Well it seams that I'm a little in sync with Tony so I'm hoping that when I report all is boring and predictable in the manshed that it echo's in with tony and some luck changes.

its much the same at the moment- hens feeding well, chicks still growing although I noticed a couple had air in the crop so I'm hoping that as they are three weeks old that it clears itself as they are doing well. The hens are having to spend more time shucking seed so fingers crossed the cocks don't get other ideas! Whilst on that subject I still haven't decided what to do with the four chicks in cage four but I've got three weeks to find a solution and that's at about the same time the other chicks leave the nest so its going to be an exciting time. The hen I cage one laid an egg three days ago and that's it! I'm hoping its just a blip and we get some more in the next few days or ill have to transfer it out and try another pair in there. But other than that I was up at seven and cleaned the nest boxes, seed and water by seven thirty and prepped tonight's dinner! Ms B has decided that I'm having a meat free June as she is on a diet so its Cod tikka skewers tonight and rice with the obliging yoghurt dip- how I'm missing KFC! Over to canterbury today to fix slirtings and architraves in the hope I can shift the old house in July and put some pennies in the bank as the time off needs to be fixed soon!

Oh well the best laid plans and all that- I lost a chick today in cage four, when I say lost its not entirely true as it was squashed under the rest of them and looks to have been the third from four so its fingers crossed that number four is ok- the challenge is that she hatched all the eggs so the chicks don't have any support against a tight sitting hen, so first thing I think ill transfer a clear egg from another pair just to ensure that number four doesn't end up as a pancake! But a lesson to us all with these smaller clutches to put a fake egg in there- and a wagging finger at yours truly after he was told last week to order some and didn't- least round two ill be more organised and just goes to show you that you take your eye off the ball for ten mins and nature has a way of reminding you to not put things off.

The hen in cage one has laid another egg- looks like she is on a three day schedule! So its fingers crossed.

On the plus side and being a good boy and doing what he's been told I made some chick refuges today as I had the chop saw out and found a spare length of PVC guttering- so I now have 18 6 inch wide hydes and a other couple of wine racks so ill be having a clear out and using the dishwasher just as soon as Ms B goes out.......

Well its been a funny old day today, its been hot and then rain so I guess the humidity will be up. I haven't had any surprises I'm the shed and fingers crossed the extra egg popped into pair four may just do this trick and I ordered a dozen or so dummy eggs for next time- although my mentor today commented that I could have used a marble! Ah the joys of wisdom over enthusiasm- mind you when I popped around later today I did get the chance to tease him over the amount of splits he has but its egg on my face as quite a few looked very useful! Mind you when mine pop out later this month their only 40 something years behind so with luck they won't embarrass me too much!

Still no real progress on the newer pairs in ten and twelve so ill give them another week and see if the hens use the boxes and if not then I may use it as a pre-pairing and return them to the flight and see if the competition forces the cocks to up their game!

So its been a busy day on the forum and I managed to fit in the dentists and make a birthday cake, Ice it and make some chocolate butterfly wings! I keep convincing myself its stress relief from all the manshed activities.

So news.... Well I have an egg in cage two- now that's not a major one but her cock died four days ago when she was starting to nest and he has a reputation as being quite the suave type so I'm hoping that he managed to persuade her to a little compromise in the run up to his demise. It happened three months ago to the nest next door when I first started and she laid four clear eggs after a week so I'm hoping as its three days sooner that my luck may be different.

I still have two eggs in cage one and bless her she is laying three days apart and given she only laid four eggs last time I do wonder if its just this round or its age creeping up?

The bottom row of cages are still the same and no progress so ill give them another week and if nothing has happened ill churn them into the flight and see if the competition changes the lethargy!

Other than that I've noticed that the hens with three in the box are happy to let the cock feed the hens and chicks and those with more chicks tend to share the load- I've some naked oats arriving tomorrow and some more millet sprays so given its warming up I do t want to wear out the birds- I've started late so in effect I'm breeding next summers hens and with luck a couple of cocks- I'm never greedy me, in fact I'm happy with just about everything and even found an outlet for the homebrew I've been drowning under!

As always exciting times and a nice day given the cage eight is clear again- to change the cock or not?

A bit of a reflective day on the whole- I've mowed the lawn, ok when I say mo the lawn I set the mower on high and topped off the weeds that hasn't died as a result of the napalm that andrew Luke recommend which I must say was rather good- so it looks good from twenty paces and up close its not quite the same picture- bit like the contents of the manshed really!

On that subject of manshed I have come to realise that you can't false things to happen and could spend all the hours wishing your life away down there but the truth is I'm a late starter and so I will always be frustrated and behind people this year and perhaps able to breed for the show bench next year- but that's always been the plan to build up numbers and work the stock this sept so fingers crossed.

