walked outside to my aviary 20 minutes ago, to find that my blue hen has gone into my albino nest and absolutely slaughtered the chicks, all 4 of them died and so on i have taken the hen out that did it and took her a few doors up to the pet shop and gave her to the pet shop......

this was the nest full of the opaline spangles and i was very distraught when i saw the blood everywhere with the chicks inside dead..... so a very dissapointing and sad day for me unfortunately, just when i was feeling good about saving the lives of the cockatiel's and the other budgie, i lose 4 out of the aviary.......

 

i dont think i can breed these anymore, ive reduced the margin this afternoon by 12 males to 8 hens... to prevent fights... but it still aint working, this is twice its happened in 4 days ever since we moved.... i have no where to breed via cabinet breeding so i think im gonna give it up, i dont want anymore budgie's to lose their life over this **** with the hen's wanting the same box....

 

 

what should i do ?

Very sad indeed. Sorry to hear about this. Maybe you can consider trying some colony friendly birds to breed instead like finches, cockatiels or Princess Parrots?

 

I remember when I colony bred some budgies and there were always problems. Not a day would go past when you didn't see some sort of blood shed. For this reason I will stick to cabinet breeding from now on.

I think im going to have to do that...get rid of my budgie's, then i might buy either some more cockatiel's or maybe 2 or 3 pairs of ringnecks....or 3 pair of princess parrot's....theirs so many bird's that i can breed without having the problems that budgie's possess with colony breedings....to tell you the truth i have had enough of these budgie's...and im most likely going to get rid of them. i'm a very affectionate and sensitive guy, so whenever i see a bird lose it's life, i end up shedding a tear and feeling guilty for it and wonder wether it could have been avoided.....

I think im going to have to do that...get rid of my budgie's, then i might buy either some more cockatiel's or maybe 2 or 3 pairs of ringnecks....or 3 pair of princess parrot's....theirs so many bird's that i can breed without having the problems that budgie's possess with colony breedings....to tell you the truth i have had enough of these budgie's...and im most likely going to get rid of them. i'm a very affectionate and sensitive guy, so whenever i see a bird lose it's life, i end up shedding a tear and feeling guilty for it and wonder wether it could have been avoided.....

 

mattdog their is no reason you can not breed with the wire cage breeding cages u dont need a room to breed with cabbnits

my cages are out in open i have always done it this was

i resently built bird room

but decided to just go back to my oridganal sett up as it worked better

 

 

 

here i have them under cover but thats only as i moved before i had same set up but against the side fence of the yard

i covered birds the exact same with a tarp weaighted down

and i had each cage in a this plastic bag that i cut a flap into so that i could peg it back at night and open during day

if it was extreamly bad weather i just covered them for the whole day

i had every good rate of chicks and never lost birds to cold or anything i had the tops covered permanantly and just roll the tarp up so easy

where theirs a will their is a way

I don't have any sort of room like that whatsoever....so unfortunately i cannot do that.... i think im just going to give up on budgie's for now until i get my own place where i have the room to do the cabinet/cage breeding.....

 

i do not like cage breeding as they don't have the freedom as they do in an aviary....so i don't really know what to do....

 

my instincts are to find some keen breeders and give my budgie's to them.... that way they wont sit in a pet shop.... then after that's done im going to go buy 3 pair's of ringneck parrots, OR 1 pair of alexandrine's...their about $300 a pair....

ill start up budgie's again when i leave home for a new house...

I am very sorry to hear of your losses, and the pain it has caused.

 

We often talk of the problems associated with colony breeding and it is so sad when the concerns become a reality.

Mattdog2......don't give up ....I'm really new at all this but I do know that I have seen you on these forums with a lot of knowledge and compassion....My set up will be just about the same as GB's...you can do it....

 

I know that I have no experience yet... and what I say kind of means squat, but without knowing it you have helped me heaps just by reading what you have to say....

 

Give it another shot with cabinet breeding???

Thanks anne, with the cabinet breeding i would do it but i have no where suitable to put the cabinets.....only suitable place i can think of is my verandah....

 

my house is on the main drag of belmont...(pacific highway) and the veranda is fairly high up with brick sides around it....so if i put some see through mesh around my veranda... i could possibly put some cabinets out their...but coming onto winter... im not sure if it's cold for them or not....im gonna leave it for tonight and see what i can do...i have 3 tame budgie's in the aviary now... and they are paired up to other hen's... so ill have 3 pairs even if i get rid of my other's to other breeders. so ill put them in cabinets on the veranda if i have to and have a mini breeding area of 3 pairs... that will still give me the enjoyment of having budgie's....but as for the large aviary....it's made out of 4 inch galvanized steel, and is about as solid as a brick wall....although the wire is cheap trash from bunnings($65=10 Mtrs) so i cant put anything with strong beak power in it i was thinking princess parrot's or even more cockatiel's

"mini breeding area - 3 pairs"

 

And when they have had thier babies, they can live nicely with the cockatiels till nhext time!!!!!

 

Yeah...sleep on it Mattdog2, It might seem better in the morning.

And...I am so sorry for the loss of your babies..... I ment to say that before....

I've bred budgies sucessfully in a colony set up before, it can work.

