Dave_McMinn

I could not think of anything worse. No, if nibbler wants to make love to the cage and only the cage, then his line dies with him. he may be doing his own vesion of the darwin awards

Not sure how I fix that problem. maybe if I strap Talia to the cage, then nibbler would impregnate her. Yes, harsh, but no different than the fetrilisation process on many cattle studs - (Laughing out loud)

both sebby and milly sat straight away. Milly is an exceptionally good mother, and there will be no calls to DOC's regarding Sebby either. As for my singing, some may argue that the no singing in the shower is indeed a blessing, but i say that their inability to realise true talent is the problem. Of course, i would feel much more comfortable if they were not in my bathroom as I showered - (Laughing out loud)

I survived yr 7 camp, but let me just say that my throat is so gone, even singing in the shower is out - (Laughing out loud). Now, first eggs were laid on 6th February, so I am expecting first hatchings of eggs if fertile on 24th. That is right isn't it? 18 days for an egg to hatch once laid? I wish Angel would lay some eggs. Ah well, time will tell.

Well, I ahve been away for 3 days on a year 7 camp (the joys of teaching). thought I shoudl give you an update. Milly is sitting on somewhere between 3 and 4 eggs. All looks positive there. Sebby now has five eggs. Her cere is now pretty much white, meaning she is out of breeding condition, so I am not expecting anymore eggs from her. Angel and Hugo are still eggless, but I am thinking that Angel may lay any day now. They are doing everything right as far as I can see. Tralia and Nibbler seem to be getting on well. Nibbler, in my opinion, is getting far too much gratification from the cage front, rather than from Tralia. that birds is going to go blind - (Laughing out loud).

Great birds. nice to see you them - finally as I understand.

no no, no offense taken Looks good - good job

yes, sun down. the bars help frame the shot - that is my excuse and i am sticking with it!!!!!!1

Punter is a double factor dominant pied. They are all larger birds. You can see the size difference kaz in the photo with Romeo and Pegasis. Romeo is more the sleek slender pet type bird, whilst Peggi is the offspring of Milly and Zeus (RIP) and is a lrger bodied bird. As for the names, yes, I was a bit stuck when it came to naming them. Punter is a vibrant yellow and green, so he was named after the captain of the Aussie cricket team, Ricky Ponting, whose nickname is Punter. Slate was named after his colour, and not only do I love his colour, but he is a spangle and i need more psngles in my aviary. Norm is a my first TCB and is named after our very own poster on here Norm. Great looking bird. Large in size as well. Boof is my favourite colourwise of the new birds. Grey-green opaline spangle. He has such a "boofy" head, and it tied in with my cricket theme, tribute to Darren Lehman. Sunshine my lutino would be great to breed from, but I fear she may never breed. She whos little interest in others. She was originally paired with Zeus(RIP) but she showed no interest, thus Zeus was moved to Milly and the rest is history. The photo does not do her justice, but the little beuatiful one is exquisite looking. The yellow face on her electric blue body. She definitely has the violet gene. She is not dark enough for cobalt, and too "electric" for sky.

Thanks Kaz. Milly is a spectacular looking bird. She is a great hen, great mother, and even now, her youngest, the yellow face blue sits in the aviary and seems to call out for her. Milly was bought from the local pet shop by friends of mine as an aviary present. They knew nothing about birds, they just support a blue and white football team, thus they chose a blue bird. I do eagerly look forward to the outcome of this pairing. I have a feeling Humphrey maybe split of blue, so we will see what we get. Hugo is suprisingly large. I got him when he was a little guy, so he has grown, and I am not really sure I noticed it that much. I do hope he passes his size on to his offspring. the camera angle is also deceptive. Angel is hunched over a little whilst Hugo is stretching. I do look forward to the outcomes.

took this photo today. Thought it turned out really well. What do you all think?

