R&t's Breeding Journal

[renee 0]

okay I have had a re-read and realised that I have messed up!!!!!

 

The Recessive Pied boy that went to Nationals as Reserve Bird is the Red rung Manno line Cock bird !!!!

 

This one:

 

 

 

NOT this guy, who is Blue rung :

 

 

So sorry for that.

[renee 0]

and Finally the Lutinos - another seed paying variety

 

This is the variety that I am very close to culling, but the trouble is I really like Lutes .... the real issue is that I have been breeding them but not really paying attention to this line, ie. setting out a breeding plan to improve them. There you go, it is all my fault! LOL

 

I have bred some very nice hens but they need a bit of size and the truth of the matter is I am waiting on my Green line to chuck me some cock numbers in order to start playing around with the them. Or else I may try to get a Foundation cock bird at next month's SWBC auction .... dunno, I guess it boils down to what is available and from whom, my Lutes are 100% Cec Gearing blood lines.

 

Here is an aviary snap of the girl who missed out on this year's breeding ... she's young, so she can wait

 

 

If I could have figured out Photobucket before the week end I would've posted pics of the hens but I don't want to disturb them as 90% of them went straight into the nestboxes and started checking them out and mating.

 

 

So to recap, the biggest change I made this year was gathering up every single bird and judging them in classes to determine my top birds and popping them into Holding cabinets per class/variety for 2 weeks.

 

Previously I just gathered the hens up and kept them isolated for 2 weeks. The idea behind that being that budgie sperm, I have been told, can survive for 10 days within the hen. But I found that the hens got bored sitting on their own and went out of condition ....

 

So this year I popped the cock birds in with them and kept an eagle eye on the bondings. I must admit I did get lucky and 95% of my ideal pairings decided they liked eachother and bonded, with the exception of one brother & sister bonding that I quickly separated.

 

 

I do keep my lines separate and almost entirely confined to Families or Breeder specific bloodlines.

 

So that that the Albinos are all Cec Gearing and now I'm introducing John Kobilanski Greys as outcross.

The Lutes again are Cec Gearing.

My Greens/Blues are basically Jeff Lloyd/John Kobilanski.

My Recessive Pieds are all Dom Manno/Gary Armstrong although I'm starting to introduce my Greens.

The Dommie Pieds are all John Kobilanski.

 

With time every bird will become more closely related and I anticipate that will come through my Green line .... though you never know those Blues may surprise me

[renee 0]

Just checked up on my Blue rung pair of Brother and Sister Recessive Pieds who I lent out last year and it is not good news I'm afraid ....

 

The Hen never did get the hang of feeding her chicks, not a problem I'll be extra vigilent with her and maybe foster her eggs out

 

But there's no confirmation that Tailess Wonder ever produced a chick .... sigh. Not surprising as I already had my doubts about him.

 

I don't know if this has been anyone else's experience but I am extremely suspicious of over solicitous cocks, I'm sure you've seen them: the ones that spend all their time preening their hens, kissing and feeding them, jump into the nest box with them: THE SWEET TALKERS!!!!

 

I have had a couple and they never got round to jumping on the hen and making chickies. I am quite patient with my budgies but these are the ones I could quite easily strangle.

 

I have determined to give him a month to give me fertile eggs, not a day longer. Then I'll see what next.

[Pride 0]

Keep trying renee

[renee 0]

My worst fears have been realised ... my best Recessive Pied Hen, the one I lent out last year as a maiden and who reportedly never fed a single chick is A MONSTER.

 

On the floor of the cabinet, an egg - not just tossed out of the nest box but with a gaping hole.

 

I have given her a false one.

 

And named her MEDUSA.

[Pride 0]

So sorry to her about the problem hen, hopefully you can correct her ways.

[renee 0]

So sorry to her about the problem hen, hopefully you can correct her ways.

 

Well I'm not sure if that is possible Pride. All evidence suggests she is not a good mother hen at all. For example, when I tap on the nest box she bolts out into the cabinet in a panic. GOOD mother hens don't move an inch and give you the dopey placid look.

 

I have had a little think about the Medusa situation overnight and decided that I am just not going to risk it. So as soon as she lays an egg I am going to remove it and pop it into a container. I have quite a few seasoned non-Recessive Pied mother hens down so when they lay their second egg I am going to pop one of Medusa's in that nest. Just one per nest. I am thinking I am going to let Medusa lay approx 6 eggs and then let her go back into the aviary.

 

I have a Spangle girl with nice backskull who I'll pop in with the cock instead.

[renee 0]

aghhhh, it hasn't taken long and DISASTER has struck ! Or should I say the first disaster of my Breeding Season .... no, that would be tempting Fate.

