Don't you just hate it when . . .

I went to move those chicks of suitable development from the breeding cages to the nursery flight when I heard a commotion.

A hen was busy ripping the face off one of her (fully feathered and ready to be moved) chicks.

There was hardly a mark on the chick other than the fact that it's beak was hanging off.

No beak so couldn't feed itself.

No choice other than to put it to sleep.

This was one of the chicks that I was going to move; a couple of minutes earlier and. . .

oh well, that's budgies for you.

Don't you just hate it when . . . 2

My most successful pair from the first round produced 8 eggs, all full, resulting in 8 chicks of very acceptable quality.

They were the first pair to lay in the second round: 9 eggs, all full, 5 chicks hatched with 3 full eggs remaining . . . so what happens . . .

I go to check my nest boxes and find, on the bottom of the cage . . . 1 dead hen . . . you've guessed it . . . the super performer mentioned above.

So . . . 5 little chicks and 3 full eggs. I have two (1st round) pairs sitting on chicks that are quite advanced: 3 (2nd round) pairs that have one chick each and one (2nd round) pair that has 2 chicks. There are a further 4 pairs that should have chicks hatching within a day or two.

Not much choice really: I have shared the chicks around and will now have the tricky job of deciding which chick belongs to which pair as they feather up.

Oh well . . . that's budgies for you!

Don't you just hate it when . . . 3

Hens don't hatch their chicks. My second round is a mess. Loads of full eggs but loads of problems to go with them e.g. hens that hatch their first two chicks and then let their next two eggs adle; eggs that addle as they become due to hatch.

What to do?

1. Leave it as is and hope that the remaining eggs/chicks don't get kicked around by the adult birds and the bigger chicks.

2. or move the remaining eggs to fosters?

I tried option 1 and either the eggs addled or the chicks died as soon as they were born.

I tried option 2 and ended up with two sets of unproven parent birds sitting 8 full eggs . . . One chick hatched but was dead when I opened the nest box and and the other 15 eggs addled.

Oh well . . . that's budgies for you!