Hi guys.

 

I would like to share a personal experience with you all. I realise now that what I did was wrong, and I have well and truly learnt my lesson.It would have been about a month ago now, I put my pairs down for breeding. I go around to each of my four cages each Saturday and Wednesday, and do their seed/water etc. I keep my birds under our outside pagola/room type space. Because my avairies are on the opposite side of the house and down a path a bit, I keep a bin of seed near my boxes so I dont need to walk around the other side of the house.

 

One of my pairs didnt have chicks yet, so they weren't going through seed as quickly. I got home Wednesday night, and I didn't do the birds that night. By the time Saturday came around, All the birds were fine on seed still, including the other three with their chicks. I did the ones with chicks first, and it just so turned out that I ran out of seed in the bin by the time I came to the last pair. I thought Well that is okay, I will fill the bin up when I go around to fill up the aviary birds seed. And I did.

 

Wednesday came around and I arrived home from school to find the hen of the pair dead, and the cock bird very spasming and fluffed up, and not responding. It had turned out that while I had filled the bin up, I had forgotten to fill their seed, so they had none left. Please do not hold this against me because of my age, or because I am new to birds. I understand what I did was wrong, and I can tell you that I felt pretty like s*** that night.

 

So I brang the cock bird in. I put him in a hosptial cage and kept him near the heater. He was so unresponsive at this time that he didn't pick at the seed. I have crop-needled my budgies before, In fact quite alot as I hand-reared 4 chicks for 2 weeks with it. I was in shoot mode, mixing up hand-rearing formula and honey. I was just about to crop-needle him. I froze up. I couldn't do it. I don't know why, it is stupid now that I look at it. A good bird died that night because I made two mistakes.

 

Has anyone ever shared a similar experience, and how did you get past it? I have not attempted to needle a bird since then, becuse the need has not arrived. But I wonder, if the need does arise, what will happen? Please, I need some advice.

Sorry to hear that you lost 2 birds :bump: ...

 

...but i must say checking and feeding your birds only twice a week is very risky and not enough at all.

 

I check and feed my aviary birds at least 1-2 times a day on busy days, but more often on the weekends. If you don't have time to do this: don't keep birds or other pets!

This routine works best for me. I do check my birds nearly every day when I come home from school, but it is sometimes dark. I also just quickly glance at the feeders most days, and I know from experience that my birds cannot eat a full cup of seed in 3 days

 

I am not going to make up excuses on what happened, and I know what happened was wrong. When I was making this thead, I almost didn't include the story becuase I know that sometime on this forum, some people don't understand what has happened.

 

I made this thread to get advice on what I can do when I froze, as I am always striving to care for my birds better. I did not make this thread to get sympathy or to be told how I can make sure my birds get seed. I believe I take good care of my birds, and when one accident happens, I do not believe that is a reason to shut down my whole flock and breeding.

you should change your routine because

This routine works best for me.

it did not work for you....you lost 2 birds.

 

I do check my birds nearly every day when I come home from school, but it is sometimes dark.

nearly every day is not good enough...it should be EVERY day. try to install some lights so you can check birds any time.

 

I also just quickly glance at the feeders most days.

quick glance is not good enough....you should check feeders, blow away husks and top up if necessary and you should change water every second day or every day in hot weather.

it is also about checking the birds for signs of illness...especially breeding pairs and chicks have to be checked twice a day.

 

I am not going to make up excuses on what happened, and I know what happened was wrong. When I was making this thead, I almost didn't include the story becuase I know that sometime on this forum, some people don't understand what has happened.

i am not picking on you, i am trying to give advice.

Edited June 27, 201015 yr by lealotta

We all make mistakes and sometimes when starting out these mistakes cost the life of birds.

NOONE can say they havent made costly mistakes.

I know I have and the kind that makes you kick yourself.

The thing is to learn from your mistakes and quickly so the birds dont suffer.

 

Suggestion....you get some jar feeders so the seed will last a week. As you have some feeding babies they go through a lot more than you can anticipate sometimes.

It might help your situation. :bump:

 

BUT additionAL TO THAT THERE IS A NEED WHEN THERE ARE BABIES TO CHECK NESTS TWICE DAILY TOO. (oops.....sorry about the capitals )

Edited June 27, 201015 yr by KAZ

you should change your routine because

This routine works best for me.

it did not work for you....you lost 2 birds.

 

I do check my birds nearly every day when I come home from school, but it is sometimes dark.

nearly every day is not good enough...it should be EVERY day. try to install some lights so you can check birds any time.

 

I also just quickly glance at the feeders most days.

quick glance is not good enough....you should check feeders, blow away husks and top up if necessary and you should change water every second day or every day in hot weather.

it is also about checking the birds for signs of illness...especially breeding pairs and chicks have to be checked twice a day.

