Norm

Not all Elly just some.

Here are some pictures of the one & only chick that I got from that Sky Blue Opaline hen & the Green Spangle Opaline cock, before she died. He has a dirty tail, as he loves playing around near the water. As with others I have bred from "improved" show type birds it was very slow in flying, it has just now got up to the perch, but is not a good flyer. Here's a picture I found that illustrates what I have noticed when visiting some show breeders of late. Note that a good percentage of the birds are on the floor & they are not feeding. This to me seems to happen when you breed for directional feather & birds with long "fluffy" feathers. The feather quality has deteriorated so that the birds have trouble with flying & some can't fly at all. This I think is what will stop me going into showing birds again, as the "ideal" seems now to not be obtainable without the birds suffering like this. If selection was more rigid & wasn't only for traits that win on the show bench, maybe it could be done. The problem is that a bird on the show bench can't be judged as to whether it can fly or not.

My pair of TCB’s eventually hatched 7 chicks, not bad even if they are Brother & Sister. I supplied their ring numbers to the guy I bought them off, so he could check out their pedigrees, but so far no word from him. He told me he hasn’t had a fertile egg from his TCB’s this year as yet, so mine aren’t doing too bad. My other pair of TCB to Opaline hen still had 5 chicks in the nest after the two oldest were fostered out, to make it easy for them. They were going real good, they were nice almost fully feathered, when I checked them two days ago only to find that they all had been feather plucked. I had nowhere to foster them & they were probably too old for that anyway, so they are out on the floor of the cabinet. I hope they will be okay, as I have been removing chicks pretty soon after they left the nest of late, after I had a few cocks attack them. This hen has been bred before without any problems like this & this is her second round without trouble, this year, of course it may be the cock, but mostly I put it down to hens. Some think it’s inherited others think it’s a deficiency, but I’m just starting to think I wonder if it’s too stimulating food, maybe they want to lay again & want to get rid of the chicks? As in the wild if they did this, their line wouldn’t last too long. But in the wild food would be more scarce & harder to find & take more time & take more out of the birds. So I’m guessing they wouldn’t lay as quick as in the domestication.

Hi & welcome to the forum.

I’m the wrong sex to advise you on pregnancy Zebra, but like Denise says the baby will take what it wants from your body, which may not be good, as it can mine even your bones for what it wants. I would eat what you want, as best you can, hopefully things will improve, as hopefully things like morning sickness go away with time. If you like Raspberries if I were you I would eat Raspberries, they are pretty healthy type things to eat & will have lots of mineral & vitamins & small amounts of other things. Better to eat what you can than nothing or very little…best of luck.

She looks like a Dominant Pied Sky Blue. Welcome to the forum.

I don’t know where your post has been Shell, as I have been on here every day & this is the first time I have seen your post. That second photo of yours looks like it may have more than FM. It has signs that it could be what’s called a Feather Duster too; it seems to have extra long feathers. These type birds definitely don’t live long, most of the FM I have had don’t seem unhealthy in any other way & have lived a long time. I notice you have read my post on FM so I can’t tell you much more. Most birds are suppose to get immune after at least 12 months, so you must still have a bird that is a carrier.

Your Jack Russell type dog should be good for catching mice if you encourage [him or her can’t remember]…sometimes Sunflower seeds or Pumpkin seeds can stay in traps better than cheese, or tie the bait with cotton, but it’s lots of work if you have to do it every day.

No problems.

It’s always a good idea to keep plenty of nesting material, either wood shavings, sawdust etc, as it helps absorb the droppings & keeps the nest dry & gives the chick something to hold on to with it’s feet to prevent splayed legs. Even if the hen throws it out, it’s best to add it when the first chick hatches & then normally they wont throw it out so much.

Hi welcome Kate & the Gang.

Yes I too agree with Sailorwolf that it is a hen & she is right on the colour also.

I don’t know what their normal temperature is Kaz, but it’s certainly warmer than human temperature. [birds in general] It will be interesting to see what you find out.

Mice are certainly a problem Zebra, but as you have found something that’s not that easy to solve. Man has been fighting mice since the beginning of time & still the mouse is doing well. I don’t think you can think to kindly about them, as I have know some people that don’t want to kill them & trap them only to let them out somewhere else where they become a problem for others. I have found that if you have birds you will have mice & if you don’t keep on top of them, they will take over the place. I think they sure do spread disease & even can foul the birds feed with their dropping & urine, which can be toxic to birds. Don’t let them get you down too much, but continue to keep controlling them, as even if you do you wont get rid of them completely, but at least you will keep it bearable.

