R&t's Breeding Journal

[splat 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.

 

No I am sure it is not, I believe you can get quiko egg food too, which we can't get here either. it sucks.

[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.

 

No I am sure it is not, I believe you can get quiko egg food too, which we can't get here either. it sucks.

 

Yeah, but the Quiko egg food was around ten bucks for a small bag, so I started making my own.

[renee 0]

Well I've decided to split up the results per Variety to gauge the real progress of my breeding season so far, SO (in alphabetical order)

 

ALBINOS - 6 pairings: 3 split Grey / 3 DF Albinos

12 eggs / 3 Fertile

 

BLUE NORMALS - 3 pairings

11 eggs / 5 Fertile

 

DOMINANT PIED GREEN - 4 pairings: 2 Greygreen / 2 Green Split Blue

5 eggs / 1 Fertile

2 nests No eggs

 

DOMINANT PIED BLUE - 3 pairings

8 eggs

 

DOUBLE FACTOR WHITE - 3 pairings

4 eggs

1 nest No eggs

 

DOUBLE FACTOR YELLOW - 4 pairings

2 eggs

3 nests No eggs

 

GREEN NORMALS - 3 pairings

3 eggs

1 nest No eggs

 

LUTINOS - 3 pairings: 1 Split Green / 2 DF Lutino

7 eggs / 1 Fertile

1 nest No eggs

 

RECESSIVE PIEDS - 6 pairings: 4 Splits / 2 DF RP

11 eggs / 4 Fertile

2 nests No eggs

 

agh .... this isn't working, I'm missing 6 nests (sigh) .... will have to go back and double check and then edit again

 

okay it turns out I just can't add up LOL still missing one ... I reckon it's a Green pair

Edited August 24, 2011 by renee

[Pride 0]

Good start anyway.

[renee 0]

Good start anyway.

 

 

Thank you Pride.

 

I am pretty certain I have at least 2 nests of clear eggs but it's early days and I am not going to do anything definitive till next Monday.

 

The cock birds certainly haven't forgiven me for yesterday and shuffle to the back of the cabinets and regard me with suspicion and surly looks

[renee 0]

Well I've decided to split up the results per Variety to gauge the real progress of my breeding season so far, SO (in alphabetical order)

 

ALBINOS - 6 pairings: 3 split Grey / 3 DF Albinos

12 eggs / 3 Fertile 19 eggs / 5 Fertile

 

BLUE NORMALS - 3 pairings 5 pairings

11 eggs / 5 Fertile 19 eggs / 8 Fertile

 

DOMINANT PIED GREEN - 4 pairings: 2 Greygreen / 2 Green Split Blue

5 eggs / 1 Fertile 6 eggs / 1 Fertile

2 nests No eggs

 

DOMINANT PIED BLUE - 3 pairings 2 pairings

8 eggs 6 eggs

1 nest Clear?

 

DOUBLE FACTOR WHITE - 3 pairings

4 eggs 5 eggs

1 nest No eggs

DOUBLE FACTOR YELLOW - 4 pairings

2 eggs 6 eggs / 1 Fertile

3 nests No eggs 1 nest No eggs

 

GREEN NORMALS - 3 pairings 4 pairings: 3 DF Green/ 1 Green Split Blue

3 eggs 5 eggs

1 nest No eggs 2 nests No eggs

1 nest Clear?

 

LUTINOS - 3 pairings: 1 Split Green / 2 DF Lutino

7 eggs / 1 Fertile 8 eggs / 1 Fertile

1 nest No eggs

1 nest Clear?

 

RECESSIVE PIEDS - 6 pairings: 4 Splits / 2 DF RP

11 eggs / 4 Fertile 14 eggs / 4 Fertile

2 nests No eggs

 

 

Many apologies for yesterday's flawed Egg Count per Variety. Here is the revised update.

 

However, I should add that after GB posted the picture of an addled egg in her thread I suspect I have 3 of those

[Pride 0]

No good about the addled eggs but i like your way of sorting out your pairs.

[splat 0]

At least you have a little fertility Renee, It should improve now you plucked the s..t out of them lol poor little things. ouch!!!

I did the same to mine today.

[renee 0]

At least you have a little fertility Renee, It should improve now you plucked the s..t out of them lol poor little things. ouch!!!

I did the same to mine today.

 

Well Splat, ever the optimist, I am hoping for some more fertile eggs - a particularly buff Violet cock has managed to fill 4 out of 6 eggs before his bikini wax

 

 

 

but no new ones showed up today ....

 

 

Only 2 nests with No eggs now and 15 nests with 1-2 eggs, so it is still early days.

Edited August 26, 2011 by renee

[Pride 0]

Lets hope there are no nests with no eggs soon.

[renee 0]

Lets hope there are no nests with no eggs soon.

 

Thank you Pride.

 

Although I am already thinking of making a few changes ... as you do.

 

Magic, my Sky Dommie Pied boy has developed a brown cere ... not good at all. His nubile cobalt hen is sitting on 4 eggs but I reckon they're clear. Pity as he was a sure thing .... a rarity in BudgieLand.

