Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Tis the Season
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Bringing Baby Home
So you've decided to add a bird - or two- to your life...awesome (:>}=
Things to Consider:
Cage: Get the biggest one that you have space for and can afford. Your little fellow will appreciate it. You need lots of room for toys,perches,swing, and food dishes. Be sure to pay attention to bar spacing. Budgies need their bars closer together than lovebirds do. Also, something to think about is the ease of cleaning of the cage. I've regreted more than one cage purchase due to difficulty to keep clean. Usually the basic rectangle shape is the easiest to deal with.
Food:
A good seed mix that has dried fruits and pellets in it is good. Or you can purchase pellets separately and add them to the seed mix.
Spray millet is essential to your new bird's diet. Some birds are nervous to eat in their new environment until they feel comfortable. Since spray millet is hard for most birds to resist it helps them transition into their new home.
Oat Goats is a very good thing to add to the diet. It can be purchased at pet stores in small jars for around $5.00 or at bulk barn(in the human food section) for less. I have been getting it from an organic farmer(Castor River Farm) at the farmer's market but that is shut down for the season so when I run out it will be Bulk Barn again. If you can't find oat groats-steel cut oats is good as well.
Other additions that are nutritious and interesting for your little feathered friends are: Avicakes, Nutriberries, and Pellet Berries- all from Lafaber and readily available in pet stores. A cuttle bone and or mineral block in the cage is good too.
Fresh food is necessary as well but we'll go into that in another entry(check older posts for ideas too).
Toys:
Toys are a must as your bird needs to entertain him/herself. In the wild birds spend a considerable amount of time foraging for food. In their cage-they go to their dish....so....
what to do with the rest of the day???
A swing is pretty much a necessity. A bird will spend a great deal of time on his swing. My birds love to swing when there is music playing. Ladders, bells,beads etc. etc. etc. Some human baby toys such as rattles,teething rings, and linking loops are good in the bird cage.
Google how to make free bird toys for loads more ideas.
Perches:
VERY important. To have a variety of perches is important. You really don't want your bird sitting on the same little wooden perch day in day out. It would be very hard on his feet. One wooden perch-OK. Then a nice soft rope perch is good. The best perch is a natural branch. Maybe you or someone you know has a tree that needs pruning-or you can purchase branch perches in the pet store. Irregularity of shape is very good too-like a branch-not a uniformly shaped dowel. Place the branch at an angle -just like in nature. Be sure the branches you use are not sprayed with anything nasty.Birds are very sensitive to those things. A little sand perch is good to wear down pointy/sharp nails.
A cover for your cage is necessary-especially in the colder months. It can be an old blanket or you can purchase a fancy one specifically for this purpose in the pet store.
Having everything ready ahead of time makes for an easier transition for your new baby :o)
Things to Consider:
Cage: Get the biggest one that you have space for and can afford. Your little fellow will appreciate it. You need lots of room for toys,perches,swing, and food dishes. Be sure to pay attention to bar spacing. Budgies need their bars closer together than lovebirds do. Also, something to think about is the ease of cleaning of the cage. I've regreted more than one cage purchase due to difficulty to keep clean. Usually the basic rectangle shape is the easiest to deal with.
Food:
A good seed mix that has dried fruits and pellets in it is good. Or you can purchase pellets separately and add them to the seed mix.
Spray millet is essential to your new bird's diet. Some birds are nervous to eat in their new environment until they feel comfortable. Since spray millet is hard for most birds to resist it helps them transition into their new home.
Oat Goats is a very good thing to add to the diet. It can be purchased at pet stores in small jars for around $5.00 or at bulk barn(in the human food section) for less. I have been getting it from an organic farmer(Castor River Farm) at the farmer's market but that is shut down for the season so when I run out it will be Bulk Barn again. If you can't find oat groats-steel cut oats is good as well.
Other additions that are nutritious and interesting for your little feathered friends are: Avicakes, Nutriberries, and Pellet Berries- all from Lafaber and readily available in pet stores. A cuttle bone and or mineral block in the cage is good too.