I think Lucy said that the hen has red eyes Kaz, so I think what you are saying about the marks on the wing, are just ruffled feathers, not Cinnamon markings [but I could be wrong]. And Lutinos certainly can have Green suffusion. Lucy like Kaz says that first chick certainly looks like it’s carrying Recessive Pied & looks like it will be a Green Normal & the second chick looks like a Dominant Pied. Like Kaz said to have a Dominant Pied one parent has to be Dominant, so Mum must be masking Dominant Pied under her Lutino…genetically she must be Dominant Pied but the lack of pigment in a Lutino is covering that up. The third chick is also Pied & like Kaz says there are signs that it could be Cinnamon, a bit more time will prove it. So that means Mum is Lutino, but also Dominant Pied, both Mum & Dad must be split for Recessive Pied & if that chick is Cinnamon, it means Dad is split for Cinnamon & the chick will be female. As others have said, don’t trust the fidelity of hens in an aviary…that’s one of the problems with colony breeding…hen are not opposed to a bit on the side to mix the genetics… I know what you mean Macka...but be kind...(Laughing out loud).

Good luck with the aviary, will be good to see the photos…maybe the brother heard he was going to be put to work…(Laughing out loud).

Definitely dramatic feather loss Kaz, luckily I haven’t experienced one like that. I will remember that about the temperature, next time, as I haven’t noticed anything like that. Are you sure it’s not because of so much feather loss, that the birds can’t control it’s temperature & because of almost no feathers maybe it would feel hotter, as no feathers to retain some of the body temp? I have had the same experience with it, some birds in the same batch have no effect, while others have the feather loss, I’m guessing it’s something due to differing immune responses. Also I notice it retains quite a lot of down feathers; you would think they would get affected too. In feather plucking I seem to notice that they also pluck the down.

Update on my TCB’s…the pair of two TCB’s have now hatched 6 chicks 2 are Lutinos, the rest hopefully TCB’s. My first hen TCB has left the nest, hopefully some photos soon. It seems to have Green suffusion through it’s body colour, but I’m not hoping for perfection yet, just some TCB’s.

I had a my first case of savage hen syndrome…I haven’t seen that before, the hen was one I bred & she was mated with the only cock that has so far been fertile from the 3 I bought from the bird sale in June. Previously they seemed to be getting one real well. They had already had one batch of about six chicks & I think now she has eight hatched [maybe that’s why she got mad]. Yesterday I just noticed her chasing him from one end of the cabinet to the other & he was getting stressed & I don’t want to loose him, so I have removed him. I don’t know what to do, as I only have a few batches & most have large numbers of chicks, I have put him in an empty cabinet, maybe I will try him with some of the larger chicks.

There seems to be lots of different levels of FM. I think I have been lucky, as I only have had a few cases, in some nests. Some have recovered what looks like almost back to normal others keep getting feathers which fall out again & others have lost their tail & wing feathers & never seem to get them back. My theory is that it's probably at what stage they get the virus determines the extent of the damage to the feather follicles. Of course different levels of immunity may come into to it to. I have read that there are different levels of infection too, even to the level that eggs don't hatch & chicks just die. This is just my idea again, but I think maybe it's good to have a low level infection, as it may immunise them against the more deadly types. I read as I think I say in my article that started this post, that the experts say that once you get the virus it's infective of 100% birds, but most birds are immune & then most after some months, from 4 to 12 months become immune, but a few remain carriers. You have to be careful with the article on the net, as it seems to me that many are written by bird keepers & many have their theories, many of which are pretty old fashioned, I think it's better to take notice of the more resent articles by trained people that say it's a virus of course maybe they still don't have all the answers. I have never had bird’s loose body or head feathers Kaz, but maybe it can happen, or maybe it could be a combination of FM & plucking.

You can of course pull one or two feathers at a time over a week or more. Of course it probably has some pain for the bird, but then the feathers will be replaced in approximately two weeks. I also think it’s a Fallow.

I have a few paries of Cockatiels in each aviary with my Budgies & mostly it seems okay, but I have learnt from bitter experience that it is a risk to let them breed. I had a few aviaries with one pair of Budgie & One pair of Cockatiels & it went okay, but then I had one pair in an aviary with quite a few Budgies & when the first baby Cockatiel left the nest, it was attacked so bad that I removed the pair & babies, to another cage by themselves, but the baby was so injured it died. Then the other day I had a pair with young just leaving the nest & there were two baby Budgies just a couple of week old in the aviary even they attached & killed one baby. I can’t see that the number of bird has any difference [she might have wanted to seel you more Cockatiels] but breeding together, definitely not.

I don’t like those panic-stricken hens Kaz, I haven’t had anything as wild as your experience though, mostly I’m sending mad hens like that off to the pet shop. One of the hazards of buying from pet shops..(Laughing out loud).

Your hen is a Lutino & I think your cock is a Yellow Faced Blue type 2. You wont get any birds that look like Mum unless the father is carrying the Lutino factor in what is called the split form [one of his parents were Lutinos]. You will mostly likely get birds that look marked in the same way as the father, which is called Normal, but unless the mother is split for Blue they will all be Green birds.

Now that could be a difficult question…he looks like a Dilute, maybe a Black Eyed Self. Dilutes are Recessive, so if she isn’t carrying Dilute, you will only get chicks that are split for Dilute. Lacewing is sex linked, so unless he is split for it you would only get male chicks split for Lacewing. The same goes for the Red Eye factor. If he is not split for Blue I would only be game to say …some Green Birds…(Laughing out loud).