

An overuse of antibiotics leads to resistance in the targeted bacteria and other bacteria affected by the drug. If the bacteria are not completely wiped out then the ones that survive are resistant to the antibiotic and they reproduce to create more and more resistant bacteria.

If you do not believe resistance occurs then look at some of our hospitals, many have been colonised by resistant bacteria that arose from people being prescribed antibiotics for colds or other silly things, or people who did not finish their course of antibiotics or did not take them as they were instructed.

 

What people need to understand is that abuse of antibiotics leads to resistance which means that that drug will no longer work any more and we have to find new drugs. No new drugs have been discovered for a while.

I think the figures were something like: two thirds of the antibiotics that we used to use can no longer be used today.

 

There is no need to fix something that isn't broken.

 

Plus if you have already treated your birds last year for it and introduced no new birds (unlikely I know, but even then if all birds came out of quarantine healthy), you do not need to do it again.

Also putting them through antibiotic treatment kills many of their internal flora, giving them gut ache, diarrhoea and a chance for more pathogenic bacteria to colonise the recently empty spot, and can even encourage some fungal diseases.

 

Any resistant bacteria that you create are likely to colonise you as well (they often like to live up your nose), this will mean that you can spread it around to other people's aviaries, make their birds sick with a resistant bacteria . Then what happens if you become sick with the resistant chlamydia? Luckily for us doctors have some potent back up antibiotics, but the question remains: How long will these back up antibiotics work for?

 

I just don't believe in doing that.

Edited January 17, 200916 yr by Sailorwolf

On Monday 19th I commence the annual Doxy treatment. I cannot stress how important it is to do this for all you aspiring and experienced breeders. Doxy primarily treats chlamydia which unfortunately is very prevalent in today's birds. I first did this treatment last year and have been overwhelmed by a fantastic breeding season - sure there are other factors, but the Doxy 60 day treatment was the foundation for this.

 

I cannot agree with treating birds with antibiotic when it has not been prescribed for a sickness.

Many on the forum know how I feel about the use of antibiotics and they are probably rolling their eyes as they read this, but I do not agree with using antibiotics as a 'preventative' especially on such a large scale.

The reason why so many birds probably have chlamydia now is because of the overuse of doxycycline (and other anitbiotics and other bacteria) in breeding programs.

An overuse of antibiotics leads to resistance in the targeted bacteria and other bacteria affected by the drug. If the bacteria are not completely wiped out then the ones that survive are resistant to the antibiotic and they reproduce to create more and more resistant bacteria.

If you do not believe resistance occurs then look at some of our hospitals, many have been colonised by resistant bacteria that arose from people being prescribed antibiotics for colds or other silly things, or people who did not finish their course of antibiotics or did not take them as they were instructed.

 

What people need to understand is that abuse of antibiotics leads to resistance which means that that drug will no longer work any more and we have to find new drugs. No new drugs have been discovered for a while.

I think the figures were something like: two thirds of the antibiotics that we used to use can no longer be used today.

 

There is no need to fix something that isn't broken.

 

Plus if you have already treated your birds last year for it and introduced no new birds (unlikely I know, but even then if all birds came out of quarantine healthy), you do not need to do it again.

Also putting them through antibiotic treatment kills many of their internal flora, giving them gut ache, diarrhoea and a chance for more pathogenic bacteria to colonise the recently empty spot, and can even encourage some fungal diseases.

 

Any resistant bacteria that you create are likely to colonise you as well (they often like to live up your nose), this will mean that you can spread it around to other people's aviaries, make their birds sick with a resistant bacteria . Then what happens if you become sick with the resistant chlamydia? Luckily for us doctors have some potent back up antibiotics, but the question remains: How long will these back up antibiotics work for?

 

I just don't believe in doing that.

 

I appreciate your point of view but I will agree to disagree on this occasion.

