Phleb & Piper's babies...

[MaristKKG]

...Are going to be laid soon! Phleb has been sitting in the nest more and her little poophole is getting very large. I'm predicting the egg laying starts today or tomorrow. I made sure to leave an extra light on since it's rainy and dark out today. I'm especially happy because she doesn't seem to be as "moody" as Bailey was when she laid eggs. Phleb still sits on my finger and shoulder and will give me kisses. She's probably the most behaved budgie I have!

Pictures will come as soon as the fun does!

[kathy5]

looking foward to the baby photo it is fun to watch them grow up

[scootergirl]

CONGRATS! I have a hen sitting on four eggs right now. Tailfeathers will be overrun w/baby pictures soon!

[Rainbow]

Oohhh, congratulations! I'm a sucker for baby pictures! Hopefully you get eggs soon.

[MaristKKG]

Phleb is assuming the position!

[Ambird]

Awww! How exciting!

[MaristKKG]

#1 came today. I'm a little concerned because Phleb isn't sitting on it but if I remember correctly, they do the majority of the nesting once all eggs are laid.

[Finch]

She wont start incubating until at least the second egg is laid. Most of my hens wait until the second egg to start incubating but some wait until 3 to start.

[MaristKKG]

Yeah I realized she didn't want to be in there cuz I had put millet in her cage and she wanted that. But when I woke up this morning she was in the nest and she looked up at me when I opened it. I was also a bit concerned because she laid it on the wooden part of the nest. She had pushed all the nesting material aside. So when she was out, I took out the egg and fixed the material and put it back.

[Finch]

If she moves all the nesting material to the side again, put more in so she cant dig to the bottom. Thats what I did when my hen moved it all out one corner, I didnt want the eggs to crack on the wood.

[MaristKKG]

Yeah I read somewhere that when they hatch they don't need too much material, just enough to cover the bottom so their legs don't splay. But I don't want the egg to crack.

[Finch]

I see pictures of baby birds on the internet and some have no kind of bedding in there, its just common sense you wouldnt want the eggs or chicks or hard, bare wood. Also, if there is no bedding, the nestbox will get really soiled and nasty as the babies grow and the box will grow mold. I keep about 3 inches of very small wood chips (more like shavings) and then just take off the top part of the bedding with all the poop every week or whenever it gets a lot of poop. So far I havent had any splayed legs and Im really happy about that because splayed legs arent a pretty site when they grow up.

[MaristKKG]

OK now I have a major issue... Piper is still trying to mate with Phleb even though she's still laying eggs. She is letting him do this too. Is it ok to let them do this "for fun" since its obvious she is still laying? I have never seen any budgie as "horny" as Piper is. I work all day, there's no way I can possibly stop them from doing this and no way I could separate him since he is feeding her now. I'm definitely going to have to separate Piper once this clutch is done because he is evil. So again... if Phleb is already laying eggs, will it matter that they are doing the dirty?

[MaristKKG]

Ahhh ok I just learned that they will mate once for every egg. I thought they were like mammals where they do it once and that's it. I was wrong. My bad.

[Finch]

It is ok, they will mate constantly. My males try to mate with the females long after the eggs have been layed. Just make sure you dont seperate Piper from her and the chicks until the chicks have been fully weaned because the male has to feed the chicks when they get out of the nestbox.

[MaristKKG]

I know. He's already feeding Phleb on his own for the most part. However, when she pops her head out and sees millet, she comes right out to eat it. Silly girl.

[Finch]

One very interesting thing I have found out about my breeding pairs is that when the hen is in the nestbox and I put it a bunch of goodies like lettuce, parsley, and millet... the male goes down to the new food and chirps a little bit, it sounds like any normal chirp but right when he does that, the hen pops her head out and comes out to eat. Its almost like he calls her to tell her about the new food, its so cute.

[MaristKKG]

Aw!

Here's Piper and Phleb working on egg #4. A little bit of bird porn to start the day.

[Sir Peter of Canada]

[QUOTE=MaristKKG][COLOR=Navy]Aw!

Here's Piper and Phleb working on egg #4. A little bit of bird porn to start the day.



And we thought we were the only ones to put up a little budgie porn...

[MaristKKG]

Hey I'm just a beginner at photographing budgie porn! A few of my "real life" friends asked how it is they :ahem:... It seems Piper enjoys mating in the mornings, usually right when I'm waking up. So today I grabbed the camera.

[Finch Boy]

Congrats! -giggles- Budgie Porn! LOL!
Can't wait to see baby pictures!

[budgie_medic]

That was more information than I needed to know, but thanks for sharing MaristKKG LOL

[Rainbow]

I see pictures of baby birds on the internet and some have no kind of bedding in there, its just common sense you wouldnt want the eggs or chicks or hard, bare wood. Also, if there is no bedding, the nestbox will get really soiled and nasty as the babies grow and the box will grow mold. I keep about 3 inches of very small wood chips (more like shavings) and then just take off the top part of the bedding with all the poop every week or whenever it gets a lot of poop. So far I havent had any splayed legs and Im really happy about that because splayed legs arent a pretty site when they grow up.

Rainbow and Skittles laid their eggs on bare wood. They absolutely did not want anything in the box. Rainbow would kick anything I put in out of the entrance hole. There was no concave either, just a flat bottom, but the eggs did not roll around at all. When the babies are small, the feces are not wet, so to speak. They dry very quickly and become slightly powdery, and it is not hard to clean at all. Just scoop them right out, no mess. I didn't clean the box until the babies were about 3 weeks old, and that was because Rainbow could no longer keep up with the housekeeping He used to scratch the feces out of the entrance hole to keep the box clean on his own. And none of my birds have splayed legs either.

I agree it is normal for them to mate all the time. Mine would mate anytime Skittles came out of the box. Poor Skittles...

[MaristKKG]

Right, I remember the last clutch with Piper & Bailey... the babies had tiny, all-white poops at first.

Luckily she's got the eggs over a tiny bit of material now. I know she's doing a good job. And she's still letting me reach in the box to pet her.

[MaristKKG]

Beebs in training! One egg looks SO SO good with beautiful red veins throughout!