The hen in one still only has two eggs over the six days so tomorrow should be number three- strange really as last round was every other day and she has had some calcivet so perhaps its her age? The hen in two should lay number two tomorrow and who knows where that ends but if it does its a bonus! Eight is clear and as always the hens have been very busy on what was a very hot day- time for the twin bladed fan to operate again- when it does the street lights dim and the men from the grid come round!

Other than that I visited my mentor and saw a really nice violet/grey spangle/Ino which will be interesting to see what happens, I managed to pick up some scotch tonic and some naked oats that I had on order at my local store and when I went to tesco's I found some cotton sheers which I first witnessed being used to clip around a feeding birds mask whilst on an aviary visit and have never seen them anywhere- it like a manual pair of tiny sheep sheers!- so thank you tesco!

Other than that I've found an outlet for the home made win and have trained Ms B to buy wine racks when she see's them and the first thing the daughters ask at the weekend is how are the chicks- so lifes not that bad!

Oh and I have also learnt that I hate predictive text on the mobile and I should read and re-read for typo's whenever I contribute to the site!

well happy fathers day to one and all, i did write an epic blog just an hour ago and then the mobile locked and lost it! so this is a somewhat lighter edition!

the day started with a little fathers day pressie and card whch was nice as i was given a "man tin" to go into the manshed- i kid yee not it was a biscuit style tin with the words "man tin" on the top and all the first aid equipment down the manshed fits snugly inside to the point i was quite moved- and i'm normally an emotionless barbaric beast apparently (after dressing Ms B's toe with two paper stitches when she dropped one of my sharp knives out of the butchers block through it yesterday!) but all joking aside she did make a lemon drizzle cake after the bleeding stopped that she topped with rice paper budgies for me- i have no idea where she gets it from but im not about to complain either!

now, the manshed.

Ive had a couple of purchases of late- no not birds!, i bought some cotton shears which you can use to trim feathers around the eyes and mask with which were 3.49 in tesco's and having seen them being used on one of my safari days i must say it's an excellent addition and also the dummy budgie eggs turned up and were put into the man tin.

now if we can recall i lost a lt green cock who was paired with a dilute hen in cage two- well, she has now laid egg two and next weekend i will candle them to see if they are full and if ive a get out of jail card for that line- would be nice to have an upside.

on the plus side the opaline grey hen in one ( a long feathered flecked bird) is paired with a sky cinnamon cock who is snow white clear but short andwide of feather has laid their third eggs- in 11 days!!!- so whilst the first is full i have a dillema of is the hen slowing down due to age or just a blip- so do i move the chick when and if it hatches and go for broke or do i foster in from two if it's full?- never easy this budgie lark.

things seem to be the same apart from oneof those things that happens when your mind wanders, if you recall the KP's Aligators thread around the temperature determining sex in budgies? well i have quite a few opalines in the nests from normal parents and its was 22 yesterday in the shed- so you never know and it will be interesting to see.

on that note the two grey pairs have their chocks feathering up.

cage three- grey cock and lt grn hen: thee YF Grey (inc one Opaline) and two grey green chicks.

cage seven- grey green cock and grey hen: two grey greens and TBA- which tells me as i suspect the hen is a DF grey as her nephew is with a lt green hen in cage ten

Cage nine- two grey's: four chicks- two sky and two grey and one of each colour is opaline?

(all the above are normal parents- hence the cocks must be split opaline and the chicks hens :-) )

i am hoping that the hen in seven and her nephew have some chicks before i pair the adults together (100% bloodline) as the half chicks will be 75% when paired to their aunt/uncle, 75% when paired to the offspring of the aunt/uncle and 50% when paired together - but as always when dreaming i just need to get them using the nest box first!

other than that i need to get the chick hides i made by chopping some uttering into six inch lengths through the dishwasher when Ms B isnt watching.....

One step forwards and a small step backwards!

Its been one of those days, lots of manshed conversations around genetics and how you combine different factors to create your unique style and the realisation that sometimes your completely in the lap of the gods as to what pops out of the box!

So with that in mind I went to check the chicks this afternoon and thought to myself "jesus not only has the hen killed the chick but she has eaten every scrap of it!!!" Only to find it on the cage floor alive and bewildered at four weeks. The primary tail feathers are only a out an inch long so I popped him back into the nestbox and put two of the chick hides into the cage as my heart rate dropped to normal!

I guess its a lesson in trying to stay one step ahead of nature and do things before they become an emergency. I guess it also means that she will be laying again soon and so I should prep the nestbox and give them another trim!