 

I am actually not even going to bother. The reason my 'routine' failed, as it could to anyone, is because I ran out of seed. :bump: ARGH! I seriously am not even going to bother. I do not need c*** from you, when I have had birds for 3 years and my "routine" has worked perfectly fine.If you can tell me that your routine is completley foolproof, then I apolgise. You do not know many important facts to the story..... and members on here wonder why some people don't like this forum! While it is fine to help people, I understand what I did was wrong and I have made changes so this won't happen!! I repeat!:

I made this thread to get advice on what I can do when I froze, as I am always striving to care for my birds better. I did not make this thread to get sympathy or to be told how I can make sure my birds get seed. I believe I take good care of my birds, and when one accident happens, I do not believe that is a reason to shut down my whole flock and breeding.

All I wanted was advice so that I can try and improve my care towards my birds! Thankyou for ruining my night.

Sorry you lost a pair of birds. I am with Kaz , the mason jar feeders are great and like Kaz said they last a week. I have made mistakes quite a few times and have learnt from them too... So I will not judge . Crop needle well just give it a ago next time. I am always scared when I do it as once I pearced the crop and lost a baby and the really put me off but when the time came for me to save a bird next time I had to do it no choice.Good luck with you babies :bump:

you should change your routine because

This routine works best for me.

it did not work for you....you lost 2 birds.

I do check my birds nearly every day when I come home from school, but it is sometimes dark.

nearly every day is not good enough...it should be EVERY day. try to install some lights so you can check birds any time.

I also just quickly glance at the feeders most days.

quick glance is not good enough....you should check feeders, blow away husks and top up if necessary and you should change water every second day or every day in hot weather. it is also about checking the birds for signs of illness...especially breeding pairs and chicks have to be checked twice a day.

I am not going to make up excuses on what happened, and I know what happened was wrong. When I was making this thead, I almost didn't include the story becuase I know that sometime on this forum, some people don't understand what has happened.

i am not picking on you, i am trying to give advice.

Sorry I have to say this Lealotta but a bit harsh when all she wanted was some advice on the crop needle.

Thankyou splat and Kaz. I think I have heard about the jar feeders. Are they the ones that are like an upside down jar and it is like an auto-refill kind off?

I can seriously tell you all that night I actually felt like I wanted to never look at my birds again. There is a difference to finding a bird dead, and having one literally die in your hands as you try to save it. I also agree splat, as I have also had that experience. On my second time crop-needling, I had a bird die momentarily in my hands, I was at my club and being taught how to do it, and the bird reacted badly. even though it wasn't my fault, it still scared the living daylights out of me!

Thankyou splat and Kaz. I think I have heard about the jar feeders. Are they the ones that are like an upside down jar and it is like an auto-refill kind off?

I can seriously tell you all that night I actually felt like I wanted to never look at my birds again. There is a difference to finding a bird dead, and having one literally die in your hands as you try to save it. I also agree splat, as I have also had that experience. On my second time crop-needling, I had a bird die momentarily in my hands, I was at my club and being taught how to do it, and the bird reacted badly. even though it wasn't my fault, it still scared the living daylights out of me!

 

 

Thats the right kind of jar feeder. I have lost three birds to the crop needle in the early days and noones fault but my own.

 

Only one thing to say is......as you are now breeding you will need to check nests and food and water more often.

Whatever system you can implement to help you do this the better

I am actually not even going to bother. The reason my 'routine' failed, as it could to anyone, is because I ran out of seed. ARGH! I seriously am not even going to bother. I do not need c*** from you

 

you would not have run out of seed if you had a routine in place to check your birds and feed them 1-2 times every day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and not only twice a week.

 

and this is not c*** from me. it is advice.

When I say ran out of seed, I meant in a seed bin I keep next to their cages.

 

Thankyou Kaz... I think I have seen them at my club before. I think i will look into getting some. And yes, I have made a new routine that I check each morning.

Edited June 27, 201015 yr by Squeak_Crumble

Thankyou Kaz... I think I have seen them at my club before. I think i will look into getting some. And yes, I have made a new routine that I check each morning.

 

that sounds like a great plan.

Edited June 27, 201015 yr by lealotta

That is a good idea, it will make you feel better knowing the the birds are all good. I know with some of my birds they empty their jars in 5 minutes, waisting it it I mean and if you use those wire cages they can't get to the seed.

