Only problem is it looks like it will be flecked going by those bars at the front of the head. But i got her out tonight and showed Greg and as he walked over towards me and he was about 15 feet away and he wow. so fingers crossed.

But one thing for sure she or he will differently help cement my line.

 

The father this chick is the violet green and then his dad is the violet shield winner and then his dad the wow bird... and the violet greens mother is dark green spangle, daughter of the yellow df spangle and his dad is the wow bird.

The old violet hen is the foundation hen used with the wow bird, so she is the mother of the violet and the mother of the dark green spangle hen.

 

Now the mother of this chick is a sky blue spangle hen daughter of my white Df spangle, then his dad is the yellow Df spangle and then his dad the wow bird.

But the mother of the sky blue spangle is an outcross.

 

But it looks like it has all worked, there were only 2 fertile eggs in the nest and the hen didn't feed the first chick and it died, so I fostered this chick and thank god I did, but i have been haveing problems with her because the nest i fostered her to sat hard on the chicks an done turned out splayed so I grabbed this chick out and put in other nest but when she was only 2 and 1/2 weeks old I found her on the cage floor every day for a few days and I kept putting her back but the hen wasn't feeding her probably so I put her back in the nest that sat tight but all is good, found her on the floor once and now she is content to stay in the nest and she is thriving now.

Wow he/she looks amazing

Time for another update...

I bought a humidity reader does any one know what the humidity should be.

 

well I am reasonably happy with what's happening at the moment, I have some fertility from some of my best birds and have some babies that are looking very promising especially this little chap. he is in the photo above but now a little older and I thought he might have been a girl but now am sure it is a cock. He blows is head beautiful and I reckon he is the best baby that I have bred in the last 2 years. He is not six weeks old yet. I have taken heaps of photos so here they are, please tell me what you think.

OMG Splat, you have really been put through the wringer this year!!!

 

The quality of your chicks is lovely but it is such a shame so many were lost. Was it just down to Maiden hens do you think?

 

How is it going now? the weather should be warming up and that always bodes well for budgie breeding

Wow.

Fine looking baby you got there splat.

 

Also what type is he? That blue feather in the last picture jumps out at me.

Yeah i saw that as well maddy, i thought it

may have just been the flash but it looks like

its meant to be there.

He is dark green Maddy.

His dad is violet green and his mum a sky blue spangle that's why the blue is there, it will disappear later when he moults I hope.

Renee things were improving but is is starting all over again. Rats so sick of it.

I had 4 chicks hatch in the violet nest but the 3rd one died at 2 days old. I have 2 chicks in the pied nest and so far so good but what I am really unset about is I transferred the eggs from the yellow df spangle nest and his grand daughter to the clearbody nest because she is a good mum, well I go out there this morning and an egg must of hatched late yesterday and the chick was dead, it was quite big too and it looks like the 2nd egg is addled. the dead chick just looked unfed , no yellow belly. I really wanted those chicks so I am so disappointed. I really don't know what to do to fix things.

I have 16 chicks for the year so far and that is just awfull, should have over 70 by now with all the chicks that hatched and the fertility was good.

What's worse is yesterday I couldn't work out why the yellow face wasn't doing much so I grapped him out of the breeding box to put him in a holding cage and he has gone light. there goes my chances of yellow faces.

Then to top that I went into the aviary and found the mother of the violet green cock with her leg swollen, just horriable the ring has nearly cut her foot off. I just don't know how I missed it. We cut the ring off but it is still just horriable the poor girl. The swelling just hasn't gone down. She is the only daughter of the yellow Df spangle that i have left. So every thing is getting me down.

Edited August 11, 201113 yr by splat

Very Very Nice Splat... i'm looking forward to future photos of this one to see how it develops.

 

Your not having a good go this year. What has changed? Is there anything your doing different?

Hi Daz. No every things the same that I can think, the only thing I can blame is my new stupid birdroom maybe.

