2008 Breeding

[the pie 0]

woot woot! feathers soon....

[Norm 0]

i know how you feel.... not really, but i have some wild doves that have given birth to 2 baby doves in my garage i think i counted two but i cant be sure because i dont want to touch it in case i make the parents abandon them but they look healthy and lively

 

Most species of Dove lay two eggs Andrew, so there probably is two young.

Edited January 3, 2008 by Norm

[birdluv 0]

such a cute little bub. congratulations

[Ravengypsy 0]

Well the pins are comming in on the wings, looks like chick #1 is going to be a blue series, maybe grey, but definatly normal markings like the father. I'll try to get a new picture posted soon, he's 13 days old today.

 

Egg #4 from Duchess is 4 days late and is probably DIS. I fostered out eggs 5 & 6 on the 5th, but they may have been fostered too late to save them, as egg 5 was due on the 6th and has not yet hatched. All three were fertile eggs and can see the formed chick inside the eggs. I'll remove the eggs after a week past their due date. I'm still crossing my fingers that egg 6 might make it.

 

Hopefully round 2 will be more fertile, both hens were maiden mothers and the environment was a bit stressful durring the breeding process while we built the aviary and this may have caused some of the issues this round. But luckily there shouldn't be any further distractions when they start round 2.

[Norm 0]

Sorry to hear you didn’t get more hatch, maybe they got chilled sometime during the building operations. Hopefully as you say things will be better next batch…good luck.

[Ravengypsy 0]

yes it's quite possible they just got too moved around or cold durring the build, I was affraid that might happen so I'm not too surprised. Unfortunately it couldn't be helped much without moving the cages to another area and that would have been worse, so we tried to get it done as quickly as possible, basically 3 days total. Hopefully the next round will go smoothly. On the bright side because of only having 1-2 chicks (i'm being optimistic, (Laughing out loud)) then they may even be okay to do a 3rd round depending on how round 2 goes, of course.

 

I also have two more pairs I'll probably setup for breeding in a month.

Edited January 7, 2008 by Ravengypsy

[Ravengypsy 0]

I got home last night to a surprise that egg 6 hatched a day early, baby was already fed by the foster hen and so far so good. Egg 5 didn't hatch however and this morning was pushed to the side of the nest and no longer warm. So looks like we just have the 2 chicks this round from Duke and Duchess. Both hens raising one chick and hopefully the next round will prove better and less stressful on the birds as a whole.

 

Here are updated pictures of Chick 1 & 2.

 

Chick 2- (1 day old under foster mother)

 

 

Chick 1 (11 days old)

 

 

 

Chick 1- (13 days old, weighed at 36g)

Edited January 8, 2008 by Ravengypsy

[Ravengypsy 0]

I put a 3rd pair in to breed in a spare wire breeding cage I had last night, but they are new to the birdroom and may take a couple extra weeks before we see anything worthwhile to report as they get acclimated to their new environment.

 

Here is the pair,

 

A grey green 06 cock and a cinnamon green 06 hen.

 

 

[Norm 0]

A nice pair Ravengyspy…good luck with them.

[**KAZ** 0]

Pay close attention to this hen

 

Your eldest chick is missing some feathers ( head and wing butt ) which may mean Mum is plucking it a little. Put a small piece of safe wood in her box for her to nibble on or play with or a stick of millet.

[Ravengypsy 0]

thanks Kaz, I'll keep a closer eye on her although two nights ago I did add a small block of alfafa for her to chew in the nest box. So hopefully that is helping, but I may keep a small millet spray in there as well, except when I do that the cock goes in there more and eats it, (Laughing out loud).

[Ravengypsy 0]

The hen isn't being plucked that I can see, but I'm keeping a millet spray in the nestbox so maybe that helped. Here are some new photos I took today! Chick #1 (I've named him/her? Tinsel) pictures at 20 days old.

 

 

Here is chick #2 from Duke & Duchess, at 7 days old. Although I am curious, anyone know why this chick (with fosters) has these black specs in the crop? I've also had to clean the vent off each day. Not sure if this one may be ill?

Edited January 15, 2008 by Ravengypsy

[**KAZ** 0]

CUTE I think Tinsel is a hen chick. The black spots in the crop of the other baby is just evidence of greens or seeds the parents are eating and now the chick is getting the benefit of. If the chick was ill you would see dark redness in the lower tummy area, and there isnt so I would say all is well.

Looking forward to more photos

Edited January 15, 2008 by KAZ

[*libby* 0]

I have chicks like that also that get the "dark spots" in their crops, i was a tad concerned also and checked their food. I husked every variety of seed and found that a small pearl coloured one with a slight sheen to it like millet but more ovular shaped had a darkbrown / black seed inside and thats all they were.

[Ravengypsy 0]

YAY a Hen! I hope so, I need more hens for next year (Laughing out loud). She is the same coloring as the dad, who is a Violet Sky.

 

thanks, I wasn't sure I wasn't overly worried till the vent started getting soiled and stuck on muck every day. But I'm making sure to keep it clean, glad the crop dots are nothing to worry over.

 

Tinsel was 46g yesterday and Chick #2 was 8g yesterday, I can already tell they've grown since then but I'll wait to re-weigh them a couple days.

Edited January 15, 2008 by Ravengypsy

[**KAZ** 0]

Tinsel is a good size and already showing a good mask

[Ravengypsy 0]

here's a video clip of the breeding pair Duke & Duchess taken today while the hen was outside of the nestbox

Video Here

[maesie 0]

What cuties... looks like they are comming along nicely

[Ravengypsy 0]

is 27 days old too early to fledge? cause baby was out of nest box and in the chickie shelter.. baby is fully feathered and being fed by dad on the floor when I checked last all seemed well. Tinsel is attempting to eat (although mostly without much success) on its own from the food I put nearby. And is almost able to perch.. almost...

Edited January 22, 2008 by Ravengypsy

[**KAZ** 0]

is 27 days old too early to fledge? cause baby was out of nest box and in the chickie shelter.. baby is fully feathered and being fed by dad on the floor when I checked last all seemed well. Tinsel is attempting to eat (although mostly without much success) on its own from the food I put nearby. And is almost able to perch.. almost...

If fully feathered and 27 days I would say all is okay

[Ravengypsy 0]

here are updated pics I took last night of Tinsel,

 

 

 

 

 

this one was taken last week, but you can see the violet in this photo

 

[deb 0]

tinsel is so cute, i love the violets

[**KAZ** 0]

Tinsel is a stunning budgie. You must be proud of that one

[maesie 0]

What a cutie!!! I guess this one just couldn't wait... might tell you a bit about what Tinsel's gonna be like when he/she grows up

[*libby* 0]

She's a real cutie!!! what a stunning colour also!