 

The hen to my super Albino (ie another top pairing) has prolapsed with her first egg. I first saw the blood on the perch and then quickly realised she was bleeding and needed immediate assistance. So I brought her indoors and held her abdomen/rear end under running warm water. Th egg itself was not hard to ease out and I gently massaged her tummy so poop came out too.

 

Something is definitely not right with the egg. It is like it has an extra coarse layer of calcium on it and it has a pitted surface.

 

I gave the hen a dose of Spark and popped her into a warm hospital cage with seed and water. I think her breeding years are over before they began.

 

Now here's the thing. It may well be all my fault. The hen in question I bought a few years ago from a Breeder who was selling out under the premise that she came from maginificent stock and was going to be a ripper when she matured. Well that never eventuated and simply put she got lost in the crowd and has been overlooked several times at breeding selection time. This year I decided to finally give her a go - but she is 2009 rung. Maybe I left it too late and the effort of popping out her first egg now was just too much for her. I dunno. You be the judge.

[Pride 0]

So sorry to hear about that renee.

[renee 0]

So sorry to hear about that renee.

 

 

Yes it was a horrible start to my day Pride.

 

But since then things have improved and I have successfully removed one of Medusa's eggs. I will mark each one with a M and find appropriate nests for them.

[Pride 0]

Lets hope after this bad start you will get some good luck like you deserve.

[fordmob 0]

You have some terrific birds, love your DFs, albino and recessives

[renee 0]

You have some terrific birds, love your DFs, albino and recessives

 

Oh fordmob:blush: Praise indeed .... that is very kind of you to say so.

 

Lets hope after this bad start you will get some good luck like you deserve.

 

Thank you Pride. But as you will learn too, luck plays a part in actually producing the super birds but mainly it is all about nutrition and health and good environment. It is a journey, a never-ending learning curve ... and that's what I really enjoy.

 

In fact to a degree I believe I have a responsibility to my birds to give them the best of all 3 and I hope they will reward my with lovely, healthy chickies.

[renee 0]

Well the logistics of what I am undertaking are starting to weigh on me .... this year I am doing it all on my own.

 

This week end I have been busy cleaning the cabinets (poopy scooping), providing fresh greenery, wiping up feather dust, topping up the Finger Dishes with Murphy's Minerals and filling up the Seed dispensers.

 

On the subject of Murphy's Minerals, I am being very vigilent this year as I have noticed that most of my birds are taking a nibble and I am hoping that it will help with Feather Plucking. I know that there are many theories as to why hens do this and boredom is a much quoted reason (so every nest has a little cuttle fish for this) but I have also read that it may be due to a mineral defficiency ... I don't know about that but just incase I am making sure that if the hens do need a something extra they can get it from the Murphy's Minerals.

 

The seed my Breeders' are getting right now is a 2:1 Budgie Breeder and Finch Mix but I may be switching them to Golden Cob soon.

 

Every day I provide fresh soft food and hoover up.

 

Every second day I do a water change. On that subject, at this stage I am providing a mix of Calcium supplement and acqueous Iodine for 2 days and then a mixture of Soluvet (liquid vitamins) and Calcium supplement. This year I am using the brand Calcivet. As the weather warms up I will look around for another brand that doesn't have quite as much sugary content, I find that Calcivet at full strength (20mls per Liter) goes off after 30 hours approx. After about 10 days of this regime I will mix it up and do 2 days of Probiotics, or 2 days of Megamix (a Rob Marshall's product that has Citric acid at 1g/L) and once a month all birds get S76 (another Rob Marshall's product that is very effective for Lice, Mites, etc)

 

Tomorrow I am going to start the twice daily routine of checking nest boxes and candling eggs. I am not too fussed about recording when eggs are lain, hatching date is more important and there is always a few days give or take with incubation because hens don't always start incubating as soon as they lay the first egg.

Edited August 21, 2011 by renee

[Finnie 0]

This year I am using the brand Calcivet. As the weather warms up I will look around for another brand that doesn't have quite as much sugary content, I find that Calcivet at full strength (20mls per Liter) goes off after 30 hours approx.

 

I use Quiko liquid calcium. I tried Calcivet for a while, but then I went back to the Quiko, because I didn't care for the sugar either. Not sure if Quiko is a brand that's available in Australia, though.

[renee 0]

Just done an egg check and it's all okay.

 

15 nests no eggs

 

4 nests with fertile eggs

 

Mostly 1-2 eggs

 

I have fostered out Medusa's eggs.

Edited August 22, 2011 by renee

[renee 0]

This year I am using the brand Calcivet. As the weather warms up I will look around for another brand that doesn't have quite as much sugary content, I find that Calcivet at full strength (20mls per Liter) goes off after 30 hours approx.

 

I use Quiko liquid calcium. I tried Calcivet for a while, but then I went back to the Quiko, because I didn't care for the sugar either. Not sure if Quiko is a brand that's available in Australia, though.

