Posted December 13, 201212 yr I've been away from this forum for quite some time. I'm back now. Kaz was a remarkable administrator, so I'm glad to be back under her guidance. I know her to be a fair person. I now have 7 budgies: 3 hens and 4 males. I've had budgies off/on since childhood, but never a "flock" before. The flock part of my budgies history began in 2009 when my husband brought home a near dead approx. 5-wk old baby that he'd found in the countryside in the middle of a hot, sweltering summer, which had flown onto a fellow worker's boot (barely able to fly from being so weak). We named him LB (Lucky Boot). *shrug*......my husband's idea. Long story, short: He brought the baby home, and I worked with it to overcome his fear and poor health. He thrived, and within 3 mos was talking and finger tamed (but only inside the cage). I tried to coach him outside, but he just was too afraid. So.........I ended up rehoming 4 budgies that fall/winter to keep him company, buying as big a cage as I could find for them. Through the loss of one more male (Billyboy and my first "English" budgie) that I had rehomed to round out the male/female population, whom we dearly loved, I've rehomed 2 more males that I didn't want to separate. (The hens were fighting over the males.) We had Billyboy just a short time when he died. It broke both my husband/my hearts. He was so tame and loving. So, I've ended up with 7 budgies now, which is much different than a single bugie that flies free and think he's just a smaller member of the family. I have to now worry if one gets sick, that the others don't catch it. A completey different world. After Billyboy died, I broke down the entire cage, santitized it and the toys/perches, throwing some away. An autopsy showed that he died of a fatty liver, which then began my hunt to keep this from happening again. Glad to be back and looking forward to reading posts of the experts here. By The Way, as I've written on two posts so far...........I'm not male, but my profile won't let me show that.
December 14, 201212 yr Author Welcome back Thanks, birdlove. The forum seems a lot slower than it used to be.
December 16, 201212 yr Welcome back, eve. I've edited your profile for you. It sounds like you've had some ups and downs with your budgie flock. They are pretty addicting, though, aren't they?