Fresh food is necessary as well but we'll go into that in another entry(check older posts for ideas too).
Toys:
Toys are a must as your bird needs to entertain him/herself. In the wild birds spend a considerable amount of time foraging for food. In their cage-they go to their dish....so....
what to do with the rest of the day???
A swing is pretty much a necessity. A bird will spend a great deal of time on his swing. My birds love to swing when there is music playing. Ladders, bells,beads etc. etc. etc. Some human baby toys such as rattles,teething rings, and linking loops are good in the bird cage.
Google how to make free bird toys for loads more ideas.
Perches:
VERY important. To have a variety of perches is important. You really don't want your bird sitting on the same little wooden perch day in day out. It would be very hard on his feet. One wooden perch-OK. Then a nice soft rope perch is good. The best perch is a natural branch. Maybe you or someone you know has a tree that needs pruning-or you can purchase branch perches in the pet store. Irregularity of shape is very good too-like a branch-not a uniformly shaped dowel. Place the branch at an angle -just like in nature. Be sure the branches you use are not sprayed with anything nasty.Birds are very sensitive to those things. A little sand perch is good to wear down pointy/sharp nails.
A cover for your cage is necessary-especially in the colder months. It can be an old blanket or you can purchase a fancy one specifically for this purpose in the pet store.
Having everything ready ahead of time makes for an easier transition for your new baby :o)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Separate Clutches
I just have to post a little note here to say that if you come here to find pictures of the English budgies that I have for sale you will find them. You can also look back to much older posts to see the parent birds "Mickey and Mia". They are both beautiful blues with white faces.
You will also find pictures of a clutch that I am currently hand feeding that is English/standard cross. They are from my yellow faced parents-Winston and Winnifred. Winston is a large English budgie -as you can see by his picture and Winnie is a large standard budgie. The babies are a very nice size and they have a wonderfully sweet temperament. Three of them have quite a bit of yellow in their faces so I believe after their first moult that colour will intensify. These babies are not hybrids as some may believe. It's the same thing as poodle sizes-standard, medium, and toy...but all 100% poodle. These are not for sale at the moment but will be in a couple of weeks. All of them are flying as of today...wing clips tomorrow.
I always do little wing clips on my babies to make transitioning into their new home and family easier. Then when the bird's flight feathers grow back in after a few month's time you can just leave them. Some people chose to regularly get their bird's wings clipped. I have no problem with that as it's all about keeping them safe.
I also have a clutch of four baby lovebirds that I'm hand feeding now -AND-a clutch of five normal green budgies-also hand feeding AND two more of Mickey and Mia's babies-they weren't quite finished having babies for this season (:>}=. As you may guess I am VERY busy with the feeding thing haha...but I feel very blessed with these babies.
You will also find pictures of a clutch that I am currently hand feeding that is English/standard cross. They are from my yellow faced parents-Winston and Winnifred. Winston is a large English budgie -as you can see by his picture and Winnie is a large standard budgie. The babies are a very nice size and they have a wonderfully sweet temperament. Three of them have quite a bit of yellow in their faces so I believe after their first moult that colour will intensify. These babies are not hybrids as some may believe. It's the same thing as poodle sizes-standard, medium, and toy...but all 100% poodle. These are not for sale at the moment but will be in a couple of weeks. All of them are flying as of today...wing clips tomorrow.
I always do little wing clips on my babies to make transitioning into their new home and family easier. Then when the bird's flight feathers grow back in after a few month's time you can just leave them. Some people chose to regularly get their bird's wings clipped. I have no problem with that as it's all about keeping them safe.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Baby Budgies English/Standard
Here are the parents of the English Budgie/Standard budgie babies. Winston -the dad is the big English Budgie. He is turquoise with a yellow face. Winifred-the mom is a normal green standard budgie-although I believe her to be part English herself as she is a good size.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Computer Birds Pip and Ozzy
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Four Little English Budgie Babies...Growing Up
We're getting there.Not too long now and we'll be ready for our new homes ! 
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