 

I don't like treating my birds with antibiotics unless they show symptoms either however, I will do the annual doxy treatment ahead of this breeding season. As I stated before my 08 breeding season was incomparably better than my 07 season and this I believe is due in great part to last year's doxy treatment. It's not only because I am following the advice of one of the country's top breeders, Gary Armstrong, but because I have observed an improvement in fertility and general health in my birds after the 60 day doxy treatment.

 

You may have read in earlier posts that I have a persistent issue in one of my aviaries of green pooey bums, which if left untreated, is fatal.The next time I have another case I will be post the faecal sample to Rob Marshall for analysis- I don't don't think it is psitticosis but I do know that the doxycycline (being a broad spectrum antibiotic) is an excellent remedy.

Edited January 17, 200916 yr by renee

I will admit I am way out of my depth here in terms of understanding the issue, but wouldn't the fact that you have a persistant issue in your aviaries prove sailorwolfs theory?

I will admit I am way out of my depth here in terms of understanding the issue, but wouldn't the fact that you have a persistant issue in your aviaries prove sailorwolfs theory?

 

Not necessarily, it depends what it is. Kaz has a theory it may be the paint we used, although we chose a water soluble 'safe' paint, or else it could be mice, although we don't have any holes and the wire mesh we used is mice and snake proof and I've never found any evidence of a mouse presence ....

 

The birds that were affected were 'new' birds which came down with the greeny poos within 10 days of being introduced into that aviary. You could argue that my flock has a couple of "carriers" however, when I have changed my birds between aviaries it's only the new birds in that one aviary that are affected so that seems to indicate that it is an issue in that aviary- not the birds.

 

I'll be clear here, I'm not talking about wet bums or just green poo, these affected birds have what Gerald Binks refers to as, pasting of the vent. That is the poo builds up till it is a mass on the vent.

dont take me wrong or think im being

what ever but if you have sick or unhealthy birds then would it not make more sence to just despose of these birds

if after treatment the same reacurs

myself if birds get unwell which to tell the truth is a rareaty

(in my case )then i keep them well away from all others ( as do we all )but if they do not improve then i despose of them

(not kill them) move them on and never to someone intending to breed

i also do not like to use antibiotics unless vet directed

have you had your birds randomly tested for this whatever you said they may have ?

or are you just treating them cause they may have it ?

i would not treat birds that dont need treating but thats my unwanted but givein opinion

dont take me wrong or think im being

what ever but if you have sick or unhealthy birds then would it not make more sence to just despose of these birds

if after treatment the same reacurs

myself if birds get unwell which to tell the truth is a rareaty

(in my case )then i keep them well away from all others ( as do we all )but if they do not improve then i despose of them

(not kill them) move them on and never to someone intending to breed

i also do not like to use antibiotics unless vet directed

have you had your birds randomly tested for this whatever you said they may have ?

or are you just treating them cause they may have it ?

i would not treat birds that dont need treating but thats my unwanted but givein opinion

 

I could never move a bird on so to say if it had an issue of some kind, I know that's how many people operate but personally I think it's unethical.

 

Some of you may remember I had a bird autopsied last year. This bird had bred successfully and when I introduced him into the aviary he dropped dead within the week. Very upsetting, especially as he wasn't mine. The faecal analysis was clear but the gizzard was completely destroyed and some (not many) megabacteria gama rods were detected. Now Mega is a secondary infection that flairs up when the bird is stressed (like having a 5 month breeding stint and introduced into a new enviromnent) .... to date I haven't found any other cause of death for my new birds. Although all birds have been treated for mega with 2 courses of fungilin.

 

Of course I could just dispose of the affected birds and put it down to bad luck. It's not like a lose a lot, on average 1-2 every 6 weeks and it's not like I lose every one 'cause I'm on to it now and most birds get caught early and spend a stint in the hospital cage and recover.

 

But I want to know what the *** is going on so I will wait for my next outbreak and send off the sample. And of course I have researched extensively but to date have not found a definitive answer.

Edited January 17, 200916 yr by renee

Good luck with it Renee

Good luck with it Renee

 

Thanks Nyaree, I surely need it.