I've decided to open a breeding journal for my birds, as its my first time breeding budgies.

 

I feel if I do this, then if something goes wrong I can back track and determine if it could of been avoided and know for next time

 

So this is the pair that is breeding

 

YF Sky Opaline Dom Pied Cock

Normal Sky Hen

 

(Terrible photo I know, it really doesn't do my cock any justice)

 

After some inconsistent laying, there was a total of 7 eggs (I didn't get a photo) For a long while, 3 were showing definite for fertility...but nearing the 6th egg, it looked like only 2. I didn't get to candle the newer eggs as my candling torch has either broken or blown a bulb

 

Yesterday, two of the eggs hatched. While there was only 4 eggs, I came to the conclusion that egg #1 was infertile, so these must of been egg #2 and egg #3

Here are the 'twins'

I'm seeing from this photo that the two eggs on the bottom right have a very distinct pink tinge to them so without a candling torch I'm going to say they are duds. The one at the top seems yellow?

After finding the chicks I saw an egg which looked to have its top half cracked, so it looked like it was hatching. But this morning upon my nest check, I found it was the top half of one of the already hatched chicks egg, stuck on another egg. I removed it to find a hole

Don't know what happened there, but that leaves 5 eggs.

 

Will update.

Good idea about the breeding journal.

 

You dont have twins as they each hatched from different eggs. As twins are a rare occurrence its best bot to refer to non twins as twins if you get my drift

Remove any spare shells as soon as you can or they do get stuck around good eggs and stop the other eggs hatching.

Oh I know they're not actual twins. I was just calling them that because I did not expect two eggs to hatch on the same day. They are kind of like fraternal twins in my eyes lol

But I know as soon as they feather up they will be different.

 

I removed the open egg, and also that piece of shell you can see in the picture...I only noticed it when i took the photo.

 

I also put half a millet spray in the nest box for mumma. She had devoured it by the time i came back so I gave her another half

Do both chicks have black eyes or is one plum ? I can only see the black eyed chick from that photo

They both look black to me

They both look black to me

That means either they arent cinnamons ( dad isnt split for cinnamon ) or it can mean they are both boys if Dad is split for cinnamon or just mean they are normals

Edited February 8, 201114 yr by **KAZ**

Dads parents weren't cinnamon, but i don't now about his grandparents ( I'm not sure how far down the line it travels)

 

Also, I just realised my maths and I feel stupid.

 

There were 7 eggs. 2 hatched and one broke...yet there are 5 eggs in the picture. So there was 8

I need to be more attentive

yea pinkys

yea a breeding journal

was getting boring around here :{

 

congrats and ill be following :}

Your first pinkies!! How exciting for you! I agree with Kaz and GB, this journal is an excellent idea! Can't wait to see how it unfolds.

 

I think I read in one of your other posts that you plan to leave all the eggs, just in case they hatch? I think that's a good idea, since you don't want to chance throwing away a good one on accident. That one with the hole in it, was that yellow yolk inside? So I guess that one was infertile, anyway, so that's all good.

 

 

It is very exciting, they are well fed and wriggling around

Yep the broken one had yellow yolk, so there was no loss there

 

I got my candling torch fixed at a meeting. It was the bulb, but I did not know that there was an extra bulb concealed in the battery cap

 

I candled the eggs that are remaining, and 3/5 are fertile. But they are only red, so they must be the newer ones...so these two will be the only babies for a while.

The two yellow ones, it seems have the air sac resting on the long side of the egg rather at the end, so I assume these are no good am I right?

Update.

 

The chicks are 6 days old today. They are still well fed and moving around. The oldest one's butt fuzz is starting to change colour and their eyes are getting close to opening.

 

The oldest one is significantly bigger than the other one considering they hatched on the same day.

 

I also put the ring on the oldest ones leg, as I'd much rather it fall off and have to do it again rather than miss my ringing window

 

Chick #1

 

Chick #2

 

 

Chick #2's crop is a bit saggy, but I assume thats because he is almost due for a feed. Yesterday their crops were bigger than their own heads...so I am not putting into question Doormat's feeding skills

 

I couldn't get a clear shot of Chick #1's head as it was flailing everywhere. It almost seems to weight down their tiny bodies lol

 

But from the two top view pictures you can see the size difference. It is possible that they hatched hours apart as I checked the nest in the morning and afternoon and they appeared in the afternoon check. Is a difference like this normal or could it be that the bigger chick is a lot more aggressive when asking for food?

 

Either way I'm not worried...just curious.

 

Also, if my maths skills haven't failed me again, the first of the later laid eggs will be due to hatch in a few days (about 3 or 4) I am worried as these chicks will be bigger and needier and will make it harder for doormat to feed them. My other pair is yet to lay so fostering is out of the question.