Took some pics today so I thought i would add them here Norm Slate Boof Punter Sunshine Rome and Pegasis (had an injured foot) Princess and my little beautiful one

Thank you to all those that do read this post. no, I do not candle my eggs. I am scared that I will damage them. If they are born, then they are born. Nature's choice. I have taken some pics. Some are promising, couple wise, some show eggs, and some are jsut the Dad's waiting. I took some pics of the males with tails hanging out as i think this is kind of cute. very vulnerbale position i suppose. okay, Milly and Humprhey first. Four eggs, but Milly be the good mum she is will not move off them to let me take a photo, so I just left her as is and took the shot. next Sebby and Cheese - 4 eggs as clearly seen here in this photo Angel and hugo - I have seen them attempting to mate, Angel spends a lot of time in the box, and Hugo needs to be ever ready for feeding and preening lastly Tralia and Nibbler - shots may be a little blurry sorry. They are both very skittish, but they are beginning to preen each other, Nibbler is beginning to feed her, they have both been in the box, so there is hope. okay, so there you go

i will get new pics tomorrow afternoon

Ho hum, another update.... Sebby has now layed three eggs. I think Milly has too but she refuses to stand to give me a look. In the past, she has just played dead. i once lifted her up and looked underneath, kind of like getting eggs from a chicken. Since the breeding boxes are outside this time, i do not want to do that. Hugo and Angel are getting on very well. Angel has cleaned out the nest, they are preening each other, but when I saw them mating, he did not have his ablance down right. I am sure she will talk him through it. Nibbler and Tralia also appear to be getting on better. He is processding to feed her, when she allows it. Not sure who is the dominant one in that relationship, in fact, i am not sure they know - (Laughing out loud). Anyway, all looks good so far.

I was mentioning to Kaz how I was the only one reading or writing on this post. She posted the update line to solve this dilemma. Thus my reply.

no...woe is me

he looks tiny in that last photo you gave us doesn't he? How are they going?

Well the changes have been made. Angel is already checking out the nest boc, and demanding some food from Hugo. He seems willing to oblige. We will see how Nibbler and Tralia go. Funny as all the hens, except Tralia, have bred before. I am hoping based on a previous post to get some Violet and Muave spangles from Hugo and Angel. Might get some single and DF spangels? Could I get an albino girl? Tralia and Nibbler might also be interesting. Nibblers mother was a cinnamon, so he might be carrying a cinnamon gene, Tralia's mother being a spangle could give me spangles, and since her mother was Angel - an albino that might be split be masking mauve, it $ also possible to get some blue birds I figure. Hopefully her and Nibbler hit it off.

If the Albino gene can mask any other I am going to say that since a Grey-Green spangle can not mask the dominant pied gene, and the Albino gene can, then Angel is an Albino that is masking dominant pied mauve. interesting if this is right!

thanks Kaz. Funnily enough, my mother picked him out and bought him for me. She liked the look of him, and then decided to name him as well. Funny, as deep down she loves the birds, but will never admit it - (Laughing out loud)

not sure what they will look like. hugo is a Double Factor Dominant Pied Violet (maybe, a lot brighter than sky blue, and not cobalt, so i am saying violet, not sure, electic blue is the best way to describe it). Angel is an albino, but I am pretty sure she is maskign a mauve gene. She has was paired with a grey-green spangle and they produced a YFIImauve, a grey green spangle, and what it is pied, I think there are iris rings, so dominant grey green pied. Can the albino gene mask the pied gene?

Thanks for the reply Kaz. Nice to see someone is reading this. Some new pairs going in tomorrow as well. Hugo with Angel and previously Nibbler was with Sherbert Sherbert is going to be removed and Tralia is going to join young Nibbler

I suppose i am mainly updating this for my own records. Dave: hey dave, 2 eggs each in each nest box Dave: Cool. Each? Dave: Sebby and Milly both have 2 eggs each, not Sherbert Dave: You going to return her to the aviary? Dave: Yes, soon.

great shame