Norm

Yes that’s right Marlony, YF is recessive to Green, so if an YF is mated to a Green, unless the Green is split for Blue you wont get any visual YF’s. Mated to a Blue it will show up.

Hi Michelle. I just did a search on the web, which is a good idea if you want to find out about just about anything…I found out that a common name for that plant is “Dumb Cane” which I thought straight away didn’t sound good…. Look at this site it says it’s extremely poisonous to young children…so I wouldn’t let your bird near it if I were you. http://www.valentine.gr/dieffenbachia_en.htm

When you first start out with soft food, naturally they wont touch it that much, unless the person that bred them used it. At first just give a small quantity, a large pinch & always keep it fresh, remove old uneaten stuff. When your birds are not breeding you can just feed it a couple of days a week as others have said, but once I place the birds in a cage to breed, I feed a small amount as suggested, each day to build up the pair & encourage them to breed & I hope to improve their eggs. [Extra protein etc]. As the young hatch still give only a small amount, but if they hatch a large batch & as the young grow, I give larger amounts, you can if possible feed more than once a day, as fresh is best & I think it stimulates the parents to feed the young up more, any variety like green food, corn or other vegies does the same.

YF2 means Yellow Faced Type 2....& as Elly explains. And also thanks for following thru, with the later pictures makes it very intersting for us all.

Thanks Feathers, I saw your new birds very nice>

I bred some half siders in Masked African Lovebirds some years ago, about three I think, but they are such savage birds, that every time the young left the nest, other birds in the same avairy, killed them straight off. They must have noticed something different about them, or maybe they were slower than normals in getting out of the way. I was so dissapointed. Has anyone heard of whether anyone has been able to breed from them.

Not a problem guys, we are all learning. I looked at your other post Feathers & saw the answer to some of my questions. Good idea how your going to breed them, gives you some birds with different genetics to work with straight off. Do you know how close the two you bought are?

Don't worry Marlony I didn't take any offense from your remark. Just thought your trying to learn.

nice pictures...nice birds...Congratulations, I hope your successful with their babies.

I had a post some months ago, after I came to this forum, asking about these birds as I wanted to get some, but then people only spoke about DEC & DF Spangles, as if they were the only Yellow birds. I know they are not common, that’s a nice type bird Feathers, do you have more than the one bird…I started to get suspicious that you knew what colour that birds was & was just testing us, when you asked…any more guesses…(Laughing out loud). PS. I thought black Eyed Selfs had no wing markings.

Does Big Boy's back & tail show the typical Melanistic Spangle markings, as it's difficult to see in that picture?

If Dad is opaline, wouldn't you get all opaline hens? Yes your right...sorry about that.

Very interesting & very dark, like Feathers said, it will be interesting to see what they look like after their moult.

I wanted to show you this Cinnamon Grey cock I bred, from one of my best pairs. To me it looked strange; I think the reason is that it’s a very Buff bird. I started reading on sites about Buff & wondered what it was, as I had, had Budgies years ago & never heard about it. I knew from breeding Canaries what it maybe, as they always talk about Buff or Non Buff…or Intense or Non Intense…Yellow or Apricot. Mostly you pair one of each type together, not two the same, unless for some special reason, like increasing the bulk of feathers. In Budgies I have read, that by pairing Buff to Buff that’s when you have the chances of getting Feather Dusters. The two Grey Green birds pictured with this Cinnamon Grey are some of its brothers. I bred 13 birds from two batches, from the parents of these birds, only one or two turned out like this bird. It never seems to be tidy & never tight feathered & its feathers seem to damage very easy, especially its tail, as you might notice in this picture. It is just now into its first adult moult. I was at first worried about this bird, but it is a very active bird, despite its sloppy appearance. What are your thoughts on this bird thanks.

I wanted to share some of my new baby Pied Budgies, just put into the young bird aviary, I’m pretty happy with them. Their father is a Cinnamon Light Green Dominant Pied Recessive Pied or maybe split Recessive Pied. Paired with what I first thought was some type of Dilute Recessive Pied, she was to me unusual, that’s why I bought her, when I saw her in a pet shop. From breeding some other young ones from her & knowledge gained from seeing some other birds on this forum, I now know she is a YF2 Cinnamon Blue [or ParBlue] Recessive Pied. She is a very pale yellow mostly, with a stronger yellow face & just a couple of bits of coloured feathers, which I thought was Olive. From their first batch I got two Cinnamon Light Green cocks with yellow Pied patches on their head, one YF2 Sky Blue Cinnamon Cock & one Light Blue Recessive Pied cock, similar to the one pictured in this latest batch. Some pictures in various poses, there are three Recessive Greens, one is a paler Yellow, but not as pale as mum, maybe it’s an YF2 & one Blue Recessive Pied. Notice the Plum coloured eyes [redish] typical of Recessive Pieds.