 

Well Finnie I did not find Quiko but my internet search did bring up the following:

 

Aristopet Avi-Cal 500 ml Avi- Cal 500 ml Highly absorbable liquid calicum and vitamin D3 supplement for caged and aviary birds. Helps prevent soft shelled eggs and rickets. Use in egg bound birds. Just add to their food or water

 

On sale for $16.40 at Sharlees Stockfeeds & Pet Supplies http://sharlee.com.au

 

I ordered 2 and paid just over $40 including delivery

 

Now THAT is a bargain !!!

[Pride 0]

Sounds good renee i might need to get some of that.

[Finnie 0]

I like that it has the vitamin D3 right in it. But the website doesn't list how much vitamin D3. When it comes, can you tell us what it says on the label?

[renee 0]

I like that it has the vitamin D3 right in it. But the website doesn't list how much vitamin D3. When it comes, can you tell us what it says on the label?

 

 

Will do

[Finnie 0]

I like that it has the vitamin D3 right in it. But the website doesn't list how much vitamin D3. When it comes, can you tell us what it says on the label?

 

 

Will do

 

 

Great! I have found a site where I can order it in the US. (Although I have a new bottle of the Quiko to use up first. )

[renee 0]

I am now in week 2 of my breeding season and so far so good.

 

The hen to my super Albino spent 24 hours in the hospital cage and I don't know whether it was the Spark I gave her to the crop or the warmth but she was busting to get out so she is currently in a separate cage looking no worse for wear. I am half expecting her to drop dead from internal infection ... but so far she shows no sign of discomfort at all. To be on the safe side I popped some doxy into her water.

 

Medusa seems to have settled down in the past few days and no longer bolts out of the nest box every time I tap it. Actually she is very lucky in her partner who I have observed to be very supportive of her and gives her loads of encouragement every time she lays an egg. Currently she is on 2 false ones and today I will foster another when she lays it. Depending how she goes I am entertaining the thought of giving her a 2 day old chick from a lesser nest to see if she can get the hang of it - under strict supervision, of course. Dunno, just a thought. I have come to the conclusion that she did not have a very good introduction to motherhood last year and I am wondering whether I can turn that around for her.

 

Probably early next week I will be introducing a protein powder into the Soft Food mix. The product I have used since 2008 is Kohnke's Own Muscle XL. I buy it in 2 kilo tubs. it is a high protein whey isolates with Vitamin E, organic sufur and zinc and marketed as a Muscle Amino Acid supplement for horses.

 

The full blurb is as follows: Muscle XL is based on highly digestable whey isolates to provide the branched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine, as well as high levels of glutamine, lysine, threonine, and additional amino acids. The addition of Vitamin E assistsantioxidant protection of muscle tissues during exercise, and an organic source of sulfur and chelated zinc corrects low or inadequate levels in the diet to provide specific nutrients for muscle protein synthesis.

 

Ech KILO contains: Whey isolates 947.5g/kg; Vitamin E (as absorbate) 8,333 IU; Methylsulphonylmethane 8.3g, Zinc ( as proteinate) 3.3g; Vanilla milk flavoring.

 

All the breeders are eating the soft food now and I want to up the protein levels ahead of when the chickies start to hatch out.

 

And very soon I'll be introducing the Colden Cob seed .... Why would you do that with your birds already down? I hear you ask. Well as it happens I've always used the Golden Cob brand during breeding but the Club didn't have a meeting last month so I couldn't get any. Of course I don't want to induce a moult so I'll be mixing it 50:50 with what they have now.

[renee 0]

Just another quick egg count update

 

10 nests no eggs

 

6 nests with fertile eggs (mainly showing up in nests of 4 or more eggs)

 

The rest with 1-3 eggs

Edited August 23, 2011 by renee

[Pride 0]

Good progress

[renee 0]

Well I am so fricken pissed off with myself.

 

I was having a close look at Medusa's super Recessive Pied boy and to my horror he looked a bit shaggy under the tail. I caught him up and sure as he was decidedly bushy - so promptly gave him a Brazilian .... and then checked on Medusa - same story.

 

At this point I felt decidedly crook. I am SURE I plucked everyone's bum feathers 3 weeks ago or so between juding them in classes/variety and popping each bird in a Holding Cage.

 

So then I had the thankless task of catching every cock bird and removing all vent feathers. There were so many bloody budgie feathers you could fill an eiderdown. It would appear that some birds have had their feathers removed recently, ie. when I popped them into the Breeding Cabinets ... but most of them hadn't, including all my top pairings. Grrrrr.

 

Didn't know budgies grew their feathers back so quickly .... or else - perish the thought - I got so caught up in admiring my birds I forgot ...... Naaaaaah.

 

So now I am facing the very real prospect of a lot of clear eggs. The next week will be interesting.

 

I am trying very hard to find a silver lining and all I can come up with is at least I noticed now and not later on.