 

2 of my Grey Spangle hens have gone rapidly out of condition to the point that I will be waiting for them to stop laying and check for fertility before moving the eggs, or chicks - depending on circumstances.

 

And then there are some pairings I am having second doubts about.

 

But I will not be making any changes till next Monday.

[Pride 0]

What does the brown cere on the cock mean.

[renee 0]

What does the brown cere on the cock mean.

 

It's an indicator of a hormonal imbalance and means that his fertility has been affected.

 

Basically his breeding days are over ...... unless someone knows how to rectify this????

 

Come Monday I will once again check the eggs his hen is on and then give her one of my Back-up cock birds to bond with in a holding cage for a few days before putting them down again.

[renee 0]

Just done another quick egg check and ..... drumroll .... No more empty nests!

 

Fertility is improving as more fertile eggs begin to show but no stats as I didn't take any notes today.

 

My time has been consumed with completing a full seed change of all seed hoppers with a 50:50 mix of Golden Cob Supreme Budgie Mix and the seed combo I have been using to date.

 

The Golden Cob seed boasts added Vitamins A, D3 & E as well as Vegetable Oil? Interesting as it used to be Cod Liver Oil. But doesn't exactly say in what quantities ...

 

In any case this does mean that I will no longer be giving the breeders Soluvet (vitamin supplement) in their water as I do believe that too much of anything is not a good idea.

 

Likewise today I began adding the Muscle XL powder to the SoftFood and as it contains a lot of amino acids I will be scrutinising all water supplements (such as Tracemin or Moulting Aid) before adding.

 

Now ideally I would have begun with the Golden Cob seed and Muscle XL when I put the budgies in the holding cages or by the very least a fortnight ago when they went into the Breeder Cabinets .... but this was not logistically possible.

 

C'est la vie.

[**KAZ** 0]

 

 

It's an indicator of a hormonal imbalance and means that his fertility has been affected.

 

Basically his breeding days are over ...... unless someone knows how to rectify this????

 

 

Read this Renee http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=28026&view=findpost&p=338980&hl=aquarius&fromsearch=1

[renee 0]

It's an indicator of a hormonal imbalance and means that his fertility has been affected.

 

Basically his breeding days are over ...... unless someone knows how to rectify this????

 

 

Read this Renee http://forums.budgie...us&fromsearch=1

 

Thank you Kaz.

 

I always give my breeders Iodine in the water but I haven't tried putting it on the preening gland so I'll give it a go as of next week and see what happens.

[Pride 0]

Good news about the no more empty nests.

[renee 0]

Good news about the no more empty nests.

 

 

 

I spoke too soon, there is still one .... this is what happens when you don't take notes

 

Fertile egg count is up to 21 but technically that is really 17 as I am pretty certain that 4 are addled. Interestingly they are in nests where the cock birds do not visit. More than any other year I have cock birds in the nest box with hens, last count 13!!!

 

The egg count as of today is 131. However, still to be confirmed but I think 24 are clear and come from 7 nests of which 3 are magenta rung/ maiden cock birds.

 

12 nests are still with 2 eggs.

 

I've already decided to pull Magic tomorrow and put another pair down: a lovely Light Green Spangle hen I got off Gary Armstrong recently and a big Green boy. I had thought of putting the hen to someone else but they physically compliment each other and have bonded and she is so fricken feral I need to put her down before she maims any of the other hens. She is the kind of hen that if I introduce her to someone she doesn't fancy she'll snap his head of in an instant .... a risk I am not prepared to take. I bet she'll be a finger chewer as well.

 

Magic's hen will go into a holding cage for a few days. I was going to put her to Sky boy I have in the holding cage but may instead put her to my magenta rung Recessive Pied boy.

 

this boy

 

His hen, @##$$%%$%!!!, insists on laying an egg and then carefully rolling out of the nest box .... and frankly he is too good a bird to mess around with a tricky hen.

 

Medusa is on 2 eggs of her own and a falsie. The 2 eggs I fostered are clear and I have a sinking feeling that the 2 she's on are also clear as well but I won't make a decision about this pairing till towards the end of the week.

 

My lovely Green hen is also on 2 eggs and I also think they are clear but ditto as above.

 

The other "sweet talker", a tailless Green boy (lovely blow) is with a Recessive Pied hen and she too is on 2 eggs that I suspect are clear as well.

[renee 0]

Well I was feeling pretty despondent today about all the clear eggs. This is the first year that I have faced this problem on this scale. So I had a chat with a couple of experienced breeders whose opinions I respect and that has put things in perspective.

 

 

The crux of the matter is that of the 74 birds I have down breeding, 33 are maiden cock and hens - almost 50%. With the exception of 2 nests the newbies are with an experienced mate which I had hoped would mitigate this, but it appears that that is not always the case.

 

So basically I am not going to stress any more and just go chucking the clear ones until these newbies get the hang of things.

