Dave_McMinn

I found those water containers a great source of amusement for my birds, who would swim and then poo in the containers, also sit on it and poo. I replaced the water containers with the guinea pig water dispensers - the ones with the ball bearings. There are some that you do not have to remove once they are attached, just open the top and pour in new water. My seed is dispensed the same as Kaz's

Nice looking bird

I understand what you are saying, and of course therefore what Macka is alluding to, but when a person is starting out breeding, it is important not to buy one bird here and one bird there. It is much better to get a few birds from the one breeder and seek to establish your own bloodline. I have previously purchased birds from this breeder, however I unfortuantely lost two hens, so these hens are replacements if you will. As for what a person should do, I suppose it comes down to who you want to believe. The more experienced breeders who "put you in your place" would actually go against the advice offered by other very experienced breeders such as Binks. All good breeders bring in outcrosses to add features to the stud, so you never know excatly what you are getting, and you never will until you have established your own bloodline, but from everything I have understood, when you are starting out, it is best to get birds from one or two main breeders. In regard to show birds, I am definitely in the novice class.

You need to keep a very good record of what birds bred to what birds and who was produced. Never allow father/daughter or mother/son pairs, uncles/nieces, aunts/nephews are okay. It is all about records and planning.

That is so good, all hens. Always pleasing when that happens.

Single factor YF2 If he was a double factor he would be white faced with no yellow diffiusion. He would be a blue looking bird.

Maybe it is just me, but you have not indicated that either of the birds were spangles, and yet the wing marking on these birds look very much spangles to me. Am I mistaken here? Hi Dave Just to follow up on your query of a few days ago. Having attended a show down here on Saturday I now believe the Cock bird who fathered these Chicks is a Double Factor Spangle and not a Blackeyed Yellow as I was led to believe. On the plus side I have had it confirmed he is a KK bird and apparently very fertile so that's good to know for the future. Thanks for pointing that out. Cheers Patrick Thanks for following it up and letting me know.

I will be very interested in seeing what colour that little one ends up being. Obviously blue based, due to the white feathers and cannot be grey. I am thinking sky blue dilute opaline

Normal babies that are split dilute.

i think you are right - Dilute dommie pied

Some good looking babies there

great pics I love the name Bean Bag - did she have this before or have you only named her recently?

In some ways you are right Macka, unless you actually know the breeder and talk with the breeder and actually take some interest in the breeder's birds. Of course, you do not know what I am thinking nor do you know what I have done, you once more presume you do. I suppose that is why you are the mysterious rude invisible posting guy with birds no one has ever seen. As always, your input is well....

I know the type of people you are talking about, and I have seen them far too often myself, but I pity the people that are like that. I do not want to be a part of a scene with people like that, and I refuse to play those games. I feel that if i start getting paranoid an acting as crazy as they do, then I have sunk to their level, and I deserve whatever happens to me. Do not sink to their level. If someone wants to buy a bird of mine, good on them. if they hunt around lookign for my culls, good on them. I shoudl eb flattered. If they take one of my birds and improve on it, good on them. Ultimaely, if I become like them, then shame on me.

Did I type something wrong here? "Up in lights"? What are you talking about?

I had already discussed my plans for these birds with Kaz, before Kaz had posted, to get her feedback, so Kaz thinks I should post my plans up here. I want to keep bloodlines together, so as I am doign with my Cec gearing bloodline, I am planning on keeping my Gregoriou bloodline together. I am thinking of putting the light green opaline hen with a normal green cock. I am looking at pairing the normal green hen with this cobalt opaline cock. I also have a greygreen cinnamon hen from this breeder who last time I out her down decided to eat a few eggs. Maybe she was not ready. Maybe I should try her again. Here she is with the opaline coablt cock I mentioned.

Wow... I know that people can be paranoid, but really, if itis someone you trust, then the other bits of advice are not needed. I know there are bad people out there and I know that not everyone can be trusted, but if I did not trust someone, I would not let them help me with a cull at all.

Pleased we can all help

We had a sale at my club tonight and I purchased 2 birds. Both are light green hens. 1 is an 07 normal hen. She will be ready to breed in a couple of months and is a good breeder. I also bought an 09 opaline light green hen. She is a nice looking bird. She was late 09. Some are a bit fuzzy but I will get better pics when I can. 07 hen 09 hen I already have some Greg Gregoriou bred cocks, so these hens will mean the bloodline should be maintained.

I woudl not worry about her "lunging" at dad/ Put plenty of seed in there for the birds to peck at, as well as some millet. Replace whatever lining you are using in the carboard container in the cage with seed. It will do the same job, but it will provide food for the young as well. Little Miss Independent will be fine on her own if she $ feeding herself. dad may still offer, and if she gets hungry, she might back down, but if she is feeding, all is good.

fresh on a tray with a little seed sprkinkled over the top to entice them.

Hard to tell from that photo. Need a bigger photo, a photo of his back as well. At this stage, I am guessing at a dilute. That is purely a guess. If you can provide some better pics we can all be more helpful. Sorry, best I can do.

if the father attacked, remove him. In my experience, the problem has been the mother more often than not. One solution is to get a small ice cream container, make a little door on one side, put it on the cage floor and treat it just like the nestbox, with flooring and the like. If Dad is still in the cage, he will go down and feed the little ones. Parents usually attack the young in the nestbox as they want them out of there so they can lay another round of eggs, thus why it is usually the mothers.

Nice pics GB

If you only got him 2 days ago, then he would not be used to you by now. He eats when he feels safe, so when he stops eating it is because he is nervous. You will notice that he will also stop chirping when he feels threatened. All of this is instinct. He will get used to you, so he will eventually eat when he is hungrya nd chirp when he sees you in excitement. When you are putting your hand there, try holding millet in your hand, so he learns to associate your hand with positives.