Sandy and Josh

Oh, okay.... Is that why she has that different color near the barring on the side of her neck? Is it still possible that we can get chicks of the dad's color if we let these 2 breed again or is she a certain color that will mask his color each time? I'd like to get more like him, so to do that, what color would I have to breed him to (other than another like him).....? Sandy

Hi Kaz, No wrong dad!!! :(Laughing out loud): Mum is a YF type 1 and the dad is a YF type 2 greywing dilute.... Here's a photo of them both.... This is a picture of dad before his first moult..... about 4 months old I think he was..... He's more like a lemon lime color now... By The Way, I really like your birds.... Shame you live on the other side of the country!!!

The parents of these chicks are the YF type1 & YF type 2 greywing dilute...???? How could that pair have a violet chick??? Sandy

Hi Everyone, At the moment all of my birds are in one big avairy. What I want to do is take either the non breeding hens or the non breeding cocks out and put them in another avairy by themselves. Some of the hens (like the one that is having trouble raising chicks) is a bit on the young side, so I thought they really need to be seperated where there is no boxes and temptation. At the moment I have more males than females so I didn't know which would be better to take out. If I leave the hens in with the breeding birds would they try to steal boxes/chicks.... or would I be better to take them out and leave all the boys in with the breeding birds? Thanks Sandy

Hi Julie, I haven't had much luck with the second pair's chicks unfortunately. The first chick that started to hatch, didn't get out of the egg, so when the second one started to hatch, I helped that one out.... That was just before lunch time. I checked on it just before it got dark and mum had been feeding it, but by the next morning it had died.... Well the third egg hatched on it's own but I put it under another hen, maybe it'll have more luck with her! Sandy

Hi Kaz, The third chick is definately blue... It was alway much darker than the other two chicks.... I was wondering what that lone feather on the back of the head was doing there... but I have no idea where the violet came from??? Here's another photo of the 3rd chick, you can see the blue feathers on the tail. Sandy

Hi Everyone, I just took some more photo's of the YF chicks and thought that you might all like to see how much they have grown. The eldest is the skyblue opaline, the second is what seems to be a violet cinnamon opaline???? Don't know where that came from!!! and the 3rd one is.... Well.... what do you think??? It's very dark compared to the other two chicks.... So I don't know, maybe a type 1 YF... Sandy 1st chick.... 2nd chick 3rd chick...?? All chicks together....

Hi guys, Can some one please show me a picture of a visual violet. I have been told they are rare is that true. thanks

Hi again, Here is a good shot. From left to right.... The Aust pied cock bird, then the violet and behind him is a cinnamon skyblue hen. The violet is somewhere inbetween I think. Sandy

HI kaz, So, violets can't be pastel, is that right??? I wouldn't have thought he was cinnamon as he doesn't have browny colors on the wings. They aren't black black.... more like a light black... The hen's rump spot is almost a cobalt blue that violet as well. Thanks Sandy

I know... Isn't it cute!! I was so excited when I peeked into the box. What colors could I expect from this pairing do you think? I know it's a bit of a guess as I don't know the parents of the parents, but I thought you'd have a better idea than me! Sandy Mum is a double factor dominant pied And dad is a pastel violet...

Well.... I know that this topic was about how the eggs weren't hatching... BUT! Now they are!! hehehe We got 3 chicks out of the first clutch and after more than 2 weeks with the other eggs, I decided to have a look and found 2 chicks, fully formed, but had died in the egg. I'm just wondering if it got too hot for them??? Anyway, I thought that I would send you all some photo's (taken today) of the 3 chicks, 1st chick, 3 weeks old today. Second chick and the third chick... Much darker than the other 2 at the same age. And this from the nest of the double factor pied?? and pastel violet cock bird, the first signs of life!! :(Laughing out loud):

The chick is a hen :bluebudgie: Hi Kaz, okay, learning opportunity here.... How can you tell??? Sandy

Hi Kaz, Do you mean the chick is a hen, or are you speaking of the mum?? I really look forward to my daily visits to the breeding boxes... :dbb1: They just grow so much everyday...!

Hi Again everyone, I took some photo's yesterday and thought that you may all like to see the progress of our first homebred chicks. The feathers are just starting to come through and it looks like it'll be a skyblue yellowface??? The other 2 chicks are 9 days behind the eldest so we will have to wait a little longer to see what color they will be. Talk soon Sandy Top view.... eldest chick All 3 chicks.

