Sunnie

Update: Well Darius and Gracies first clutch was a dud. She threw all her eggs out in the end, but they went down for a second clutch. She lays really big eggs! This clutch she has 4 eggs and this time she has a baby!!! I dont even care if none of the others hatch, if they can just bring up one baby I will be happy It was only hatched today, so I am still anxious about it's survival. I think you were right Norm, I think that was her first ever clutch. Fingers crossed for more babies

Aww poor little mite. I dont have any advice, but welcome to the forum and I hope you get news tomorrow at the vets.

Thanks for posting Renee. Was the grey okay after dad attacked him? And thanks for the reply Kaz. I think #15 is really pretty

I am so glad someone else noticed this. I was wondering the same thing. He has a blue cere, iris rings and yet has full barring on his head??

That's great Kaz. "I wish I loved next to you too!" Well, lived anyway It would be amazing to be so close to someone with so much knowledge and such a generous heart

My understanding of clearwings is that it is recessive, so both parents would have to be clearwings or split to?

One of our babies. It's a close up shot, but look how big it is compared to the person's small finger who is holding it.

I dont really know how many we have in our big aviary at the moment, they have brush etc to hide under and its a really big aviary and it makes it hard to count. The ideal is to have 3 hens to every cock though, to minimise fighting.

This was a great idea Kaz, even though I was too chicken to try answering what kinds of pieds they were The resulting discussion is interesting too. I am curious to know what number 15 is please?

We have quails in a couple of our aviaries. I love their cute little peeping calls. Ours lay lots and lots of eggs but only a few hatch every so often. The babies remind me of the little tiny fluffy chicks you get on easter eggs

She sounds like quite the character

Bubbles is very cute

rift

Great set up Renee :hap: Your breeding room looks busy! Where do you find the time! lol Good luck with your future breeding :hap:

I usually wait til I know sex and/or colour and names kinda "fall into" my head. It's frustrating when they dont though lol

Thanks guys :hap: Yes Kaz, gotta say I'm pretty chuffed :hap: Any other guesses for sex? I have to say I'm biased to Malakai and I think he is a he, he has such a calm nature. He has come out of the nest box with Destiny today and he is picking at seed and shell grit on the cage floor. I think I might leave them both out now, as Destiny has been the only one out and I keep putting her back in at the end of the day to be with her family,but if Malakai is out, I figure they can cuddle each other. Also, in my other post, I posted the question to ask anyone's opinion about letting this pair have another clutch, seeing as more than likely mum will do the raising of the babies on her own again (after about 2 weeks) Dad was very attentive to her and feeding her prior to the chicks feathering up. Should I let her have a rest, or do you think it would be okay to let them have one more clutch?

I just read this post after seeing Neat's other post on my topic where I was having some problems. I was going to wait another week or so to update pics, but you all talked me into it. I have to say I am pretty pleased with my first show babies I have named them now too, though it was with some trepidation, I felt like I might jinx them if I gave them names and came home to find disaster had struck. But mum is doing a great job and the babies are nice and full and healthy and yes Liv, they are club rung Time for the guessing game again......what sex are they? Hmmm I hope they are the sexes their names denote or Im gonna have to think of new names! LOL Destiny- Oldest (hen)? Jade - Middle and Malakai - youngest

Thanks for asking Neat They are all doing well thanks. Dad is still in the naughty cage. I was going to pair them again after these babies fledge, but now I am not quite sure if I should, seeing mum has been doing most of the raising. There are only 3 chicks in this clutch. Any other opinions as to whether I should put them down for another round? I will post new pics of the babies on the other post about them soon. Kaz was right as usual, baby 3 is a violet spangle.

How awful for you Smithy, my thoughts are with you and your friend

Fingers and toes crossed!

Gorgeous birds. I'm with Lib and Norm - Sootica

Yes Neat you are right. A couple of my friends who cabinet breed have "hides". They are like little wooden tables which slope slightly downwards towards the back so the chicks can squeeze under them and the parents cant get at them. I have spoken to my fiance about them, but I need to get a picture or example of one so he knows what hes building lol. Oh thanks for that Kaz, I am not sure I would fit an icecream container in my cage door though. I did try out a margarine container this morning momentarily, but decided it was a bit too small and flimsy and I was too scared to leave the baby alone in that for the day lol

Thanks for the encouraging words Kaz Well Im home from work and the smallest baby was out of the box, but other than that, all looks fine. No pecking marks on anyone and they are all being fed. I put baby back in. Even when I was colony breeding, I noticed babies popping out of boxes too early. This is fairly normal I assume? I have never questioned it before, as I have usually just popped them back in and had no dramas. Of course, the fact these are my first show chicks and my ONLY current chicks, I am obsessing about them a little. So.......is it normal and does this happen often for others?

Thank you Elly and Kaz. I actually have perspex slides on my boxes, so I may try this when I get home. I am posting this more because someone else might have this problem than to get further advice. I think I can only do what my gut feeling tells me at this time. Last night, I removed the hen from the breeding cabinet and put the baby back in the nest box. It wasnt too long after that and it was lights out and everyone was sleeping. I had a couple of phone calls with breeders who suggested I leave the baby out of the nest box, but in the cabinet and let dad take care of it but put mum back in to look after the younger babies. This morning, I was up at 6am to go to the gym, but decided to let gym slide so I could change the family around and see what happened. I took the oldest chick out of the nest box and put it on the cabinet floor. Dad immediately went to ground to tend to the baby and was feeding it, then suddenly, it was like he got cross and he pecked her on the back of the head. Baby got defensive and upset and I put a temporary hide in there for the baby. I then added mum and dad and mum got into a fight only moments after she was put back. It seemed like dad was looking out for the baby. I stopped the fight and mum went to the nest box perch and settled after a few moments and was looking into the box. She then went in and I waited to hear what the result might be. Babies were making feeding noises and mum was very obviously feeding them. After watching all this, I came to the conclusion it was dad who had pecked the chick and since mum and dad had been separated and didnt seem that they were going to settle together, I took him out and put the chick back in the nest box. Again, I sat and waited for about 20 minutes to see how things went, and all was normal and mum came out of the box to feed the chicks from the perch. I have been anxious all morning at work, so I left at lunch time to fly home and check on things. All is well and good. All babies are being cared for and are in the nest box. I am still anxious and probably will be until the babies are eating on their own, which wont be for at least a week or two. I will be keeping as close an eye as I can on what is going on and not returning dad until the babies are ready to fledge. Even then, I will need to watch to see that they bond together again and that the hen isnt territorial etc. So, that's the story so far!

Yeah, I really didnt want to put her in the aviary, its too cold too and my temp bird room is in my spare room so its warm and very sheltered. I could probably put her in the dining room which isnt ideal, but I guess its better than having her in the bird room where she is calling