AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi, a budgie has found its way into my chicken coop. Presumably someone's escaped pet. The kids want to keep it and so I was thinking of leaving him there. Need to try to close off entry/exit point (under the entrance door). I've never had budgies before and don't know much about them. Are there any problems with him being in there? I presume I need to feed him proper budgie food, not the seed that I feed the chooks? Will the chooks peck him (to death)? I can put in a few high perches but do I need to provide him a shelter?

In terms of weather, I live in Adelaide.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Apols if this is not the right forum. I also posted this to the Feathered Friends.

Take him out, if the kids want to keep him he'll need his own cage. Chooks are very well known for cornering and eating wild pigeons, its only a matter of time before they do the same to the budgie. He also requires realtively draft free cage with budgie seed and fresh water, inside the house is the best place for him/her.

Yep my chook catch a dove every week and kill it sometimes they eat it a little but the doves still come

We get wild budgies in the coop every day sometimes up to 100 the chooks run from them as there is too many to chase off and they are to quick for the chooks to catch

Best put the budgie in a cage of its own, the kids and train it and have an enjoyable experience, budgies are great pets for young kids to interact with.

You can pick up bird cages at most discount stores these days.

I think there is some basic information on budgie care already in Feathered Friends and your local library may have books on budgie care, here is a link to a website

http://www.budgiecare.org/

You will need to rehouse your new found budgie in it's own cage, your kids will love it!

Generally the colour of a budgie's cere the area on top of the beak that surrounds it's nostrils will tell you it's sex.

Adult male budgies have blue ceres with juvenile males pink to purple. Though albinos, lutinos and some pieds do not develop blue ceres.

Hen budgies have a beige to tan cere.

Females tend to be more aggressive than males and will bite harder, and they shred and tear up things like the paper at the bottom of the cage of natural perches as it is their nesting instinct.

Males will learn to talk.

There are lots of books in the library on budgies that will help you learn to tame them and teach them to talk, also give you advice on their health and care.

Try to use a variety of different width natural perches such as branches rather than plastic as the different grips are healthy for their claws. Also change them on a regular basis as mites can hide in them.

You can buy a calicum/vitamin perches from the supermarket or pet shop. The worming solution, mite spray and liquid vitamins are also available in the supermarket. Sulphur is handy to have if your caged bird has diarrhoea.

All our caged birds have natural branches as perches as it gives them a variety of textures to grip on promoting. There is cuttlefish,fine shell grit and an idoine block in their cages. There is also a non toxic cage cleaner spray that kills all the mites and other nasties that lurk and hide in the corners. They have ladders, mirrors, swings, bells and other bird toys, as intelligent birds like cockatiels and budgies can get easily bored being cooped up and start bad behaviour like feather plucking etc...I try to rearrange them once a month to stimulate their brains.

Our birds are hand raised and tame and we let them out to fly once a day. This keeps them healthy as it gives them exercise and they can stretch their wings and they can socialise. You can train them to return and sit on the top of their cage or have a bird play gym for them so they don't drop bombs on the furniture.

Have any of you had your chooks eat a wild bird like a dove? I hope its not just mine

No mine have had a good peck at 1 or 2 but I take the carcass out asap

Thanks everyone. I've bought a bird cage and hung it in the coop, with food and water inside. I'm now waiting for him to move in so I can close the door and bring him indoors.

He seems happy in the coop though - he's been there for 5 days now. He left the first day but returned the same day. Hasn't left since. Its been cold in Adelaide this week (around 5 degrees overnight) so he must be chilly overnight.

He may think the chooks a big budgies