Dave_McMinn

Welcome back Daz. Nice looking birds. I cannot wait to see more pics. I love the Spangle - nice dark wings markings,

Give it time. You are well on your way JimmyBanks.

Isn't it funny how things can get out of hand or be misinterpreted. I understand that Kaz was joking and I do understand what Chrissy is saying. Instead of writing essays justifying responses, perhaps we can all use emoticons more? And anyone who knows me, knows I hate those things - LOL!!!

hate to tell you this, but when you get a whiter shade of pale chick, it usually means that they are not healthy. Most do not survive. Some do. I had a year where 4 died, and yet one remarkably survived. There is not much you can do but hope that the little pale one survives.

Sad to lose such a great mother.

How old are all these birds? I am assuming that these are pics from when they were younger? I am not sure that all the genders are right. Might be the shots.

Really? Dodgy bros actually exists? how unfortuante. Back in the early 90's there was a tv show called Fast Forward. This was when the original cast did the show. Steve Vizard, Peter Moon, Magda Zbanski, etc. Anyway, one skit was with these guys called Dodgy Brothers. They used to come up with the crappest inventions, and try to promote their stuff as being the "newset best thing out there". For a few of us, whenever we looked at somethign ****, we would always say it came straight from the Dodgy Brothers. So to me, Dodgy Bro.'s means bad or mixed bloodlines. How funny that they are actual breeders!?!?!?!?!

You know when you are in the aviary cleaning, and you look at a bird who just doesn't look right? You are almost able to catch him/her bare handed? You think "that bird needs some TLC"? Well, that happened the other day with Boof. I caught him and put him in a hospital cage. He was a bit fluffed up, thin and not happy. Well, he is doing well, destroying the paper on the bottom of the cage, running amok, throwing all seed out of dishes, not fluffed up anymore, calling out to other birds, in fact, he may go back in the aviary in a day or two. I thought I would take some pics of him perching nicely, and a small vid of him running amok. Video

very nice birds Kaz. All mine have the bloodlines mentioned above the first one - LOL

thanks for all that Elly. Just on the opaline thing, you said for pair 4, that the cocks would only be split opaline if the hen was cayying the opaline gene. Well, isn't opaline a sex-linked trait, so the hen cannot carry it, if she had it it would display. For the male to be opaline, then he has to have 2 opaline genes. If he had one, he would carry it and not display it. The cock is guaranteed to pass on his opaline gene to all young. The hen is not opaline, so she does not have it. That means that every young will have one opaline gene, thus the hens will appear opaline, but the cocks will not. Sad news as well. I went into the avairy this morning, and Big Bird was dead. He was eating off the ground yesterday, and with all the rain we have had, that is not a good thing to do. I am looking at more ways to weather-proof my aviary. I am considering who I will replace Big Bird with in the breeding structure. Maybe Hug - a DF violet pied. Not a big boofy bird, but very long. Might be a good quality to introduce into the mix.

Since I have purchased the majority of these birds, I do not know their histories, so it is impossible for me to predict exact outcomes of these pairings, as I do not know what each bird is split to. In saying that, some possible outcomes can be predicted. Pair 1 - Green Normal Cock to Cinnamon Wing Opaline Grey Normal Hen Outcome - Assuming that the birds are not split, all young will be grey greens. 50% of cocks will be split for cinnamon and split for opaline Pair 2 - Grey Normal Cock to Sky Blue Normal Hen Outcome - Assuming that the cock is not split, all young will be grey split to blue. Pair 3 - Opaline Grey Normal Cock to Sky Blue Yellow Face Type 1 Hen Outcome - Assuming that the cock is not split, all young will be grey. All hens will be opalines whilst cocks will be split to opaline. 50% of young will be Yellow face 1. Pair 4 - Opaline Grey Green Spangle Cock to Lutino Hen Outcome - i have no idea what the lutino could be hiding, so assuming she is not hiding anything major - 50% of young will be grey, 50% young will be green. Of all the young, 50% will be spangles. All hens will be opaline and cocks will be split -ino and split opaline. Pair 5 - Opaline Grey Green Spanlge cock to sky blue hen Outcome - 50% young grey, 50% young greens. All young split blue. All hens opaline, all cocks split opaline. 50% spangles. Pair 6 - Sky Blue Cock to Opaline Grey Hen Outcome - Assuming the hen is not split then all young will be grey. 50% of cocks will be split to opaline. Pair 7 - Green Normal cock to YF Grey Spangle Cinnamon Wing Opaline Spangle Outcome - Assuming the cock and hen are not split to anything, then all young will be Grey Green. 50% will be spangles. 50% of cocks will be split for opaline and cinnamon wing. Pair 8 - Double Factor Green Spangle Cock to Cinnamon Wing Grey Dominant Pied Hen Outcome - Assuming that the cock and hen are not aplit to anything then all young will be grey green spangles, 50% will be dominant pied, 50% of cocks will be split for cinnamon wing. Am I right in these predictions? A lot of grey greens to come from these pairs. Is that a good thing? Not know the splits will prove interesting.

I was meant to go to Perth last holidays but i slipped a disc very badly in my back and spent 2 weeks in bed at my parents as i couldn't care for myself. My trip is a post poned trip Neat - I am hoping to breed my first true show birds, which i will ring, and then i can assess where i am and what needs to specifically improve in them. I am not looking for a National champion, i am realistic. I just want to breed birds that are constantly improving in terms of size, feather quality, head shape, length, markings, etc.

For sure. I am not going to put any pairs down to breed until i get home form Perth

January will see breeding beginning at my place (for the birds people, keep it clean) and so I have been thinking about pairings. I am trying to avoid the opaline to opaline pairings, as I have been advised this is not good. I am trying to pair good birds to good birds, in regard to qualities as well as considering colour. This what I have so far: Wilde with Tia Oscar with Pegasis Earl and Aphrodite Boof and Sunshine Midori and Athena (blue hen in photo) Nibbler and Cino Humphrey and Kestral Big Bird and Kiwi Any thoughts, comments and feedback are welcome.

welcome to the world we live in

this is how urban myths start.

it is one of those green base/clear plastic bulbous head hanging things that you use for water. Not an open dish. What do people here use for water dispensers?

okay, so in a nutshell, what is the best way to treat this? I also have a hanging water dispenser in my aviary. The birds swim in it and drink from it. It is alwasy going to end up with some fecal matter in it. should I remove it all together? What is the best way to have water avaialble then?

Now I know the camera angle helps, but he looks huge - LOL.

They are looking great Kaz.

Why did you put them in a breeding cage now? Are they in breeding condition? Have they shown any signs they may want to breed?

Now, from what I understand, a recessive pied is meant to have under 25% of its body colour dark. Is that right? So technically, the one with the fewest markings is better in terms of show markings, though maybe not size, etc.?

Photo of the month contest beckons. I love the one with the 2 chicks squashed in to the seed container together

And yet I know of a pet store of a large chain that is no longer allowed to keep birds as they were told that "there was not enough air circulation where the birds were". Personally I say this is not the real reason, but it does make me glad that they no longer sell birds if there was a problme, though I do nto know what the problem was as it looked alright to me, and I even have a bird from there.

bad luck for him, great fortune for you. Always good when you can benefit from a Cec Gearing mistake. I figure that he and his wife make so few. My club is having a presentation at our next meeting (friday) from the club president who went to the Gearings aviaries a few months ago. Might be a nice preview for January - LOL. Looking forward to seeing the chicks feather up. Good to see some large recessive pieds