[splat 0]

Sorry about your clear rounds. I have had it been there and done that. And it is so disappointing.

This year I made up my mind that I wasn't using young cocks until they are around 18 months because

I find them a pain very in mature. But I still use young hens with Experienced cocks.

My fertility has been great.

[renee 0]

Sorry about your clear rounds. I have had it been there and done that. And it is so disappointing.

This year I made up my mind that I wasn't using young cocks until they are around 18 months because

I find them a pain very in mature. But I still use young hens with Experienced cocks.

My fertility has been great.

 

Well that's what I thought Splat, maiden cock birds!!! But it ain't so in this case -

 

Of the maidens only 12 are first-timer cocks and even then only 7 are 2011 (magenta rung) 12 months old. Of those 7, 4 have produced fertile eggs. .... so it ain't those cock birds really.

 

No, what I was told is that the maiden hens can be pretty clueless and require a bit of patience too.

 

 

 

[renee 0]

I did a proper egg count today and reassessed a couple of nests (revising the number of fertile eggs down) and also made some more pairing changes.

 

 

ALBINOS - 6 pairings: 3 split Grey / 3 DF Albinos

wed 25th 19 eggs / 5 Fertile

tue 30th 27 eggs / 2 Fertile

At this stage I am a bit disappointed but to be fair in 3 of the nests the hens only started laying last week and the fertile eggs that are beginning to show (in 2 nests) are in large 6+eggs nests. So I remain hopeful.

BLUE NORMALS - 4 pairings

wed 25th 19 eggs / 8 Fertile

tue 30th 24 eggs / 11 Fertile

This is a bit more like it!

DOMINANT PIED BLUE - 2 pairings

wed 25th 6 eggs

tue 30th 13 eggs / 4 Fertile

Another wait and see scenario.

DOMINANT PIED GREEN - 4 pairings: 2 Greygreen / 2 Green Split Blue

wed 25th 6 eggs / 1 Fertile

tue 30th 12 eggs / 4 Fertile

Yet Another wait and see scenario.

 

DOUBLE FACTOR WHITE - 3 pairings

wed 25th 5 eggs

tue 30th 14 eggs / 1 Fertile

This is not good. I have a couple of hens on doxy right now so they can be swapped if required in about 10 days time. In the meantime I will just removed the clear eggs and keep my fingers crossed.

 

 

 

DOUBLE FACTOR YELLOW - 4 pairings

wed 25th 6 eggs / 1 Fertile

tue 30th 16 eggs / 3 Fertile

1 Fertile nest and 3 nests with 3 eggs ... I am hoping to see fertile eggs soon.

 

GREEN NORMALS - 4 pairings: 3 DF Green/ 1 Green Split Blue

wed 25th 5 eggs 1 nest Clear?

tue 30th 16 eggs / 2 Fertile

Again my fingers are crossed.

LUTINOS - 2 pairings: 1 Split Green / 1 DF Lutino

wed 25th 8 eggs / 1 Fertile

tue 30th 9 eggs / 4 Fertile

I just can't seem to get excited about my Lutes ....

 

OPALINES - 2 pairings: Green Spangle / Split Grey Blue

tue 30th new nests

 

 

RECESSIVE PIEDS - 6 pairings: 3 Splits / 3 DF RP

wed 25th 14 eggs / 4 Fertile

tue 30th 18 eggs / 3 Fertile

A nest I thought was full of fertile eggs now look totally addled .... I have grave doubts about my top pairings .... I get a migraine every time I think of it all and have decided to give these guys 10 days before I make definitive changes.

 

 

 

New Pairings-

So in effect I pulled a Lute/Lute pairing and put down a big Green Normal boy to the feral Light Green Opaline Spange. I will use the cocks split Opaline progeny towards improving my Lutes next year, the Normal hens in my Green line and the Green Spangles towards my DF Yellow line. Well. that's the plan!

 

 

 

Magic, my lovely Sky Dommie Pied cock and his Cobalt hen are also in the Holding cages now (I have separated cocks and hens) and I put a lovely Sky Violet split Opaline cock down to a Normal Grey hen. This is a purely physical pairing, ie. based on visual features; not with any particular breeding plan in place. I suppose if they click their progeny will end up in the Dommie Pied line as I prefer to cross Double Factor Greys into my Albino line.

 

 

 

I had considered putting Magic's hen to another back-up Blue boy (I have a couple) but the Sky boy I favoured for her is not in prime condition. I may do that down the track.

Edited August 30, 2011 by renee

[Pride 0]

a shame about the infertility but some fertile are better than none.

[renee 0]

a shame about the infertility but some fertile are better than none.

 

 

Well said Pride.

 

Yes it is a sorry state of affairs when I find myself getting excited about an approaching 50% fertility in one of the varieties ....

 

But I can't help thinking I only have myself to blame for not checking those vent feathers. Interestingly I did check all hens last week and except for 2 they were as bald as the proverbial egg.

 

 

[splat 0]

Things should improve now Renee I think.