Yeah i thought a he aswell.

I have NO idea any more what Red is other than totally gorgeous! Red has its own cage now in my daughter's room and is rapidly ruling the house with the bat of a big black baby lash. We are going to take Red along to our next club meeting so I will keep you informed of the general gender consensus!

 

This is Red's new house....

 

 

Now for the other baby pics update. Lucky looks like an absolutely gorgeously huge big grey normal, just like Dad who died. I'm sooo pleased. Johnathon (Dad) was just adorable in nature and such a big handsome dude. Lucky seems very very confident and doesn't hide like Red always did when you took it out of the nest. Lucky stands straight up and looks right at you!

This is Lucky, the same newborn in my signature.

 

Next born from the foster babies under Red's mum is Ace. We did originally call it Junior, but it seemed too impersonal and everytime you pick it up it flaps its wings straight out and holds them there. Ace is going to be a sky blue like Mum.

 

Third is Billie... looking like another grey normal and a bit shy but howls like a wounded banshee when you pick it up.

 

And lastly is little Eenie Meenie. I'm not sure what colour we have here, but is sooo cute and little compared to its huge siblings. Eenie dives under everyone else for cover. This is all four of the little foster siblings under Red's Mum, Sparkles.

 

 

 

The other two babies are really hard to photograph for some reason. They wriggle off and everything is blurred.

This is Gem, looking like it will be maybe a T2 Goldenface cobalt like Dad?

 

And this dreadful photo is the best I could get to show you Tink's Dominant pied markings like Mum. She is a lovely mauve dominant pied.

 

 

Ginger (sky blue) is due to start hatching her 7 eggs around this Wednesday. I'm hoping and praying for a few spangles like Gilbert (Dad).

 

Hopefully this weekend I can get some natural light photos of our stunning new boy from Henry George's aviary. He is a totally gorgeous recessive cobalt blue pied. He has the most beautiful face and mask.

 

Thanks for all your feedback on my babies. We are having such a lovely time watching everything happening. I can't wait to get home in the evening and see the changes in them each day

 

I'll try to get some better natural light photos of the babies this week. We have a show day holiday on Wednesday here. I don't get home until after dark, so I have to take them under a yuk fluoro light with very low shutter speed and no flash and pull the guts out of them in photoshop. Thats why they look flat...

Edited August 15, 201113 yr by moglet

Soooooooooooooo adorable!

I just want to smuggle them home. Wait, wouldn't that make me a budgie smuggler? I'll go ask Mr Tony Abott!

 

Anyway... So cute, and I hope you get some spangles as they are one of my favs.

I love them when they're at the awkward stage of feather development! Can't wait till I get some eggs!

 

Also I'm guessing from the pics that you use wood shavings in the nesting boxes. Would you recommend them and what type to get as I know tread wood/pine shavings can be harmful.

Very nice chicks moglet and looks like you are going to have plenty more over the next couple of days.

Typo, sorry guys I meant treated pine. Stupid iPod touch auto dictionary!

Love your photos...........look forward to them all the time

As promised MUCH better photos of my babies in natural light

 

Taylor, I meant to reply before about the nest stuff. I bought some bedding wood shavings from my big pet store. It seems to be doing a good job. I let the hens kick it all out before they lay, and then I add a heap more AFTER they lay and are too precoccupied to chuck it out again. I found out the hard way that without lots of nest material a skitty hen can kick the eggs around scuttling out of the box. That seems to be why Red was the only one to hatch out of 6 fertile eggs (thanks KAZ!)

 

This is Lucky, my special baby.... super confident and has monster huge feet!

 

 

 

These are Lucky and siblings.... The little skyblue is very shy and dives under everyone else.

 

 

These two are from my pet type pair. Their names are Gem (yellow feathers) and Tink (pied). I am raising them for my little niece. They are celebrities in her Prep class

Extremely cute!

Thanks for replying. I'll have to go get some bedding wood shavings now...

 

Extremely large feet! Probably won't look as huge when older, but so cute now when a chick!

Lucky's dad, who died, was a huuuuge big grey normal boy, I am hoping it will be a mini me of Johnathon. He was such a sweet natured fellow and very full of himself!

Ita like in puppies i guess they will eventually grow into their feet.

We had our club meeting tonight and we took Red along to show off..... DRUMROLLLLLL.... Red is a BOY! You were right

 

We learned how to prepare a bird for show. We watched a gorgeous huge green cockbird have a bath and have his head cleaned and a final rinse, he got blow dried and then had his mask cleaned up. He was a different bird after she had finished with him. I learned so much.