 

But I was thinking if its possible if I move the two oder chicks and dad into another cage with a nest and keep mum and new babies (if they hatch) where they are. Will dad take care of them properly, and will mum be able to cope? Of course if these chicks do hatch and I find they are being fed I will keep them there, I'm just preparing myself.

I visited a breeder and she taught me how to crop feed so I could always do that if absolutely necessary, but I would rather keep that as an emergency backup.

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 201114 yr by Maddy

Disaster struck.

 

I came out to the aviary for my usual morning nest check to find chick #1 dead.

Its quite disappointing as he was going so well. He just lived past a week.

 

So I took him out and looked him over, and I can't see to find a reason. His crop is full, he isn't discoloured. The only thing I can think of is there might be some air in his crop. Is this enough to kill him?

 

The part where I am assuming is just air is just next to the top wing. But its not an excessive amount, and the only way i found it was when I poked the crop and I saw that bubble bit move.

 

I decided to weight the little guy just for my records. He came to a total of 7 grams, and the other chick is still significantly smaller

 

That leaves 1 chick in the nest, with the other eggs due to hatch any day now.

 

Now I'm going to ask a grim question, but its something that I know most of you have done plenty of times before. How do you dispose of a deceased chick? Is the bin the most popular option? Burial? (<--- I might do that because garbage pickup was today)

Edited February 15, 201114 yr by Maddy

bag in bin yep

I plant them in my plantpots.

Do you grow budgie plants? Just joking

 

I did a check on the other baby this afternoon and there is an excessive amount of air in its crop. Its like a little balloon.

 

Is there anything I can do to fix this before I lose the other one too?

yes mash egg n weetbix and grated carrot

sometimes the hen needs a little extra protein to produce crop milk

worked for my hen whom was feeding mainly air

daily

Edited February 16, 201114 yr by GenericBlue

Sad about the little chick, lets hope the other thrives. Good to see a breeding journal going because yes GB it has been very boring around here for a while. SAD.

Thanks GB I will try that

So I'm assuming a hard boiled egg (yolk and all) mashed with dry weetbix and carrot. Cool!

 

She's a first time mum, so I'm guessing its partly inexperience too. But at least now she has had some practice for the others (if they hatch)

 

 

 

yep shell and all

I mixed up some of that homemade egg and biscuit and they absolutely love it. Well, the breeding pair does anyway.

 

I put it in in the morning. When I came back in the afternoon Pie's face was completely orange, like he had dunked his whole head in there.

 

There is little/no more air in the baby's crop either

I mixed up some of that homemade egg and biscuit and they absolutely love it. Well, the breeding pair does anyway.

 

I put it in in the morning. When I came back in the afternoon Pie's face was completely orange, like he had dunked his whole head in there.

 

There is little/no more air in the baby's crop either

 

 

sometimes they are just not getting enough protein to produce crop milk

and you need to give them extra to help out

glad its worked

dont forget take out any left over with in few hours of feeding

specially in warm weather

 

glad things turned out well so far (since death)

I GOT ANOTHER PINKY!!!

Found the little guy around lunchtime as I had to work in the morning and wasn't able to do my usual morning check.

Its so exciting!!!

I'm a bit concerned for this one though. Compared to the two other chicks i got a picture of when they first hatched...this one seems a different shade of pink ( a bit darker) and a little smaller. But other than that he is wriggling around and peeping his little heart out, taking refuge under his sibling.

Photos to come

pinker the better

maybe others were not as in good health hence the death for no apparent reason

and

YAY PINKY :}

Okay so I managed to get a picture of the nest yesterday, but my net was down so i couldn't post it

 

But here they are

 

 

You can see how small the new one is, even smaller than the eggs.

Of course, this picture has now become out of date because...

 

Another Pinky Hatched Today!

 

Yep, so now there are 3 happy chicks in the nest.

My hen, Doormat, seems to be getting better at feeding. I'm not finding any air in the crops now. I like to think that the first two chicks were like practice ones.

And now that the older chick is in there with the younger ones, its giving her a bit of a break. The little pinkies huddle under the older chick.

 

But its also confirmed what i thought about the chick that hatched 2 days ago. It is definitely smaller than the one that hatched today, and a darker shade of pink. I'm thinking maybe it hatched pre-mature (if that can happen) But they are all peeping and well fed so I'm not worried.

 

I do think that the chick that died had a condition of some sort that led to its death. The older chick is now almost 2 weeks old, and it is only now reaching the same size as the other one. The dead chick was a different shape, colour and had pin feathers starting to come in, which this one does not. I'm thinking its body was just growing too fast for the chick to handle and it died. I'm not sure if this is possible, but I have no other explanation for how different it was upon its untimely death.

 

The older chick has now started to open its eyes too. For the past several days I've found that it grabs onto my fingers when I pick it up, and wants to chew on my hand. It doesn't peep when I pick it up either, I think thats just because now it can see whats happening and its not freaking out. But I'm afraid to say that I'm falling in love with it

Looking good, lots of pinkies. Look forward to see them grow.