Below are the 8 most recent journal entries recorded in budgiegarden's LiveJournal:

Monday, July 2nd, 2007
9:54 pm	Every now and then... I seem to remember that I should update this page every so often! I have had a lot of folks asking for birds this Spring, and I appreciate the contacts. I was so busy with family events and club events that I overscheduled myself and did not set up the birds early enough in the year before their molts hit. Sometimes, Mother Nature has ideas of her own, as well. That perfectly matched pair of budgies just might despise each other when put in the same cage together. At any rate, I plan to start setting pairs up again when the weather starts to cool off some more, probably in late September. I will hopefully have some more babies between then and Christmas. For now, the birds are enjoying their down time from showing and breeding and are growing in nice new beautiful feathers. Speaking of showing, I entered a young hen from last Spring's kept babies into the Sandhills budgie show this year, and she got Best Hen and 9th best in her division out of 40-some entries! We were excited. Hopefully she will have the great temperament of her mother when it comes time to breed. She sure is a pretty hen. Current Mood: content
Wednesday, February 7th, 2007
10:56 pm	Cold Winter It's been a cold winter lately. I've had to check water bottles outside twice a day to make sure they aren't frozen. The birds sleep comfortably inside their heated flight at night, though. They are enjoying their new addition of Harrison's Superfine Lifetime pellet to their diet. I have finally wound down the late Fall breeding season. The last batch of chicks I kept for show stock. Boy are they cute and fluffy. They have the nicest heads. Their daddy was a great show bird, and mom looks excellent as well. Maybe next year they will be on the show bench. I don't think I am going to be breeding again for a while (probably not until April). It's going to be a busy few months for the family, so there won't be any chicks for sale for quite a while. Current Mood: busy
Thursday, February 2nd, 2006
10:34 am	Empty nest? Well well, it seems the 4 chicks have finnaly figured out their water bottle. They had been enjoying playing in a water bowl ever afternoon but have been watching their "big brother" Blanco drink from his water bottle and decided to give it a try. From now on it's only a matter of time until they have new homes with their new owners! The hen caught on first- she is really smart! Current Mood: content (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 15th, 2005
8:44 pm	Polydactyly Well it seems I have the first polydactyl budgie anyone has ever heard of. The funny thing is, I didn't breed her. I got her from a reputable local breeder, who didn't even notice that the bird was a little abnormal-looking. She otherwise acts like a normal budgie hen. She has 2 fused short back toes with functional toenails. Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 26th, 2005
10:54 pm	One Baby to Feed I have a severely splay-legged baby that I am having to hand-feed. The hen threw out all the shavings in her nestbox, leaving this baby with no support under his big body. I tried several times to put the shavings back, but this hen was determined. The amount of splinting that had to be done to its legs prevented me from putting it back in with its mother. For now, it's enjoying snuggling with its washcloth buddy and eating Kaytee Exact hand-feeding formula. For a few days, it refused a syringe, so I had to use a 14-gauge gavage needle (crop needle) to feed it, but it is doing much better now. This baby should be a nice-looking youngster if it is anything like its award-winning parents! Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 20th, 2005
10:35 am	Spring has Sprung Hello everyone! Well we have a new human baby now and that has kept us very busy, but I have managed to set up a few budgie pairs for breeding. I'm expecting babies in a couple of weeks, but I don't think we're going to have time to hand-feed any babies. Feeding our human baby keeps us busy enough, and soon we will be chasing him around. I will be selling my babies to Birdie Boutique and experienced hand-feeders if interested. Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 14th, 2004
4:37 pm	End of the Season Well, I have a cage with 3 weaned babies in it now. One is a nice grey spangle. The others are the two mentioned previously in the journal (yellowface skyblue and whiteface skyblue). They are all very cute at this stage. After they complete their first moult, they will join the others in the aviary. The type 2 cinnamon yellowface blue hen did not feed her chick, so I had to foster it out to another hen, my prize double factor violet spangle mauve. She did a fine job until she got sick, so now she and 'her' baby are inside getting meds and food. Fortunately the baby is almost ready to wean so its survival is likely. I have 2 other very young chicks I am hand-feeding in the house because their mother also rejected them. This has become a pattern for her, so I don't think I am going to breed her anymore unless I have a back-up pair ready to take her babies for fostering. I am glad the season is almost over because our human brood is about ready to hatch in itself! The budgies will all be getting a nice long rest, probably until next Spring. Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Monday, November 15th, 2004
11:39 am	Cold Morning! Good morning! The aviary was a bit chilly this morning but managed to stay near 50 degrees, despite an outside temp of near 40, thanks to the heater. Some breeders don't even use heaters. I have one baby that is about a week from fledging (hatched 10/23). It is looking to be a yellowface cobalt blue, as its feathers are just coming in, but its parents were a yellowface grey green normal/blue and a yellowface albino. It has my first ABS band on its leg, and hopefully will turn out to be a nice bird. It sure has some personality! The next baby in the nest (hatched 10/26) is a foster from another pair, who didn't understand how to feed chicks. It is looking to be a whiteface skyblue, like the male, but not dominant pied like he was. The reason the chick is not pied is because the male is only a single factor dominant pied. The hen was a yellowface cobalt normal. In budgies, the MALE is XX and the FEMALE is XY, unlike in humans. I have 2 eggs due to hatch today from other pairs. One is a double factor violet mauve hen paired with a skyblue male. This baby is sure to be a violet! The other is a bit of an experiment. The hen is a type 2 cinnamon yellowface blue and the male was a normal pied whiteface skyblue. The male had been breaking the eggs of the hen as she laid them, so I removed him, and she has been on her own to raise the chicks. Only 1 egg looks to be fertile, though, so it shouldn't be too much of a strain on her, provided her instincts kick in, as this is her first clutch. Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)