Michelle...If you have a depression in the wood bottom of your box, that holds the eggs together I wouldn't worry so much, that will keep the eggs together & help the legs to not splay, when the chics hatch. That why lots of people put a depression in the bottom of the box, then you don't have to worry, but it might be good to add some shavings, once the chics hatch, a little at a time. She wont be so scared then also, as they become very protective of their young.

Yes I found out he is in fact split for Opaline, as he produced quite a few Opalines with that hen. I think more likely she is just poorly marked Marlony...I have some work ahead improving them. To get them to look like Karen & Kaz's birds [nice birds guys]. Anyway I'm happy to at least get that mutation, as a start.

Yeah great birds, our local club is having a sale in just over a week, I hope to get as lucky as you & pick up some nice birds.

My first thoughts are how did you get Bib Boy from those parents, he looks like a Cinnamon to me. His mother looks like DF Spangle to me, could she be masking Cinnamon? If she is masking Cinnamon & Dad is split for Cinnamon, you could have got a Cinnamon cock. Also where did the Pied come from, unless his mother was masking Dominant Pied also, or both parents Recessive pied? But he looks more like Domiant Pied, to me. I think White birds even DF Spangles can mask lots of things. Also if Big Boys Mum is DF Spangle & Dad is a Spangle [which I think, I may be wrong] shouldn’t Big Boy be a Spangle? Nerwen can you explain what you mean by the ’odd’ Spangle family, I’m not sure I know what that is? I agree with Nerwen, Blues & Greys & if Big Boy is Cinnamon, Cinnamon hens, & if he’s Spangle, Spangles also. Dominant Pieds & if Big Boy is split for Opaline, which seems very common these days, some Opalines of both sexes. And of course any Recessive traits both may be carrying [split] surprises.

I have a thought that you can have a bird that is Dominant pied & Recessive pied at the same time [visual] but it would be hard to tell which markings were because it was dominant & which from the Recessive. E.g. like you can have an Opaline Recessive Pied. Or an Opaline, Spangle, Pied. There are many visual combinations. Being split for Recessive wouldn't change his eye colour. My thoughts also are that eye colour can be different on any pied, the same way that they have different areas on the body, different colours, when this occurs in the eye area they can differ.

Thanks guys…I have only seen Lacewings with normal markings, thanks for that picture Karen, sure looks similar, maybe mine isn’t so well marked, so has some weak patches in the markings, I was interested in getting some Lacewings, so that’s good, I hope I have some other splits of some interesting other mutations I would like. Fingers crossed.

Mostly Green babies in light & dark shades, unless they are both split for Blue. Some Opaline hens. If the cock is split for Cinnamon, some Cinnamon hens & if split for Ino some Ino hens, then if both are split for some Recessive traits, some surprises.

Like Feathers says Michelle, try some nesting material even now, that she has eggs, mostly once they have started laying eggs, they mostly wont throw it out again, it’s just their way of getting the nest container ready for breeding. When the egg arrives she goes into a different situation. If she still removes it try it again after the first chic hatches, as Feathers says it’s very important then, as if the chics legs slip all the time from under them they can end up with splayed legs & are almost useless unless corrected, early. Budgies will not take any material into the nest themselves like many other birds, as that isn’t their nature. Use coarse sawdust, wood shavings, or I even use coarse river sand.

I would think Karen that you could get young, Greens, Greys & if the father is split for Blue some blues. He looks like a dominant pied, so pieds of any colour, if the cock is split for Opaline, some Opalines of both sexes. If the father is also split for Ino either some Lutino or Albino hens. And if they are both split for some recessive traits some of them also. Good luck.

What you did seems to have worked Kaz, in the same situation, I was going to say if the young were feathered enough to keep them warm, I would have taken the mother out & let Dad do the job.