However, by the look of it the five pairs that went down together four weeks ago have three on eggs of which one looks fertile (cage one), the six clear in cage eight need a decision and I've noticed that her droppings are black (and like thin paint) with no white element so I'm not sure its a case of the hen or the cock being a problem- best get the thumb screws out for the mentor on that one! And cage two (the single hen) look clear at the moment but you never can be sure this early!

So I was hoping after the initial rough patch and finally getting going and a fantastic initial round that I'd be busting all records with round one of the next pairs in advance of a solid round two- but its one step backwards with just a few fertile eggs and hens not using the boxes etc and do I change around after two infertile rounds by breaking up a known pair or just swop cocks and cross my fingers with two non performing birds-again

Its tough work this budgie business and I need to keep going back to the original plan of just getting a few more birds on the perches to lower the age of the shed and then driving the quality over the next couple of years- it seems that frustration and ambition are equal bedfellows !

I really did think that they wouldn't fledge until five to six weeks! Best to get the mobile chick cage cleaned and ready and put a big ring around the Callander for four weeks in anticipation of the problem hens chicks leaving the nest!

Not to tell the misses but today was a good day- I was away from home spraying weed killer in the sun and wondering what the future will bring when we get to fledge and then the next round. As any anxious father I'm worried about them leaving the nest and gaining independence but I really shouldn't worry as these damn parakeets are quite a few thousand years old and do know what their doing!

so for me a lazy day- I fed and watered the birds by seven thirty and I've been putting an extra third soaked millet spray in the nest box to get over dehydration in the heat and just in case they need it when they fledge, I'm checking the length of the tail feathers to ensure they are old enough but I'm not sure how long they should safely be!

In terms of the birds I've always considered myself a frustrated farmer so whatever happens I'd always want to do better with the genes i have so a reality check of my initial objective to produce a handful and by the looks of it I've got a rush of opaline hens which is good news and with luck they will all fledge ok.

I'm very excited that the hen in cage one which has laid her fourth egg-again three days after the last one! And after I've candled them the second now looks full and I hope that its the start of a trend. The lonesome hen in two is on four eggs which I fear are clear as are the eggs in eight-

So......

It will come down to removing these eggs from them at the right time to ensure that they re-lay in sync with the others and if clear I can use them as feeders for the productive pairs and with any luck ill pop a few more hens out.

The future of ten, eleven and twelve still hangs in the balance as when I looked in the window ten is now feeding but not using the box, eleven is using the box but not anything else and twelve is going no-where! The challenge is that they are all hens on their second attempt and I've a couple of untried hens in the flight so ill get the thumb screws out for my mentor and have a look round to see where i put my patience and flip a coin on a change round or not...

To be or not to be- that is the question.....

A good start to the day today- I managed to drop off some home made wine as a thank you to my mentor as he never turns up empty handed and always with a hand cleanser or some vanodine or a bag of oats, so when he volunteered that he is partial to a little bit of medicinal tipple I thought it best to seize the moment and take round a few thank you's- I'm old fashioned in a way that if you say thank you and repay a favour then when the chips are down you can always ask for another- I just don't think he knew it would be a constant stream of "what if" questions!

I do think the ebf or BS should have an award for mentor of the year! Or just a page for unsung hero's!

Back in the manshed I've come to a decision- I'm going to leave cage ten to see what happens as its a pair I'm happy to wait three months for if they lay at the end of it! Eleven I'm going to wait another couple of weeks as she is using the box but just not lining it the way you'd hope and in twelve I suspect a big fat zero but its a good spangle cock so I'm leaving him until I need him for the dilute in cage two in a couple of weeks time when I whip out the infertile eggs and ill use that time to replace the hen in eleven so they are in sync, I know I've had more false starts than most but when I look at the hens that have floundered I notice that they are coming back round so its fingers crossed for September when ill know exactly what cocks are reliable and get them across the best hens.

Other than that I'm looking forward to seeing how the chicks look when they emerge (I've popped a grey green in three back in the box twice so far!) and I've a couple of cross over chicks due in three weeks and with luck another cross over in six(assuming they hatch in ten days!) so whilst I never count my chickens I am smiling at the prospect of how my engineering is going and I must say how my eye is changing or should I say how my taste is maturing and my type forming a very clear picture of what's next after I've spent the next few years combining what I have to hand- mind you being a beginner does buy me some time to get some uniformity in the manshed!

Also please consider that my budget makes pound land look expensive so I don't mind the long hard slog to build something that will still be pulling a surprise or two in ten years time! After all If you put the genes in you've gotta hope they pop out at some stage, and with luck at the same time on the same bird!