Really!! Where in the heck did that come from???? Maybe daddy's got it there somewhere??? Can opaline be a recessive gene (hidden) in either males or females? I can't wait to see what color they come out as.... hehehe Sandy p.s. I just thought..... The hen is a normal yellowface, (meaning the black over the mantle etc) but she has this little yellow dot at the back of the head, I remember someone saying that this is normally found in ??????? I can't remember now what was said, maybe Pieds ?????

This is the youngest hen in the avairy, but I do check on her every day. The last egg she laid was a bit bigger than the first 4. I do have another hen that seems to be on eggs that aren't going to hatch. Should I transfer the eggs to the older hen and see if they are fertile and take the young hen out of the avairy so that she can't breed anymore? I have been checking the chicks twice a day since the first one hatched and it has always had a good full crop. She never leaves the nest, daddy comes and feeds her. Today was the first time I've handled the chick as I didn't want to disrupt mum too much with her first clutch. Thanks for all of your advice Sandy

Hi Kaz, Yeah I thought she was a bit young. Should I leave her with the eggs or take her completely out of the avairy? Also, with the younger chicks, will they be okay with having a sibling so much bigger than them, will it take too much feed away from the younger ones? Sandy

Hi Everyone,I just thought that I would send you all an update....Well the first chick to hatch was on Mon the 17th and is just starting to get his pin feathers come through. After resigning myself that no more eggs were going to hatch, yesterday I went to check on the chick and low and behold.... another chick has hatched!!! hehehe 10 days after the first....This morning I went to check on the new addition, to make sure that mum hadn't forgotten him and what should I find.... but another chick!!! heheheSo we now have 3 chicks! I'm attaching a couple of pics for you enjoyment! :bluebudgie: Now for another question.... I have a hen that's layed 5 eggs... but they are small. This is her first clutch and she is about 11 months old going by my records. Do these eggs have a chance to hatch? They aren't clear eggs, they do have a yolk. She's just started to sit on them.ThanksSandy Oh, By The Way, The coloring that is coming through on the first chick, is this normal for a chick with 2 yellowhead parents??? Or has mummy been flirting without daddy's knowledge??? heheheSandy

I thought so too, but didn't know if that was normal or not! What color should it be and doesn't this look good? Sandy

Hi Everyone, Well I have news... We have our first chick! Here is a photo I took very quickly I just wanted to get the picture and go! Also I just took an updated photo of dad, he's changed a bit since the moult, and is now his adult color. I've named him Soda, as in lemon & lime soda! That's his color, lemon/lime! Enjoy the pics, Sandy Dad mum

I will check in the morning then I will let you all know how things went. This is all quite exciting.... This will be our first homebred chick! And one of my mares is expecting a foal in 4 weeks too! First foal born in 14 years.... It's been a long break for me, but I used that time to have my own babies... Thanks everyone, Sandy

Will do Kaz, I just didn't want to disturb them too much. Should I check to see if this chick has hatched in the morning or wait till the afternoon? Sandy

Hi Kaz, I did try to do it in the avairy but it was too bright and couldn't see anything. Josh stayed in the avairy so that she wouldn't go in to find an empty box and once I heard the chirping I put them straight back, so they were out of the nest for about 3 minutes at the most. She's a good mum, she never comes out. I can even take eggs out from under her and she won't move... Hopefully I will hear some chirping from the nest box tomorrow. I won't go near the boxes for at least 5-6 days, I don't want them to stress out and hurt any chicks they may have. Thanks for your advice Sandy

Hi Everyone, Just a little update for you all. I went into the yellowfaced pairs breeding box this afternoon and took out the eggs to candle them to see if I could see anything. While in my dark wardrobe... hehehe... I was going through the eggs.... I was onto the third egg and all of a sudden it started to chirp!!! Little squeeky chirps were coming from the egg!!! It was soooo cute!! :(Laughing out loud): :(Laughing out loud): :(Laughing out loud): I'm thinking that this is rather close to hatching!!! hehehe I could only hear this from one of the eggs, so we shall see what becomes of the others. Sandy By The Way, I put all the eggs back as I didn't want to throw away the wrong eggs!!!