 

Then she showed us (on another bird not for showing) on how to do vent trimming. I realised I am not taking enough off, I was so scared of denuding the poor things I was just snipping a bit around the vent She gave them a right trimming right across the with of the abdomen near the vent.

 

I'm hoping my grey babies will be ready to show as nestfeathers at the lawn show our club is having with another club on the 4th september. Fingers crossed at least Lucky might have fledged by then! It will be my first ever showing. I will be so interested to hear the comments.

 

I got some Ivermectin tonight. They suggested painting it on the babies' tail spike area at the time of ringing to prevent tail growth problems that have been cropping up (apparently). So I will give everyone a dose of Ivermectin on the weekend.

 

My wheezy cobalt hen is looking a bit brighter. I've been diligently spraying her with pythrethrum for air sac mite, which is what we think Johnathon died from too. They came from the same breeder and both became wheezy within the same week. I have been putting probiotic in her water and giving her fat foods and she is starting to look glossy and good again. She has stopped dropping her tail when she breaths now. So biiiig fingers crossed she might be on the mend. She's a fantastic looking bird with a long mask and great body length, and is only about 14 months, so I'm looking forward to her being really well and pairing her up in a few months.

 

I had to laugh at Lucky tonight. He only has half his feathers and still lots of fluff but he sits on my finger and gets his head and mask going in a terrific show of blow already when I smooch him up and fuss over him. It is soooo cute!

Sounds like you got some great advice

My spangle Dad and his skyblue wife hatched a bubby this morning. She is usually good about getting out of the box when I tap on it, but she wouldn't move for anything this morning so I got suspicious and tried to nudge her over a bit. Boy did I get a damn good bite and she is a BIIIIG girl. But at least I got a look and sure enough a brand new bubby wriggling about under her. Yay. She has six more eggs to go.

 

Dad is quite a small bird but has beautiful spangle markings, and she is a huge lovely skyblue, so I was hoping she might bring up the size and he might add the spangle, so I can begin to think about a spangle line. I hope I don't lose a finger when I have to ring them!!!! None of my other hens have been so protective, they just have a good yell and vacate premises!!

 

Red is getting so fond of my daughter. He's in her room and they are constant companions. He's starting to get quite hard to put back in his cage now and runs up her arm to avoid it. I was so proud of how he handled going to the meeting last night. He was very relaxed and spent the entire time showing off with blow and grooming endlessly.

 

There were a lot of nest feathers benched last night, and you could really notice the ones who had been handled from babies, they weren't so flighty and skitty as some of the others who looked petrified. I'm glad we've been handling our babies right from the start.

Great to hear about red and the new chick, well done.

New brag pics taken this morning. I love the little violet dominant pied. I'm going to find a nice big violet factor male to put with the Mum of this bird. I'd like to start a nice violet line.

 

Red is impossible.... he wants OUT all the time to be with us. Totally gorgeous and cheeky as all get out. I'll try to get some nice pics of him today. His colour is such a lovely iridescent green.

 

Got another egg from Hermione, who is actually the biological Mum to the foster babies. I've paired her up with Adam, another big grey male. I'd really like some cobalts....

 

This is Lucky, the oldest of the foster babies. He's starting to get this gorgeous blow happening when you smooch him up so cute.

 

 

This is ACE, sibling to Lucky. I'm trying to decide if this is going to be cobalt or skyblue.

 

 

This is Tink, looking like a gorgeous violet dom pied.

 

This is Tink's sibling Gem. I think he might be a T2 yellowface cobalt just like Dad.

lovely coloured chicks moglet.

We had all the babies out today to handle them. Red was obnoxioulsy happy and wanted to groom them all endlessly, whether they wanted to be groomed or not. He is really extroverted now and just takes over whatever you are doing... reading the paper or on the computer, he HAS to be centre of your attention. We are all totally in love with him and his playful antics.

 

Lucky fell out of the nestbox yesterday and was looking mournful on the bottom of the cabinet. Then today, Ace was out. I have put and air raid shelter on the bottom in case they come out again while I am at work. I have a feeling Sparkles is getting ready to lay again. I wanted to take her out before then, but I think I've left it a bit late. She looks good, and is quite glossy. So I will definately make sure this is her last. Though, she only raised the foster babies.

 

Ginger and Gilbert now have two babies.... fingers crossed for spangles!

 

Hermione and Adam have two eggs.

 

This is Red and Lucky today.

 

 

 

...and Red being all growed up!

Red looks really sophisticated in that picture.