Now for those of you who know me- and that's just a select few- I'm in a transition stage from a thrusting soulless job to finding something more compatible with a decent work/life balance but in the interim life has to carry on, so whilst I make "tight tony" seem frivolous at times I don't mind getting my hand in my wallet when it counts and tonight is one of those times.

No its not a wonder bird (I'd prefer to breed my own some day) but its a charity wine tasting and auction in support of my local mental health trust- whatever we raise Barclays double so its a win win situation. I get to spend the seed money on things my mrs wont use but wants and I get some brownie points I can cash in when I really need to and then its off to London for Macbeth at the globe and oysters around the corner- I'm not being flamboyant I'm just paving the way for the future!

In the manshed

Nothing to report at the moment- I've put the grey green chick in three back in the box a couple of times in anticipation of it fledging this weekend while I'm away so the chick hides are in place and its fingers crossed as in the next week I've two pairs about to eject chicks onto an unsuspecting cage floor and with luck they will be me t years breeding hens- no world beaters I'm afraid but good stock birds I can put a better cock or two with later.

I've birds in the flight that are moulting at the moment ready for October I hope and a couple of hens starting to turn for August when with luck the current cocks should become clear, rather than worry about it ill just throw caution to the gods in anticipation that something will turn up- but the two tier season for me will either make or break the two line Aproach

ah the solstice is upon us and the nights will now draw in- time for a fire and a blanket and to toast the new friends this year has bought to my door and life's the richer for it.

Now, time for the pokerface and bidding paddle!

Wow what a weekend- and as always its always the wrong time to be away!

if was time to put some more in the tank and "she who must be cowered in front of" had always wanted to go to Shakespeare's globe and I'm just not brave enough to say no! so Friday night was the charity night and no matter how many times I offered she didn't want me to bid on anything, so we just enjoyed the capability brown designed garden at "salutation" in sandwich a few glasses of wine and just to ensure that cider vinegar is safe I had a couple of pints of aspills cider- queue a hangover on Saturday morning and open wallet surgery when I decided to leave the car at home and get the bus to drop off daughter four at grandma's and a train to London.

I've never know a city change so much but always stay the same- expensive! But the globe was good Nd the architecture in London is always breath taking. We normally stay Near Sussex gardens at a boutique hotel (the pavilion) but this time we stayed in southbank near the Tate- although its cheaper as an area its still half a million for a studio flat!!!!! That may explain why they wanted seven pounds for two od the smallest ice creams known to man and 18.50 for a plastic bottle of wine! Needless to say I saved Ms B from a diet blunder and her liver from a hangover !

all things tweety....

Although it was a night away I did feel like I had the budgie shakes and couldn't wait to see what had happened whilst I was away- in short the chicks in three have fledged and are being fed by the cock whilst the hen makes a new concave in the sawdust- so fingers crossed!

The rest of the shed is status quo- still nothing from ten through twelve so ill scratch my head at the weekend as they seem to be feeding but not completing on the deal! The pair in one now has three fertile eggs so its happy days if they hatch - shame that out of five pairs at the time they are the only ones due to hatch so its fingers crossed as Ive no fosters! and she appears to be on egg five- so the young cock seems to be doing the business :-) but its again three days between laying them this time around.

I was having a read of "one man and his blog" tony and I had to as I'd just finished reading the thread about naming and shaking expensive bird sales to beginners and Knowing hoe often i wind people up i decided not to comment!- I've met nick and almost met Gary and I know they do all they can to help people (advice, sales etc) rather than try and exploit those in their formative years and its nice to see people get some public praise. I'm proud to say I've got to know a few in the past year and when I have my chicks shucking seed ill post some pictures and "name and fame" all the help and kindness I've had along the way.

it's been one of those days!

it always amazes me when some birds or indeed parents are ideal and then go off the rails at the last moment, im sure that all will be ok but i did note the cock in three giving a young pied a piece of his mind, it also amazes me how some chicks just know when to get out of the way-and fast! but the good thing there is that the hen has started to lay her second round and ahead of the other pairs who have still to fledge their chicks....

with that in mind i broke up ten and twelve- after three weeks the hen should be showing some signs of using the box and perhaps i need to be a little harder with them- i also took the cock away from the hen in eight who is sitting on a clear second round- not that im awash with cocks it's just that i know she lays and i had a choice to either use her as a foster or to try another cock with her in a month or two.