You could try reducing your number of hens and keeping 2-3 nest boxes per hen.

 

I don't know how big your aviary is but perhaps you could put your breeding cabinets in your aviary?

 

I was careful not to introduce any new hens into my colony when the existing hens were already breeding too. The hens in the colony would fight over the boxes they percieved were the best but eventually they'd all settle to seperate nests.

Once they have a cluth in their box they generally don't bother fighting with the other hens.

The problems come when you have a hen with eggs or babies already and a hen without that wants her nest.

Edited July 3, 200915 yr by Linda_S

that's exactly what happened linda, the blue hen wanted the nest with the chicks, so she has killed the chicks for the nest...but the hen that killed them is gone now...so that's another problem gone.....its as easy as 1.2.3 to take the budgie's 3 doors up and sell them back to the shop and just keep my 3 pair's... but like anne said, ill sleep on it and decide in the morning..

I am really sorry to hear this Matt, and even sorrier to hear it may make you give up on your budgies.

I used to colony breed, but suffered some massacres just like that which has just happened to you. I gave up colony style breeding at that point and began cabinet breeding.

I am sure there would be a way you can work it out and move on to cabinet breeding without giving up on the budgies. Give us some more details about your house and so on.......photos would help and we can "brainstorm " and help you get back on track.

 

im probably gonna put 3 cabinets out on the verandah and have my mini breeding "parlour" on the verandah, and ill sell the rest.... unfortunately i cannot keep the colony breeding situation going the way it is.....if im going to act, now is a very good time to do it....no hen's have eggs or baby's in the aviary's now....so i gotta act fast

Sorry for your losses... I colony breed once... and although i never lost any birds, it was more trouble than it's worth. There is no reason you can't keep your budgies in the avairy and just remove the nest boxes...

How big is your aviary ? Can you put breeding cabinets in there ?

mate i never had any veranda or patio as i have in the picture

 

all my cages were in the back yard along the wooden fence their was no cover area at all

theses pics are just what i have done two nights ago at my new place i was trying to show you the basic blind and cheep 2 dollor tarps from army disposles yes 2 dollors

and i would suggest you breed 4 pair look at the set up not where i have it

i started with 4 pairs

and each clutch i keep two to three chicks and sell the rest

3 years ago i now have 12 breeding cages but not all are together

some are in my aviary along the wall

i use the money from the sold chicks to get more cages and upgrades on my aviary

im in the middle of saving for some more blinds and some clear plastic instead of the blue tarps for really wet cold blowy days

and some sun tough as im making sliding doors on my aviary as to close the wind out

please dont give up im three years breeding now and still have miles to go before i can have a decant more practical set up

when i was staying at my mums my birds were on her varanda

again just with the tarps it works good i have mind tied permanantly but you can simply use pegs

 

here is a closer look for you... remember !

look at it as if it was in the back yard along a fence

forget about the porch as i only just reasently have been blessed with having this

but nothing else has changed

 

 

you can see i have a towel doubled over to keep the wind out on the side near blind

which is just good enough to stop the heavy rain

i still need to line it with plastic (the blind that is )

 

 

you can see that i have joined the tarps together

i did this with wire and then i joined it to a metal curtain rod

then i attached it all to the wire cages at the back i just roll it up and down as i think necessary

you can even place a big woolen blanket first then the tarp for added warmth if you think they need it

all my cages are wired on to the trolleys and the top cage wired to the bottom

 

if i need to move one for any reason i just cut the wire with wire cutters and do so but i always rewire them back

their is so many places you can breed birds even in the house

u do not need a covered area just a good imagination as long as they dont get wet they are all good

please dont give in as kaz said some pics of your yard house im sure theirs somewhere you have over looked

 

Hey Matt, sorry to hear about the massacre

 

Please don't throw in the towel. I know that following a major set back the initial reaction is to say 'this is too hard I don't want to deal with this kind of set back again'. Unfortunately breeding budgies is NOT for the fainthearted.

 

Having said that I know many a person who has given up only to miss it so badly that they are back soon enough.

 

Maybe you have garage space available?

 

Or the alternative provided by GB above is also a possibility.

 

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

Genericblue's setup is very good and very simple, its exactly like what I had.

What im going to have to do is put a few cabinets on my veranda, and once i take my cockatiel's out of the other aviary and stick them in the current budgie aviary, ill put some few more pairs of budgies in the current tiel aviary....ill be able to sort it out nicely hopefully.

that is good i hope your budgies like your idea to

So do I and im sure i can sort something out for all of them to be happy.

:question: thats the spirit woops saturday now give you something to do on week end

I have decided to sell all my budgie's except for my 4 best breeding pair's, and put them in the cockatiel aviary, and move the cockatiel's to the large aviary, i am also going to buy 3 more pairs's of tiel's and have them quarantined for 6 weeks while i vet them vet checked.

Pheww....LOL....

 

Glad to hear it Mattdog2.....

as am i, it's the best and fairest solution for m bird's.....

 

now the tiel's can have a change of housing to their liking... as they are a bigger bird they need more room.... so it's best solution for both the budgies and tiel's.

Edited July 4, 200915 yr by mattdog2