Do you know what the humidity in there should be and how can I fix it.

like right now it is 14.3c and 84% humidity and the max reads 15.4%c and 91% humidity and the min reads 8.8c and 77% humidity.

 

I have the father of that dark green down with a related dark green hen and they have about 5 fertile eggs and I really want them to hatch and survive. This is all driving me nuts.

Fantastic bird splat!! Didnt you change your soft food this year?

Yes I did but they have been on it before they started to breed and the only difference is I use soy bean meal not budgie starter and this soft food is more consistant. Geoff uses the same soft food and his birds are fine so I don't believe it is the soft food.

Humididty is fine. You don't want it dry when it comes time to hatch.

 

 

 

If it is dry you can dunk the eggs in to warm water just before they are due to hatch. It makes it easier for the chick to hatch.

So the higher the humidity the better is that right Daz.

Unfortunately Splat bumps on the road happen, but still some great birds.

Gee Pride this is NO bump it's a mountain almost LOL.

Splat, I have used Atapulgite in my breeder cabinets and nest boxes for a few years now as well as giving my birds a second 2 week course of Doxy just before breeding and rarely have any cases of yellow belly. In this month's edition of the SWBC Club magazine our President, Cec Gearing wrote the following - (I hope it is useful)

"I have had several enquiries regarding infertility, dead-in-shell, etc. With no veterinary experience, I can only impart my own findings concerning what works for me.

So often the remedy is simply a matter of husbandry. Although breeding hens often have large, soft droppings, these should still be enveloped in an intact film, as from a normal healthy bird.

Droppings that are spread, or even sprayed everywhere are the first signs of a potential problem. If these are accompanied by an unpleasant odour, I have found that a 3 day course of a Sulpha drug, accompanied by Dr Marshalls `Quik Gel’, will invariably effect a cure. Sometimes, of course, this can be due to a longstanding infection [eg Chlamydia, E Coli etc]. Even with babies just hatching don’t hesitate to follow this procedure – it may save chicks that die at one or two days of age.

Parents that walk through excreta and transfer the deposit onto the eggs create another lethal problem. Unlike poultry eggs, which, hatch after 21 days incubation, the Budgerigar eggs are exposed to bacteria which develop within 21 hours. They should be cleaned using a minimum of moisture [or even steel wool].

I have found that a successful method of eliminating this problem is to spread a good layer of Ag Lime, covered with Atapulgite, on the cabinet floors, which will soak up any moisture and the droppings can be easily removed from the surface every couple of days, without the need to completely clean out the cabinet.

In the case of the infection being in the oviduct, a course of Lincospectin is indicated. I believe this is also used in human pregnancies, and it can be obtained through your local vet, who should obtain the prescription through Vetafarm, to ensure the correct dosage for Budgerigars. [This cannot be done direct from Vetafarm, as they no longer operate a clinic and are concentrating on supplements and accessories].

Hope this is of some use to some of you – I have found the above practice has resulted in my best ever breeding season with hardly any losses."

Nice ingo renee, very helpful.

What is Atapulgite Renee.

I am not getting dead in shell, the chicks are hatching and they they die, one or two days old. It is happening all over again.

I rang Rob Marshell and I have to send seed Samples and poo samples cultures ect. Boy it is going to cost $122.oo just for the poo samples and $10. for each seed sample. Plus meds.

 

Anyway I have taken the step and took the wet food off them and NO more bought veges which I did soak well.

I am sending samples on Monday because I don't want them sitting over the weekend in the mail center drying out.

I will have an answer 72 hours after they get them.

Pricey, but probably the best option splat.

If you can pinpoint the problem then you can solve it

 

I would also like to know what Atapulgite is Renee.

For those newer members who have not heard me go on ad nuseum on the subject : Atapulgite is a natural clay/rock substance that has very good clumping properties.

 

The brand Fussy Cat Littter is made up entirely of Atapulgite. You can buy it in 10 and 20 kilos bags from the City Farmers chain here in Australia, some other Pet Stores stock it as well.