So i guess i have three adult cocks in the flight now rather than the four juniors and the two OAP's

to be honest (and after a day filled with rougue builders and breaking a lawn mower) im quite delighted with how the first round has gone and if i can do the same but lose the fosters' chicks and replace with good ones i'd be delighted, ok so the shed will be turning grey and grey green- i just to note who the double factor greys are and remember to dip into the green and blues with those hens next time.

the dilemma i have is one that most beginners face- the ideal cock and the ideal hen for each other just aren't in sync! so im trying to think of what plan "B" looks like and i think it's going to end up being a case of getting a known laying hen to one of the cocks and hoping that the spare cock is ready in a three weeks or so when his aunt is in need of some company- she is a known problem hen so will have to be removed from the cock and chicks in a couple of weeks.

on the plus side ive noticed lots of activity with teenage cocks trying to encourage older, ok ancient but free, hens to step upto the game but even if they do the boys are only 5 months old so i'll just have to be patient-and thats the problem!

in theory it gets better in season two doesnt it?

I was having a look at the birds earlier and it reminds me of the newspapers in August- its the silly season! Some of the birds look really good and some of them look, to be honest, like a bag of spanners! The young barheads i bought in are moulting into teenagers/adults and the older original birds have started a summer molt while those between rounds in the flight are going into a soft molt- which may explain the clear eggs from a certain yellow face grey cock!

The chicks are fledging from cage three, seven and nine which is good but the hen in three has started laying again and the other two should be a week behind her so with any luck ill have some round two foster options. The hen in one is due to hatch this week so that will be exciting as they are the only fertile eyes as I'm waiting for cocks to become available!

The chicks are looking good considering its been 28years between rounds! but I do know I've got some way to go and with any luck the genes I have in the manshed should blend nicely into a collective group which I can then improve on with the right cocks- but to be honest I've a couple of cocks in the shed that if I could replicate I'd be happy :-) I've always said ill breed by own hens and if I can get the quality of those right then the cocks will follow, to that end all my birds are intermediate feathered as buff would be too much for me to manage at the moment- but I have noticed that the chicks in four appear to have a rougher feather so it will be interesting to see how they develop.

So I'm suffering the normal "will they fledge ok or not" moments and I've put out a little pot of water in the cages as its 25 inside the shed just to be sure although I have noticed on my travels that some birds are all feather and no substance and some are the other way around so fingers crossed. But if they can escape through the inch wide bar gaps on the fledging cage then the questions been answered!!!

Other than that I'm an easy cheap to please, the tan is coming along well as im pistol whipped into gardening and I'm not even stressed that I can't get the IMG codes to post or id show you all my little yf opaline grey hen.

I'm also trying not to daydream as to what next year looks like- I'm of the opinion that right now I just need to get some uniformality in the lines and if something super doesn't pop out in three years then its time to worry about it then but I'm optimistic

Must be due some rain soon!

The quiet before the storm......

I do think that nature has a way of balancing things out and surprising you when you least expect it. So there I was looking at the chicks that have started to fledge and thinking to myself "are the feeders chicks really taller than the show birds?" When the cock bird started to go for one of the fostered in chicks whom I suspect is a young cock!

Normally I'm one to jump in and ask later but I thought to myself "just stand back and read the body laungage....." It reminded me of the cock in three who at the end of the day just wanted the perch for himself when the hen was out of the box (seems even budgies have egos!) so after a couple of moments he settled down after showing him who the boss was and fingers crossed he will learn the pecking order- least I hope so!

On the flip side it appears the hen in the feeders has started to lay so I may take the other chicks out in the morning in case tempers get fraught- the dilemma is do I remove the egg in three and out it in one or do I go for moving the chick when it hatches! Call for the advice tomorrow as all things being equal I'd like to being in the first three chicks from three and the first three from nine (when she lays) rather than get caught on the hop again- time will tell and ill try not to over think it!

On the downside the hen in one hasn't hatched the full egg yet so I'm hoping that she incubated late and it will be tomorrow- I'm not sure she tended the eggs well in incubation but again time will tell.

At the moment I have a couple of objectives- to breed some hens for next April, to get some pairs ready for sept from the flight from the older hens and young bucks and to try and get the "feature" birds to pass on their features to the appropriate hens- or as all the wisen ones will say "to learn the birds"- to that end I have mostly intermediate feathered birds and the pair in four are an Anglo-Europe marriage and ill take council as the feather at three weeks looks a little courser which would be good news and something to spread wider in April next year- and something to note for sept this year!

Other than that its time to make sure the stock cage is ready for the weekend as I noted a chick shucking seed and to make a few phone calls for advise on weaning and the hen in four who is due to attack chicks in the nest in the next week! I just know its going to be emotional!

Nature finds a way.......

