Bird number 2

[ariella]

Thank you skysmum, I’m hoping so! Fingers crossed!

[tweetiepiesmom]

Since you like that budgie, take a chance and get him. Marianne Marlow has a flock of boys and girls. I think she said they haven't laid until this (?) year and she found a lone egg and nothing else. Even if it turns out to be a hen, it doesn't mean you'll have anything to worry about.

[ariella]

tweetiepiesmom I know it wouldn’t be the end of the world as I can do things to discourage mating and nesting and so I’ve asked the breeder to reserve him as well. 😃

[skysmum]

Just to say, be a little careful, sometimes just one hen among 4-5 boys could cause fights, if you have hens its best to try and get similar ratio of girls to boys.

[ariella]

Thanks skysmum, I will bear that in mind. Jasper is a hen - our little surprise as she very much looked like a boy and was identified as such and I had no reason to doubt it...until her cere turned brown this year. Looking back at the photos when I brought her home her cere was very pinky-purple but then stayed a pale blue and didn’t get darker but I didn’t consider that she was a female until she came into her first breeding condition, by which time she was 16 months, which I thought was a little late. Anyway, she has her own cage, which will remain and so everything will be led by her and whether she wants her independence and own space still or wants to move into the Hamberley hotel.
I have a quarantine Vision cage in my study so if I needed to get another female or two, it could be done and everyone could have their choice of cage but I’m not going to worry too much just yet. For now, it’ll be lovely getting to know each bird during the quarantine period and then watch as they all get to meet and see how the pecking order is established and if any particular friendships are formed. But I don’t plan to go down the road of breeding.

[skysmum]

Im sure it will all work out fine, they are all young enough to grow together as a flock. Ive had up to 9 before and tried to keep an even ish male to female ratio and apart from the odd spat they have all rubbed along well together

Hope you have your headphones ready

[ariella]

Through the day it’s just me and my teenage son at home and I love hearing the animals as I go about the household chores, my work and so on. I’m always talking to the dogs, I chat away to the chook when I’m in the garden and have a nice conversation, I even talk to the garden birds if they’re about while I’m gardening. The neighbours soon realised I’m a madwoman. 😂
I say night to all the animals when I cover them, shut the coop door, turn out lights, etc and say all their names individually. I know...total fruit loop.
But I LOVE it as all the animals communicate and they clearly love our time chatting away.
I’m always whistling out to Jasper and he returns the same whistle or he calls out to me and I copy his little noises and whistles back to him. When I’m not in the room with him, the radio is on and if I pop by we have a little bop together. He even barks along with the dogs if we have a delivery. 😂 (still refer to Jasper as he/him - habit hard to break after a year of him being considered male).

So, what’s a little more noise?
To be honest, I love budgie chatter and all their adorable noises.
My eldest son will roll his eyes when he finally is allowed in the house again when lockdown is over and the rule of six can be applied indoors. The last time he and his girlfriend were allowed indoors was Christmas Day. We never tell him about our new members of the family - just wait for him to notice. 😂😂😂
I wonder how long it’ll be until he realises there’s a lot of budgie noise. 🤣

My daughter is as an animal lover like me. We generally prefer animals over humans. 😆
Hubby just lets me have what I want and never complains. There’s an understanding that he plays golf and I increase the family and dote on the animals.
Middle adult son goes with the flow and youngest teen son has a strong bond with his therapy dog (who is my baby) and my middle son’s rescue pug, who I have while he’s at work.
It keeps me busy and happy and that’s a special contentment to have in life.

[Hezz]

This is a boy from me.

[tweetiepiesmom]

ariella Sounds like you have a fun household!

[ariella]

Mar 28, 2021 1:10:14 GMT Hezz said:

This is a boy from me.

Thank you. He’s a really lovely budgie, so I’m really pleased. 

[ariella]

Mar 28, 2021 1:16:25 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

ariella Sounds like you have a fun household!

It’s a slightly mad household, but we have fun. I always thought we were a bit different until the older kids have brought home boyfriend/girlfriends and then we realised how normal we are in comparison! 😂
I homeschooled all the kids and just the last one left now. He starts his GCSE studies with me in September so another two years left of formally educating them. I get them to GCSE and then they have the qualifications they need for college/apprenticeships etc. Though this time it’s a bit different as my youngest has autism so I’ve taught him differently to the older three, finding what works best for him and knowing when enough is enough. 
I’ll be starting my 17th year of homeschool in the new academic year in September and I don’t know where the time has gone! 
It has been interesting watching as home education has been necessary for many due to the lockdowns. It’s certainly shown good teachers and highlighted the not-so-good from the tales we’ve been told. 
I was a bit put-out to not be the strange homeschooling family when the entire country were at it! 😂

[tweetiepiesmom]

Lovely home life! The same is true here in the US - those who were already home school didn't have much trouble when the schools shut down.

Have fun going to pick up your new budgies!