Dave_McMinn

Some birds pairs for life - none of the one I have dated though!!!

Have a heart - put them down to breed!!!!!!!!

The cock is grey green, so he carries the blue factor in him with the grey. I think there is some confusion here on the blue or grey gene. If the cock is is greygreen, he is not split blue. Do not work on the assumption that you will get blues from a grey. That is not correct.

love the babies, keep the pics coming

Hard to determine cost as you have to factor in the shed, the slab it is sitting on, all the cages inside, all the little things you need to purchase.Too depressing to add it all up - I look forward to seeing the thread on your setup Splat

Some new Enjoy. And the hen who had an infected leg is going great!!!

I will buy some more breeding cages this week. Still only four pairs down in the new breeding shed, but all have been checking out the nestboxes, which I am very pleased with. Only yet to see Pair One not engage in the bonded feeding and preening, but I do not stand in there watching, so chances are it is happening. Doing little things for the breeding shed as I go along. Put eye bolts and hooks on the doors so they can stay hooked open so the wind does not blow them closed, scaring the birds inside. I also bought a solar light that will charge during the day and run down over a 3 hour period at night. I will put this up tomorrow afternoon. I bought a whirleybird to put on the roof to let any hot air out that is accumulating on the roof. I will attach this either this week or the coming weekend. I bought some flyscreen frames, some mesh and the required components to make flyscreen doors. at the moment I am simply using the bird mesh that I used to hang over the birds when they were under the awning. New pairs to go in soon.

DO NOT name the breeder on here. If you do, you are leaving yourself open to possible defamation charges. Have your conversation in a pm if you like, but DO NOT publicly state the name. Ratzy, I think you need to be careful what you ask for on here.

Dad looks like a normal. Mum definitely looks like a pied. Does Dad have a spot on his head?

Colour wise: Yellow face type 2 Mauve Spangle Dominant Pied Gender: Hen okay, so I say YF type 2 Mauve Dominant Pied Spangle. The YF has washed throughout the body giving the appearance of Dark Green, but chest definitely indicates mauve. No opaline due to strong head markings. Spangle as the flights and tail are all clear (they would be white but the yellow wash through the body from the YF). Dominant Pied due to the irregular mauve body colouring. I think there is an iris ring, so not a recessive pied. These are my thoughts.

Quarantine is important, as has been stated above. Pet shops will never tell you to quarantine as if they say the word then they have to explain about disease and it might "imply" their birds might have some type of illness and adversely affect their sale. Some breeders do not like the word as it upsets their ego, similar line to a petshop. Ultimately, it is necessary and to say anything different is simply wrong. I am pleased to hear that your birds are bonding Zigzagoon. We all learn a lot when we start out with a new hobby or adventure, so chalk this whole conversation up to a learning experience and enjoy your birds.

BAD!!!!!!!

the ones I currently have are the 73cm on a 3 tier stand. Do the 61cm ones come with 2 doors?

I was thinking of solar lights. That is my plan. Now breeding cages. Any links here appreciated. I check in on the birds morning and night, looking for any signs of getting ready to breed. Pair one is all over each other, preening and feeding, but no signs of anything more. Pairs two and three are still in the bonding stage. Pair four acted like they hated each other to start with. There were raised beaks and dominance of sitting positions. Today I went in and the hen had been in the nest box and had begun preparations by cleaning out wood shavings. A good sign.

There are a lot of old wives tales, told by a lot of old people at clubs. You need to take all advice you receive with a grain of salt, research it yourself, and determine the correct answer.

How many cabinets will you be running Dave ? At this stage there are 9 breeding cabinets, but I am hoping to get about 6 more, so 15 all up. It is about not overdoing it, plus ensuring there is room to put other things in there.

One day I will put one in a show cage and take it to my club and see what they think - damn novices

Time for a new breeding journal, and I have put 4 pairs down to start with. 3 pairs are from the Tonkin bloodline and 1 pair is a Kent bred spangle cock with a Cec Gearing bred DF spangle hen. All pairings were recommended by the breeder I purchased the birds from. Pair 1 Grey cock paired to a YF Grey Hen Pair 2 GreyGreen Cock to a DF Yellow Spangle Hen Pair 3 GreyGreen Cinnamon Cock to an Opaline GreyGreen Dommie Pied Hen Pair 3 GreyGreen Spangle Cock (Kent bred) to a DF Yellow Spangle Hen (Cec Gearing Bred) So this is the start to my breeding season. More pairs to go down soon, and new breeding cabinets to be purchased -

Flights still not back I notice

It is very roomy inside indeed, however air ciruclation is of course a problem. A whirlybird on the roof may be the answer, or multiple vents may suffice

After all the work you have put in, it hardly seems fair. Chin up buddy, I am sure your luck will change.

Thank you

Well, it is all done and ready to go. All up it has taken 8 days to assemble. Of these 8 days, we only worked on it for 3 hours the first day, then the rain hit, 6 days later we worked on it for 4 hours, and then 1 1/2 hours today. It is all done, finally. It is a nice looking shed with plenty of room. The height is the best bit - I can stand at any point in there and not hit my head. The skylight is a good idea and necessary to let some light in. Unfortunately due to the overhanging gables and a side fence, it does not sit perfectly on my slab. I have had to improvise a little at the moment and I will further extend my slab in 6-8 weeks, at the earliest. I am beginning to set up breeding cages and there are a pair in here dying to get into somewhere with a nestbox I will take more pics as I set it up more and put the birds in there

you are breeding some top hens at the moment. All bodes well for the future.

The shed is almost finished. A few bits of trimming to fix up, doors to put on & the I will move the shed into position. It is massive compared to my old breeding shed but it has been hard work. I will take in the morning. I am very excited about setting it up.