 

When the hens start dumping those big sloppy poos it is very easy to scoop them up due to the clumping. It is completely non-toxic.

 

I also use it in the nest boxes as well as the breeder cabinets but that is not for everyone - some breeders have tried it and found that the eggs have cracked - that has not been my experience.

 

I am not getting dead in shell, the chicks are hatching and they they die, one or two days old. It is happening all over again.

I rang Rob Marshell and I have to send seed Samples and poo samples cultures ect. Boy it is going to cost $122.oo just for the poo samples and $10. for each seed sample. Plus meds.

 

Anyway I have taken the step and took the wet food off them and NO more bought veges which I did soak well.

I am sending samples on Monday because I don't want them sitting over the weekend in the mail center drying out.

I will have an answer 72 hours after they get them.

 

I think you are definitely on the right track Splat. Maiden Hens can be really useless when it comes to getting the hang of motherhood and their inherent responsibility to feed their chicks but if it is an accross the board occurrence then I suspect underlying infection to be the root cause. I know from experience that hens will not feed chicks that are sick and more than often will toss them out of the nest ... brutal though it is it does make sense that they don't run the risk of passing the infection to other chicks.

Renee, that is genius.

 

I've never thought of using clumping cat litter for those awful poos the hen's produce

I will be going on a hunt for that brand.

Renee, that is genius.

 

I've never thought of using clumping cat litter for those awful poos the hen's produce

I will be going on a hunt for that brand.

 

 

Fussycat brand is NOT the clumping variety so dont buy clumping as it has additives. Fussycat is natural.

Interesting, i might have to become apart of this cat litter craze.

Time for an UP DATE

 

Well the results of my seed culture wasn't good, I have been soaking seed that have mould on it and when wet became toxic.

I have lost over 55 chicks since I started breeding this year.

I have around 17 live chicks that are over 6 weeks of age.

But things have improved heaps, I have 20 little chicks in nest boxes at the moment with heaps of eggs to hatch.

I have only lost 4 chicks since Saturday week, 2 full full crops and 2 from yellow belly that looked like they died as soon as they hatched.

I have broken heaps of pairs up to quit for the year but seems things are going better I am thinking of putting more pairs down.

I had to throw away more than 80 kg of seed. Nearly killed me.

But I have decided from now on I will only keep a few bags at a time.

 

One pair I am really happy about is the violet green cock, I put him with a dark green hen and she laid about seven eggs all fertile and I put them in the nest above and left one egg with her , well she laid another 6 eggs and they are fertile too. The first 4 eggs have hatched. excited and I haven't lost one so far.

more report later. and maybe some photos.

Time for an UP DATE

 

Well the results of my seed culture wasn't good, I have been soaking seed that have mould on it and when wet became toxic.

I have lost over 55 chicks since I started breeding this year.

I have around 17 live chicks that are over 6 weeks of age.

But things have improved heaps, I have 20 little chicks in nest boxes at the moment with heaps of eggs to hatch.

I have only lost 4 chicks since Saturday week, 2 full full crops and 2 from yellow belly that looked like they died as soon as they hatched.

I have broken heaps of pairs up to quit for the year but seems things are going better I am thinking of putting more pairs down.

I had to throw away more than 80 kg of seed. Nearly killed me.

But I have decided from now on I will only keep a few bags at a time.

 

One pair I am really happy about is the violet green cock, I put him with a dark green hen and she laid about seven eggs all fertile and I put them in the nest above and left one egg with her , well she laid another 6 eggs and they are fertile too. The first 4 eggs have hatched. excited and I haven't lost one so far.

more report later. and maybe some photos.

 

Oh Splat, what rotten luck to have a seed mold problem! I'm very glad you have been able to discover what the problem was. But I also sympathize with you on how much trouble it has caused you. All those losses, and to think it could be blamed on the seed! I'm very, very glad that you will be able to go on from here, and things should just improve drastically.