I have the time and I check my birds morning and night but then I am always out there because I am budging all the time as Greg puts it

Greg reckons I should put my bed out there too

 

But only you can work out what you can do.

okay here is my story

as most of you know

i have a slight disability

its dyslexia and memory (with out spell check im stuffed )

when i first got my first breeding birds show types

(and ive breed for years )i had them paired for the first time

6 pairs so i could have time to do everything no stuff ups

i did a very simular thing

i was changing seed containers large d cups at the time which i did change twice daily

and water changes also two times as open d cups

and at that time i use to take out all the feeders and water

give all a change and quick clean

then replace one at time

water first seed last

i remember looking at my birds in ore so pleased with my very beautiful purchases

so exited at the prospect that they had eggs i went in to dream mode thinking of who to pair with what next so on

i feed every one

i checked birds all twice and still was happy they were all feed

next day i did this again

all feed all cheaked twice as i know im forgetful

and next day i went out to find my new grey/ino half dead i thought first up illness

but i looked in cage and :what: i relized then what was wrong

id actually put double food next door in the other grey pairing my bird was starved for two full days and almost two nights as i stuffed up

i did look twice but i was looking at wrong birds as they looked so the same and the hens were on eggs

hed been feeding her all his reserved food

if i didnt do the dirty fill meathord back the i would have lost him for sure

 

 

so dont beat yourself to much

as others said we do do things we learn by

i now have mason jar feeders

but even for a breeding pair need to refill every second day sometimes more and i feed aditional seed in other dishes

all which of these d cups need changing daily

each chick from time it hatches eats half cup of seed a day

and by first week one cup a day , THATS EACH CHICK so you may really need to look at more food hun for pairs breeding as soon as chick are due to hatch other wize chicks do not grow to potential as mum n dad only feed what they think is safe so they dont run out

if they feel seeds low they will feed less or feed strongest chicks first mabe even letting last few unfed from birth to die

so endless suply of seed makes birds feedbetter as they know they are safely able to eat all and it will be replaced

so all i ask is mabe add seed just before chicks hatch daily and everyday even if its a bit more hassle as truley your rezults will be

 

i have heaps of stuff up storys

but i learnt from them all that what counts

okay here's one of my stuff ups. As I get old I also forget things or get a bit muddled up lol.

Once or even twice while checking feed and topping up but this is when I used bowls in the breeding cages. Well I feed all birds but there was an empty cage above one breeding box and I put the bowl in the empty breeding box so that meant a pair with 4 babies had no food all night and when I checked in the morning I still didn't notice what I did but I couldn't work out why both parents were out of the nest. I thought strange and off I went on my merry way, had to go out that day so I went to check on them around 4 oclock and top up bowls and oh my god those poor birds had no food at all except a few grains on the floor for 24 hours. But I was lucky both parents were fine and the raised the babies healthy and happy and it didn't stunt their growth. BUT I JUST FELT TERRIABLE for ages never made that mistake again but I have put a drinker a couple of weeks ago on a empty cage and left a hen with water over night but they can live with no water for a while but NOT seed.

I set up a breeder cage a week or so ago and forgot to put the new seed dish in...they were without seed for a whole 24 hrs before I noticed

See we all make mistakes or some of us , especially in this busy world when you are ment to be everywhere at one time.

ha ha this thread should be called the guilty confessions of a breeder

I set up a breeder cage a week or so ago and forgot to put the new seed dish in...they were without seed for a whole 24 hrs before I noticed

I am glad none of the birds were affected!

 

ha ha this thread should be called the guilty confessions of a breeder

 

Haha, Agreed!

I have plenty to confess

:rofl: I have plenty to confess :rofl:

:rofl: im no im lucky i even have birds

remember the time splat i left my cage open

i came out after feeding them and forgot to shut cage

next morning their was a beautiful grey cock bird on out side

stupid me being a bit unwell with my illness at time just sat their talking to it saying what a beautiful boy he was

when i finally decided id catch him so he would not die in the big old world

he flew off

it was then that i relized he was my best cock bird at the time

my splat violet grey boy

my god did i kick myself for months stilkl do

if i could reach myown butt id have kicked myself so so hard :hap:

so ..i was just luck i only lost the one

i could have lost my whole flock by time i relized the door was actually open it was lunch time

my birds just must know their on a good wicket i think

So many mistakes over time....... I've lost some good birds in many various ways due to my ineptitude or stupidity. It happens to us all and it will continue to happen so long as we learn along the way and don't do the same thing twice. (I just hope I don't invent many more unusual ways of stuffing up!).

Hi All,

This is a bit off the theme but, my birds waste an awful lot of seed when raising chicks. I've watched them and they seem to rake it all out of feeders onto floor as if looking for particular seed. Does anyone know what is the preferred seed when feeding? I can't tell from watching them and thought I could add more of that particular seed if I knew what to add, if that makes sense?

 

Anyway, Squeak _Crumble, we all make mistakes we could kick ourselves for. You had the g***t's to admit your's on here, good luck with your new routine I'm sure your birds can only benefit. I have never used a crop needle so can't advise on that, I suppose it's like riding a bike if you fall off, you have to get back on or you never will. Keep working on it and I'm sure you'll win in the end.

Edited July 3, 201014 yr by robyn