When it comes to all things budgie I am quite a bit behind the curve but I'm keen and trying to catch up fast. In terms of the birds themselves I woke today to find all of the six chicks in seven ejected into the cage- I'd noted the odd one making an appearance but it was quite the thing to see all six on the cage floor, in the same way that all the chicks in three are doing the same- and both hens are now sitting on a couple of eggs each- I may lose the eggs in seven (the fosters) and move the eggs from three over as they are laid but I haven't done that before, on the flip is I don't want to moving foster parent chicks around so I have to do something and fast! The chicks in nine are half in and half out ! If you recall she laid a couple of eggs and then the double yoker, stopped for a couple of days and restarted so the eldest chick and the youngest are some way adrift so I have a sky blue and an opaline grey on the cage floor and a sky opaline, normal grey and a foster grey green in the nest!

The opaline grey hen in one that has four fertile eggs from five hasn't hatched yet and as its a couple of days over all I can think is that they have addled due to the hen not moving them around during incubation or the shells are too thick- ill know in a week or so and ill report back- the dilemma is do I use the cock on another hen (as I've two sitting on clear eggs that I will remove in a week) as I need to find a way to service these hens and I'm scratching my head a little or do I allow her another round and sit tight with these hens returned to the flight for September?

I had a hen with an eye problem which I fixed and then today I noticed she has a swollen area of skin around the side of the beak, I attempted to use a needle soaked in meds to lance it but to no avail and a scarlet tissue was the end result- ill have to keep and eye on her- it doesn't look like a cyst as I couldn't find anything in terms of a blocked feather follicle so fingers crossed she isn't on a downward slope she has a very dense feather patten and a tall lean girl who although a gift I hope she has plenty still left in her-although she is said to abandon chicks after a couple of days

Talking of feather type I have a grey hen paired with a grey green cock from a different origin in four and the feather type seems more course so ill keep an eye on them as the chicks also seem a little heavier- which is something im very keen to explore in the future

Other then that I've been keeping my head down and stearing clear of trouble- I've got a couple of five month old cocks in the flight that are frotring anything and that includes the drinkers and I just hope they are on good form come September!

Well it had to happen- after enough quiet and familiarity we have another chick hatch last night- yep the pair in cage one have hatched egg number two which means that if I am lucky I may get another by the weekend and to be honest its a relief as I thought the hen was past it as she was never in full feather condition but seemed to be unwilling to be anywhere other than in the breeding cage. It turns out that she is 12 rung and just goes to show that knowing your hens is paramount- she's a widow and I thought with odd shaped eggs laid every three or four days thatt they wouldn't hatch but there you go another lesson to the young upstart! She is paired outside of the main line to see if my hunch pays off- but then again the last guy who said that was Quasimodo !

Other than that I've been playing "guess the weight" with all the chicks to see if there is a variance and if it relates to bigger birds generally or if it is all just feather? But who knows and I suspect no-one cares unless it moves the hobby on.

I had the girls down for the weekend and yes it got to 30 in the man shed! but as always nature finds a way- we chatted, discussed,plotted and then schemed to rob the eggs from three and put them into the foster nest- taking and dumping the foster eggs in the process! When we opened the foster nest we had less eggs than expected so we decided to leave the status quo and to protect what could be good eggs in three and to move chicks when and if they hatch! As always nature finds a way to teach us all a lesson!

Other than that the three cocks returned to the flight are either moulting, sulking or just throwing a hissy at having to compete for affection against five month old young cocks but ill need them to be on top form in a week or so- I need to have cover for the eggs in nine and the hen in two is a useful dilute who's partner died as she laid, so I'm hoping for a little better luck next time.

That's all we need really, a little luck and according to a six year old some fairy dust!

If only mo molem kept budgies......

I seems the monkey is off of Tony's back and its moved into the manshed!

Let me explain......

All has been calm of late, no surprises and only good things happening. The manshed and to an extent even some of the pairs in cages seem to be in sync with the blogger tony of radio Leeds fame despite the fact were nearly 400 miles apart but there you go the influence of the seasons and the moon on the breeding cycle of budgies- so when its quite it appears we get to relax but when its a downward dip it seems to be in sync and it is like waiting for death some times trying to anticipate what good old mother nature has in store for you, and after that perverbial kick in the plums things settle down again after "the monkey is off your back" which was Tony's comment an hour or so ago!

So back to today!

A chat with a couple of budgie friends about all the calm and good things happening and then a chat with my mentor/soothsayer on what to do with the known troublesome hen in seven that is known to attack her hen chicks at four weeks- especially as I found out this morning that its two grey greens and an opaline grey hen in the nestbox! So we chewed the cudd and agreed that it was best to remove the hen now than to wait just in case as my husbandry wont be better than her breeder and in all fairness i did understand that when she came to me and i am very greatdull, And So i came home to remove the hen after laying a latex floor with strick instructions to check the crops tonight and if they are empty to put her back and try again the next day. I even commented how nice it is to have reliable feeders as I'd weaned six chicks this morning, three from three and three pieds from the six chicks in cage four.

