I bought a Budgie!

I bought her (I think she's a hen) to be a breeder, but I'm starting to like her. My husband is going to FREAK! I really wish she'd keep biting me or something! LOL! But right now, she's all snuggled up on my chest just as cute as can be. And even when she DOES bite, it doesn't even really count as a bite - I mean really, I've got scars from bites bigger than she is! LOL!

She (if she's a she) is really a pretty little girl. She's got to grow up a little bit before she can have babies, but when she does, I believe they'll be pretty ones if I can get her the right boyfriend.

As soon as I can get a good picture of her, I'll post it.

Congratulations, good luck and pictures please!

congratulations...what are you going to call her?


dusty

Yay Budgies

When did you decide to start breeding budgies?

Congrats! Little Sushi forever changed my life and outlook on budgies. I took Sparrow to the store today and he went crazy hearing the budgies, it broke my heart. He misses Sushi SO much.



Can't wait for pics!

ScooterNScotty wrote:

When did you decide to start breeding budgies?

Also.. Julie, did you ever take Sushi for a necropsy?

Anita, no, as I mentioned my son asked to bury her right away. Because of his age and the tender nature of things I honored his request. It seemed more important for him to have closure and have peace. I would have liked to have known though, his peace of mind came first this time. In the moment, I couldn't think of a way around it. It was really sad and overwhelming.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

When did you decide to start breeding budgies?

I've been wanting to make an entree into breeding for quite a while, and when I started working at the store, I finally decided that budgies would be the most reasonable way to get started. I talked to Jen and decided that I'd start by contributing birds to the breeding flock and setting up pairs to see what they produce. I'm really pretty excited. I've been trying to learn the genetics of several different species (budgies, quakers, lovebirds, and looking a little bit into tiels and green cheeks) with the thought of ultimately breeding, but it's just always been a "pipe dream." This way I've got the opportunity to get my feet wet without too much of a huge risk.

dusty wrote:

congratulations...what are you going to call her?
dusty

Hopefully Mommy!
(Or if she's a he, Daddy!)

I understand!!! It's so hard to resist all the little cuties out there!!!
I just got home from a bird mart. So many birds that I want!! So hard to resist!! Kakarikis, lutino bourkes, brazilian cardinals, blue-grey tanagers! GHA!!!!!

Congrats and good luck! Get the little girl/guy super tame and I've seen budgies stay super tame while they're breeders.

Sounds like fun

I really enjoyed breeding my whitefaced tiels back in the day..just beware, breeding bird poop = BIG mess...it was like the bomb exploded every day And they eat like little piggies.

Are you going to hand tame or hand feed the babies once she's ready??

Im absolutely going to hand feed the babies. The pet box stores already have plenty of untame birds for sale, there's no need for any more of those. The thought of being responsible for little lives like that IS a bit scary though. Im confident that with the experience I have, the knowledge I have access to here, and the experience I'll gain through working with Jen and Karen I'll be able to make it happen. Nobody starts out knows everything, right?

I used to pull at 3-4 feedings a day and LOVED it! You will have tons o'fun.

Oddly, budgies tend to be nippier when handfed. You might want to consider just playing with the babies a few times a day in the nest.

patdbunny wrote:

Oddly, budgies tend to be nippier when handfed. You might want to consider just playing with the babies a few times a day in the nest.

Well now that's interesting. And now that you mention it, I think I may have noticed that. It would be interesting to experiment with handfeeding vs playing with them to see if one group is nippier, more or less fearful, or what (if any) differences there are between the two.

I know the wee tiny ones have the nick names of piranha-keets because they do attack when you put your hand in to feed, but I've not noticed that it continues when they're weened.

Hmmm... something to think about. (Think, think, think!)

I can tell you from experience that handling budgie babies from the nest instead of handfeeding them, they turn out really tame and not nippy like handfed budgies. Already did that experiment a long time ago.

That's really interesting, Roz. I just love them Budgies

i love budgies! you should post a picture of her/him!

patdbunny wrote:

I can tell you from experience that handling budgie babies from the nest instead of handfeeding them, they turn out really tame and not nippy like handfed budgies. Already did that experiment a long time ago.

Then why do so many people swear by handfed budgies? Inquiring minds want to know! Seriously though, I'm not challenging your experience, but if handfeeding budgies turns out budgies that have a tendency towards nippiness, why do people continue to handfeed budgies as opposed to handling them like you suggest?

VickiNumbers wrote:

Then why do so many people swear by handfed budgies? Inquiring minds want to know!

Assuming Roz' experiment is reproducible, it's possible that those of us with a little knowledge confuse tame with handfed. And it then becomes marketing. Most petstore budgies are not handfed, not handled much and are not tame. Bigger petstore birds are handfed, handled and tame... I've probably made the mistake of equating the two myself. Scotty is tame but technically he was co-parented not strictly handfed.

Either way, I wish I could find a handfed/co-parented Budgie for my Spice.

Btw, Spice is parent raised but she's VERY, VERY, VERY nippy. I would have gaping holes on my hands and face if she were any bigger than she is now..

ScooterNScotty wrote:

VickiNumbers wrote:

Then why do so many people swear by handfed budgies? Inquiring minds want to know!

Assuming Roz' experiment is reproducible, it's possible that those of us with a little knowledge confuse tame with handfed. And it then becomes marketing. Most petstore budgies are not handfed, not handled much and are not tame. Bigger petstore birds are handfed, handled and tame... I've probably made the mistake of equating the two myself. Scotty is tame but technically he was co-parented not strictly handfed.

I agree w/ SnS. I think it's marketing and most people equate "handfed" as the same as "tame". There have been prior articles on handfed budgies being more nippy than young parent-fed and tamed. If I find any of those articles I'll post them.

Come join the chat! Vicki has questions regarding budgie breeding!

I expect you're both right. Many months ago (when JJ was still being weaned) I made the observation to Karen that there's a difference between a bird that is "hand-fed" and one that is "hand-raised." The hand-fed bird is only that, fed by hand. It will likely be easier to tame, but the simple fact that it has been hand-fed does not in and of itself make the bird tame.

The hand-raised bird will more likely be tame (at least as long as it continues to be handled), because IT has been handled during its formative period as opposed to mearly being held long enough to fill the crop with formula.

So, the hand-fed/nippiness connection... Is that only seen in Budgies? If so, is there any idea why? I guess that's what I'm curious about and ultimately questioning...