All Entries Tagged With: "eggs"

Breeding Budgerigars in Earthquake City

All hell broke loose as we leapt out of bed. The noise of breaking glass and falling crockery was horrendous.

Thoughts on Nesting Boxes – Ancient and Modern

It was not long before I realised that breeders were, like myself, having many problems, particularly when trying to retrieve the box for inspection, unhooking it, then seeing the hen, or the pair, dashing around and trying not to drop the box with one hand. Needless to say, at best, the eggs were scattered all over the place and many times damaged.

Hatching Assistance Guide

As we know, opening too early can reveal the chick which still has not absorbed the yolk into its body and it is pale and weak. The outcome is death! Opening too late and the chick for various reasons also dies, unless helped a fraction earlier. Close observation and timing are therefore vital assets to your husbandry.

Budgerigar Health Part 1 of 5 – Emergency First Aid

The first response to failing health should be to isolate any sick bird(s) to a hospital cage. The hospital cage should be pre-heated to 25-30 degrees Celsius, possess a perch, fresh seed and have Quik Gel in the drinking water. The floor should be lined with clean paper so that the droppings can be clearly viewed.

Quik Gel

Quik Gel provides an immediate and sustained source of energy to sick birds and is also used during critical times such as breeding. The disinfecting qualities of Quik Gel help protect against the spread of infection.

Quik Gel is a high energy emergency gel also containing vitamins and disinfecting agents. It is used to accelerate recovery from illness and temporarily prevent an infection from worsening while waiting for the results of culture tests. Very sick birds may need crop needle feeding.

Every One Counts

There is no doubt that the start to any season is the most difficult. I can tell that the birds are ready to breed by looking at the behaviour of the hens as well as their condition. All my flights have the sexes mixed year round. This is because the current year stock learn their sexual habits very early. If you keep the big hens separate they just sit in the flights and get overweight with predictable poor results. Mix them and keep them active.

Accident at Daniel Lütolf’s Aviary

Daniel Lütolf accidently lost 18 cocks, mostly 2007 and 2008 birds, while breeding very recently. No hens were affected, but naturally eggs and chicks were lost as well. Eggs opened later with embryos in them, were found to have black heads on every embryo.

Preparing to Breed

In the last 6 weeks I have been working to get the aviary “winterised”. A very cold one by UK standards is forecast. So, having a cedarwood exterior, it needs treating every three years without fail. That has resulted in it still being as good today as it was when I purchased it in 1971. It would be massively expensive to replace as it covers 1200 square feet (110 sq metres).