Yep you guessed it- I marinated some tuna steaks and went into the manshed to move the hen over which i have done and thought id top up the finger draws of tonic and as a surprise the cock grey pied in four (who comes and waits for new contents) had blood down his front from attacking one of the chicks (one that id fostered in from a h&m pair) a quick look around and I found him in the corner of the cage having suffered a little. I put the cock into another cage and had a good look at the chick. Although shell shocked its not the "scalp exposed, beak off" full monty but not far short- both eyes are in tact but everything above this.is matted blood so although alive and back in the box with the hen I doubt he will call much for food tonight and I suspect the worse tomorrow!

So after coming back home to do something that was worrying me I have had more to deal with that I anticipated and its not over yet as I've fledged chicks today, separated two pairs leaving spouse's with chicks to finish rearing and fingers crossed that an attacked chick makes it! But its back into the manshed tonight at lights out to check crops but to be honest there isn't much I can do other than put a hen or cock back that may or may not attack and kill by the morning!

Now that's taken me down a peg or two!

Theories on a postcard to the usual PM address!

You wait for a blog and then two come along at once!

Just an update really- I've moved the chicks from the nestbox in nine- the pair of greys that had four chicks of their own and a foster chick- and places them ion the bottom I the cage where two already were on account of the hen has started her second round- the cock was feeding them very quickly although he did look a little confused! So ill keep an eye on them but I'm hoping for good news.

The chicks that are now the subject of a broken home seem to be ok for this evening so the morning will tell BUT I have had to do some soul searching and decide if I intervien or leave nature to take its course- so I took a little GA and some hand rearing formula and got 1.5ml into the little chap on the belief that I have to give it a to and who knows if he makes it through the night he may just learn from his siblings in the morning! The hen in this pair just seems intent on siting on her egg which looks like egg number four after the first three have diss appeared- the mystery deepens but its fingers crossed for now and ill see what the morning brings.....

I am sure we have all been there- awake at silly o'clock but its too early to go into the birdroom! So there I was rinsing soaked millet sprays and crop needles at six thirty! Its been ages since I was up this early and to think six months ago I thought nothing of a 4am start and a 530 flight out to somewhere!

So fearing the worse I ventured down the garden path to take a peak in the window to see if its a black armband kind of day! to my surprise he was alive and in the bottom of the cage but and I use the word but knowing it gives me time to gulp a little, he is very light and if he wasn't so alert and active he'd have been euthinaised but there you go a one once budgie! So I topped him up with 2ml of gloop and its fingers crossed- I need to be a little harder and to be honest today's diary doesn't allow a 12 top up so he makes it (and I've seen him drinking but not shucking seed) with help from the hen or he doesn't-

On the flip side the cock in four appears to be feeding the chicks which is good news and in a week they should be independent, the hen in one still has just one chick and is feeding well so as always when you have livestock you get dead stock and to lose only one from nine weaned isn't that bad a ratio!

I haven't checked his ring- I wonder if its 13?

Its been a funny old day...... Now where have I heard that before?

This is my third blog today and fingers crossed it will be just one tomorrow. The weaned chicks seem to be ok and putting on a little weight which is good news, the yf hen is still finger tame although she will mouth your skin so a typical hen! The grey green seems more of an attack bird and a little flighty so I'm not sure at this stage if that denotes a hen or cock but time will tell.

The five chicks on the cage floor of nine seem to be doing on with the cock feeding and to a certain extent the older chicks feeding each other so again ill keep an eye on them to stop a scalping but the hen is sitting tight so fingers crossed to see if the second round is as good as the first!

To business.....

The chick that was scalped against all odds is still alive! God knows how as I'm ham fisted at the best of times but I managed to get 3ml of gloop in him at four and again at seven thirty (boiled water, A21 bird formula and a pinch of GA) and popped him back in the box- I'm not sure if its prolonging weaning or putting off the inevitable but I am pleased with myself which means tomorrow ill do it wrong and kill him on the spot! But tomorrow ill do breakfast and evening only.....

But I must thank Ian for sound sound level headed nuggets- I'm a little off with the theory at times and ian keeps my feet planted on the ground with a thick helping of reality and matter of fact "it happens" always lead slowly down the path of realisation rather than a brutal sledge hammer of which I am very great-full.

But fingers crossed for tomorrow which will be an interesting day. But Ian if your reading this its still alive!!!!

Fingers still crossed- I managed to get 3ml into him and the same into his brother although I feel 2.5ml would have been better but judging by the size of young chicks crops they should be able to take it! Fingers crossed for later today when ill check again.