Sophisticated! Huh. The little toad is so full on he is just beyond adorable. Barely one week out of the nest and he's bossing us around like nothing else. He's obsessed with my glasses, and pulling strands of hair out of my ponytail! Trying to get him to go to bed in his cage is a whole new experience. We are trying not to pick him up with our hands to put him so he doesn't get scared of hands, but you have to be soooo quick to jam your finger inside the cage with him on it. He just runs flat out up your arm to escape!!!!

 

Lucky and Ace have been out of the nest every afternoon and cuddled up in the air raid shelter. Lucky looks ready to be out full time, but he gladly climbs back in the nest to snuggle with his siblings for the night. Sparkles has taken to sleeping outside on the perch! I'm not surprised as she is a tiny girl and those 4 big boofy babies dwarf her. I can just imagine all night there would be cries of "MUUUUM, I'm HUNGRY", "MUMMM! Lucky is annoying me." "MUUUUUMMM!!!" (I have kids! so I an empathise totally with wanting to sleep on a perch).

 

Gilbert and Ginger now have three adorable newborns... Sam, Calypso and Dr Bombay.

 

Hermione has three eggs, and Adam is an adoring partner. I'm glad she has a chance to have a successful clutch this time round. She seems like a terrific Mum.

 

Annie, the wheezy hen is starting to gobble up the egg and biscuit now for the first time and is looking much fatter and healthier. I'm so glad, she's such a pretty cobalt with a gorgeous long mask and body.

 

I dosed everyone with Ivermectin the other night.... boy was I popular!! Amazingly I got the worst bites from our tiny little young fella, a white DF spangle that looks so sweet and harmless, his name is Blue. I swear that bird has teeth like a doberman!

 

Hopefully we should have a 4th baby from Gilbert and Ginger and another egg from Hermione tomorrow.

 

I'm not sure I mentioned earlier, but I am stoked that one of Possum's (violet mauve dom pied) babies is a visual violet dom pied. That baby is already earmarked for my niece, which is okay, as Dad is not that special. But I am going to get her a big cobalt or dark factor green to start a violet line. Also, to I was soooo pleased to get a cobalt cock from my foster babies. 3 greys, looks like at least one hen and a cock, and the little cobalt cock. Pretty pleased with that. THey all have lovely big heads and clear body colour, so I am hoping for big things from Hermione's new round of babies with another cock bird.

 

So it's all eyes peeled at the moment for a nice suitable violet factor mate of some kind for Possum. She's a nice big girl so I hope she will be the beginning of a lovely line. Her current baby is a very intense visual violet, he is really adorable.

your thread is lovely i enjoy reading keep up the beautiful work and pics

gb

Once again i cant stress enough how much i love your budgie names.

Hello, sorry I haven't updated for a while. I got a nasty headcold and have been struggling just to keep up with life and work. But I'm back on deck so the world better look out.

 

Well all the babies so far have fledged. This is a picture of all of them on the new playgym I built for them. They are so friendly, I love everyone of them! I am trying to decide which one or two to bench at my club meeting coming up. So any recommendations????

 

 

The three new babies are doing famously. I think I might have some cinnamons. Any ideas on what they might be are gladly welcomed. They all look decidedly brown on the back. Mum is a sky blue normal, and Dad is a Greeny aqua spangle.

 

This is Sam, the oldest.

 

 

 

This is Calypso, the middle child...

 

 

 

And little Dr Bombay, the baby.

 

 

Hermione, mother to the foster babies (the greys and the blue in the group photo) has two newborns with Adam, another large grey. One only hatched today. I nearly lost a finger finding out this morning!

 

Sparkles and Cosmo have 6 new eggs. I'm not overly thrilled she is sitting again, but I wasn't on the ball enough to catch her before she laid again. I'll know next time.

 

I am busily planning my next move, I think I might pair Henry the Vulture budgie up with Annie (beautiful Cobalt hen), and maybe Penny, a light green with a white df spangle boy I have called Blue.

 

I need to find a lovely big cobalt cockbird to pair Possum up with next so I can begin a nice big violet line. Hmmm.....

I just adore that Jungle Gym you have built for them

 

 

and your chickies are gorgeous too!

Thank you, they love it too! I saw a very very basic one up at the local pet store and they wanted $60 for it.... so I decided I build a better one I am going to build another from the left overs for my little niece who is going to take two of the babies.

 

I also built my flight aviary a big swing with a piece of gum tree branch and some jute twine, they must be the only birds with a macrame knotted swing, and I built them a rope and wood bridge thing. I can't see how they can charge $30 plus each for bird toys. It just takes a bit of ingenuity.

What is the air raid shelter?

Sounds ww1-ww2ish to me.