splat

My plan is working well, my first 2 years were more of learning and mucking around but last year and this year have set myself a plan. I can see from when I started to now, each year there has been a great improvement on the quality of birds that I have bred but still there is so muh more to learn and do.

There is more chick deaths over winter , when did you start your breeding for this year 2009?

That's Great Liv, have you got the bug now :sadsorry:

That is beautiful Daz :angel1:

That won't work here :fear

Here are a couple more pair I have put down This grey opaline is out of a 100% Henry George bird 50% H George and 50% Ray Wilson, he has a lovely head and plenty of feather The Dark Green Opaline Spangle and grey green opaline cinnamon. The cock bird is Ray Wilson and the hen has half Ray wilson so I am keen to see what comes out of them, hoping for some nice cinnamon opalines.

Hi Jenene good to see you back, hope your breeding goes well, look forward to seeing some pics of your pairs. :fear

She is lovely and I agree with sky YF OP Spangle :fear

:fear

One of the reasons the husbands try and get out of coming to an auction if they can And why my hubby thinks if he sits on the money somehow it won't get spent! :fear

This is a really informative post and yes Heath I am changing the way I look at flecking.

I wish I could do that

Thanks Liv, I am really happy with the light green as I have no light green birds at this stage but I wish he was a hen. And the sky will go lovely with my sky hen who has lovely width of face will post picture soon. I want a line of skys and Lt green and Dark geens

okay great point Heath, might look at it in a different prospective now as we are all trying to improve, my point was I was scared it would take over but it sounds like it won't because up till now have culled any thing that throughs heavy flecking and their young. So even this post is a learning point for me.

So Macka are you for it or against it.

That's my viw to Renee nut like Dz and Heath and both said if the bird is excellent in every other you would have to use and I do agree with that but there should be no plce on the show bench for such a bird. Well you have proved that not all young will be flecked but it still probably carried the gene, How heavy flecking are the parents Daz?

Gosh I know I am going to cop it for saying all this but this is how I feel and at this stage what I believe. Every breeder is different and have their own ideas and I probably am wrong as I am only a beginner but Greg has been breeding Budgies for 38yrs and he has seen all the changes and he also thinks the flecking taken off the show bench. But your last baby picture hasn't gone through the moult yet Daz. There are all sorts of debate over this, I know if A bird is so good in every other way most people breeders show and use that bird in their breeding. But I think it looks horriable and I am trying to keep it out of my birds. I do have some mild flecking which I don't really like. There has been a lot metioned about this and there are people out there including myself that say when a bird with heavy flecking are shown a judge should disqualify them and that will help to eliminate them from the shows because while the judges pick them to win and they do win even at National level breederes will continue to use them in their breeding programs. I know they are excellent birds but once that flecking is in it is hard to get out.

That is really horriable

Thanks Daz I will SWOT them now. Great advice thanks heaps DazS - Strengths W - WeaknessO - Opertunities T - ThreatsStrengths and Weakness's are obvious but Opertunities are things such as age, breeding condition, relationships to your existing birds. etc.Threats come with time. eg, Non breeder, Scalper, etc. You should also do this with your existing birds. Then cross your strengths against your weakness's. Eg if you have a cock that you have bought with a good brow and a hen in your flight with a good mask then that is a good start. Just make sure you don't cross two weaknesses togeather.Two strengths together is very good. It will help inforce that strength in the birds.The LT green 07 sky 08 pied 08The birds at the auction were 07 and 08 birds no old or uncapped birds allowed so that was good.Daz I did try to pick birds to completment my own,I chose large framed birds with length, strong shoulders, feather, good chest, width of face, long mask wide , steered away from birds with heavy flecking as I don't want that in my stud. All these things I chose were all in different birds not all in one, but I thought if I can get a couple with the features I was looking at it would be worth it.Any way still learning. Actually Heath I believe the birds I have at home are much better than some I seen there and what I bought home were not as good as mine but it was a good day.

Gee Heath that would be very exspensive lunch considering what they fetched. I was after features but most of what I picked out went for hundreds and hundreds of dollars. But the way I see it been my first time at a auction I say live and learn. But the best thing was when I got home Greg thought the birds I got were quite good, so I was happy with that. Macka I thought it was a great day and the auction was put on very well and the quality of the birds were really good only wish I had $900, to waste on a lobely big framed hen I had my eye on. Anyway she went for something like that price, Here are the birds Lt Green Alan Rowe bird wouldn't pearch enough for the picture but he is really much nicer than the picture and has heaps more head than he looks in the picture Sky blue Tonkin bird, Grey Pied J Ennis bird actually got him by mistake, he is small but quite typy Greg like the Lt Green the best.

It was Liv, very tied after it though because it is such a long trip . Pics coming

I guess I missed what ever was going on but Shannon Kaz does give good advice, good luck with your breeding.

I am back had a great day but very very long day and was so tied by the yime we got home, we left here at 5.30 am and arrived home at 6.30pm. It was an experienced, birds went mainly between $400 and $900 the occasional cheap one. Everything I picked out went over $500. I did get 4 birds, 2 Lt green cocks, 1 sky blue cock and 1 grey dom pied cock, notice they are all boys. But I do have heaps of hens here and not many cocks. One of the lt green cocks is a Ross Loat bird with 50% Sheppard/Flanagan nice bird nut I gave it to my friend who took me down because I think he was yellow face because he had a really dark mask which is good but I don't want yellow face popping up everywhere when not expected. Plus I asked the breeder about mixing him with what I have here and he said no he wouldn't mix. Anyway the other Lt green cock is a Alan Rowe bird and that is what I went down to get. Pics later.

Thanks Pearce, I have been getting a lecture on what to do all day off Greg god I wish he was coming because I just know I will bring home someting unsuitable :bluebudgie: But I am going to enjoy myself

He is my favorite too he is such a gentlemen :bluebudgie: No photos at the moment but soon