Well its been an ok day but tomorrow is going to be tough!

Today I checked the birds early as above and carried on my duties of running around and generally getting nowhere and when I came back to check the bird I noticed that he is now suffering a little bit of enteritis and judging by the aroma (yes I checked the crop and that's ok) I'd say it was formula and he didn't digest it too much!

So in fear of it spreading I decided to remove the other two chicks into the weaning cage and in order to do so I needed to free up some space so thought I'd put the pieds into the parrot cage- so I made up the cage, dishes and perches etc and moved the chicks over and rang my mentor to seek guidance on what looks like a dispatch tomorrow morning- he did rib me a little and I do recall saying there is no way they will escape through the gap in the bars!

Yep- I came home to find a pied flying loose around the birdroom and so now I've had to house them all together over night!

The plan tomorrow is to put the separated hen from four into a new cage and introduce a new cock and see how it goes, close off the nest box in eight as the hen has smashed her eggs and I have a cock to introduce her to and to potentially dispatch the chick if the night frights don't take him!- oh and clean out and take down the parrot cage!

Its going to be a fun day when I should be painting skirting and architrave !

Ok fun wasn't the word I was looking to use in hindsight- and we know that is a wonderful gift. As predicted the yf grey chick although in good spirits wasn't going to make a recovery the enteritis looked quite bad and to be honest smelt as bad as It looked and as risk mitigation I had to book him into the aviary in the sky and it must have taken me a few hot scrubs to get the smell out of the air and out of my nostrils but some times you have to acknowledge defeat and look at the bigger picture- better that one is released than thirty suffer.

I plucked the new cock for the grey hen from seven (she is the hen that attacks the chicks) and places him in a show cage next to her cage when I went about my business of cleaning out the cages four, five and twelve. In four and seven the hens were in the box and didn't even notice! but I bleached down the feeders and changed the Bedding and then it was down to work....

Just like bulls eye (all I needed was him Bowen on an aviary visit)

In seven- I put the grey pied cock back with the hen after clipping his claws and he was mating within ten seconds- if only be was two inches taller and an in h wider!

In eight- I kicked the hen out of the box and changed the bedding, trimmed the vent and then got a spangle cock out of the flight for her- within ten minuets they were chirping away so after an hour I allowed access to the nest box and he is keeping watch so I guess I'm going to have to block her off for an hour a day while I'm. Leaning in the morning to ensure he gets a delighting chance to fertilize the next clutch

In twelve- I out them together for an our in a show cage and they hid in the corner, she seems scared of the showcage so to gage their reaction I then placed them in the new cage and she sat on the floor! After an hour she was on the perch when I wasn't looking and after two she has been usin the box and is clearing it out- I'm hoping that by the time she wants to lay in a week or so the bond will be better and the cock more upbeat with his older woman. I guess that if the first are clear he will be old enough to have done the business by the second round!

The weaned chicks all look to be in good health and I've some to move tomorrow as they are starting to climb the wires and annoy the hen in the box-and that never ends well. They are now six weeks old so should be ok and I estimate that at some stage next week the chicks in four will be on the cage floor and to be honest I can't wait- these next two nests have some crackers in and fingers crossed it all goes smoothly....

Still wishing my life away wishing it was sept and all the chicks in the flight were mature and ready!

Oh, and the hen in one has hatched her second chick- yippee as its touch to share a nest if you only have one chick!

Me and my big mouth! So were down to one chick in pair number one as the opaline grey sat too tight and squished a ten day old chick-in this heat! So as its the second chick I've had this happen to I've popped a false egg into the rounds to ensure we get some protection should it happen again.

I've also taken the chicks away from the pair of greys in cage nine and fingers crossed that thy are eating and they will bounce back in a couple of days- the chicks in cage four have all been out of the box today but as one has down I've popped them back for the evening- I have noticed the cock feeds better when they are out so ill not pop them back until sun down tomorrow.

To recap, I'm weaning the first round and fingers crossed its going ok with only one loss which was due to a cock attack (anyone want a pet pied?) and I hope that in a couple or weeks the next three wil be ready. The adults are starting to lay second rounds and I've left them as they are except for a hen that is now paired with her nephew and fingers crossed she is digging out the box! The pair that laid two clear rounds has had the cock replaced so fingers crossed and the original cock is in a deep moult within a week!

I've a pair down at the moment when the hen just keeps excavating the box (and has done after two days) for four weeks and nothing! So I've a decision to make next week as to what happens.

But- I do know what I need to bring in to move me along next year in one line and the other line I have to wait until sept to see what they can do- but I'm very excited- in fact I feel a safari coming on to test my theory.....