renee

Time for today's update. This morning I discovered another 2 chicks in a DF Albino nest, not the one I have been talking about lately but another made up of 2 maidens. You may recall I had a fertile egg from this nest and popped in with the Super Albino nest but it became addled. Well this nest looks very promising so it looks like I will get some Albinos after all. The first chick is simply huge so I presume he is at least 8 days old and the little sibling is about 4 days old. Also a dead chick, no yellow belly, but indications are it died soon after hatching. This is the second time my estimations of when chicks should hatch has been out by a few days so I double-checked all nests and witnessed the hatching of the 1st to My Violet maiden boy and the JK Cobalt carrying Violet hen. Unfortunately the second chick to the Cobalt Dommie Pied nest didn't make it. Actually it was my fault. I had seen signs that the chick was about to hatch insofar the egg had chipping almost all the way around but it was the hen that was doing that and not the chick and when I opened it up the little one was 3 days off hatching, so in effect I killed it. I also did everyone's weigh ins this afternoon but I have to confess I am getting a bit blasé about it all. Last week I was concerned too many were under-weight so I began feeding morning and night and sure enough they all gained weight. And then funnily enough they all started screaming to be fed and their respective parents obliged. So then this week I reduced it back to night-time top ups. No doubt about it they have mostly dropped a couple of grams but I think that is more to do with them approaching fledging (quite a number are out of the nest box now) and me not feeding them in the morning. Any way, in summary I am no longer concerned any more. But I will continue to do the weigh ins for statistical analysis. Moving on, here are a couple more from the LightGreen Spangle nest which by the way are all out of the nest Chickie number 2 Light Green Opaline - I should name her Gonzalez as she is such a sprinter I think she is okay, nothing too special. At 31 days she weighs in at 61grams But have a look at he body feather. Can you see those yellow patches? But chickie number 3 is humongous! Not a good photo I'm afraid. At 29 days she weighs in at 65 grams Now I refer to the as hens .... but they both have pigmentation on the ceres so your guess is as good as mine - unless you're an expert like Kaz!

Yes balance is pivotal to mating but how have the Quill Mites affected his balance?

Well now it appears that I don't have quite as many hens as I initially thought! More cock birds to show though Today's update is really quick. No chicks to the DF Albino nest and I have serious doubts that there will be. However, a very loud peeping in the Cobalt Dommie Pied and Sky hen's nest alerted me to the hatching of a little one today and another is hatching as I write. I am pleasantly surprised by this occurrence; this is the hen which attacked her newly hatched chick and then went on to attack a foster from the LightGreen Spangle nest. Whatever her issues were before she seems to have got over them. But now, 24hrs late, it is time for the End of Week 8 Chick Update Thisweek I am doing it all slightly different .... By NEST Greensplit Cinnamon & Lute split Blue? hen SWBC030 Normal Green Dommie Pied split Lute possibly split Cinnamon R&T609 Normal Greygreen Dommie Pied split Lute possibly split Cinnamon (I maybe mistaken about this one) LightGreenSpangle split Opaline & GreyGreen Spangle SWBC021 Normal Green SWBC022 Opaline LightGreen SWBC023 Normal Green R&T 607 DF Yellow Spangle Violetsplit Opaline & Normal Sky hen SWBC 025 Normal Sky R&T606 Opaline Sky R&T610 Opaline Violet Greensplit RP (Medusa's son) & Recessive Pied Cinnamon hen SWBC031 Green RP Cinnamon SWBC031 Green RP Cinnamon Cobalt& Cobalt carrying Violet (yes I thought she was Sky) SWBC 033 Normal Violet SWBC 040 Normal Cobalt Recessive Pied & Cinnamon Recessive Pied (Medusa) R&T 608 Cinnamon Recessive Pied Grey Dommie Pied & Cobalt hen R&T 602 Normal Cobalt R&T 605 Normal Cobalt R&T 612 Normal Cobalt R&T 613 Cobalt Dommie Pied Grey Spangle & Cinnamon Grey Spangle hen R&T 601 Normal Grey R&T 603 Cobalt Spangle R&T 604 Grey Spangle R&T 611 Normal Grey R&T 614 Normal Cobalt DF Yellow Spangle & GreyGreen Spangle hen R&T 615 DF Yellow Spangle Funny toes DF Yellow Spangle R&T 616 DF Yellow Spangle R&T 620 DF Yellow Spangle Lute split Blue & Lute split Blue R&T 617 Lutino split Blue R&T 618 Albino Cobalt & Normal Green hen SWBC 037 Normal Green split Blue Recessive Pied & Recessive Pied R&T 619 Recessive Pied - this one is a beauty! Cobalt Dommie Pied & Green hen R&T 21 R&T 22 R&T 23 R&T 24 R&T 25 Thurs 6/10 Normal Grey split Recessive Pied & Recessive Pied hen Wed 5/10 Sun 9/10 PHOTOS will follow

My favourite!

Really? Quill mites affecting mating? Are you sure? I have never heard of that. How does that work?

No never seen that before! Pity you lost the chick.

Isn't it time you gave Quiche a new hen or something?

Oh really? cool! You know I don't really know how to sex the little ones - I thought it was big ceres hens, narrow ceres cocks

Thank you for all the lovely photos Kaz I really like the Spangle (even though it is Cinnamon!) and the Dommie Pied!

I'm late again with today's update - it's weighing day and I spent simply hours trying to figure out who is who, details later. But first of all today's news. I checked on the DF Albino pair this morning, expecting a chick but instead I found a DIS. I don't know whether popping in a foster from the Cobalt DP & Green nest (the youngest chick) confused the Albino hen but from what I could see she had separated the egg from the rest a couple of days early. The egg was quite cold and the little chick inside still had a sizeable yolk sac still attached. So on to the next nest I was expecting chicks from, the Grey split RP & RP nest and wadyaknow a little chick, obviously at least 3 days old. Also a dead chick, sadly. Then this afternoon another chick hatched and I was able to do a nest change. I had only expected 2 chicks from this nest. I think the little one may have died due to infection as the hen has the nasty habit of taking a dump in the nest box. I moved the little Cobalt DP chick from the DF Albino nest to the Grey/RP nest as it is closer in size to the existing chick. It is Sunday, and I should be doing the End of Week 8 Chick Report .... but I was half way through doing it and I realised I have 2 more chicks than I counted this afternoon I don't know how this has happened again but I will just have to go through it all nest by nest and update tomorrow. But here is a chickie update for little ones who turned 1 month today - LightGreen Spangle split Opaline & GreyGreen Spangle I've hit the jackpot with this nest, 2 out of the 4 chicks are simply huge - both Normal Green hens SWBC 021 Normal Green Hen- today she is 1 month old and weighs 68g I have named her Irene Violet split Opaline & Normal Sky hen SWBC 033 Normal Violet Hen- today she is 1 month and weighs 64g I don't think this one is anything special but she may inherit her mother's body ...

A plan! Excellent! I'm all for forward-planning

Despite your difficulties this year Splat you are on to something good

To be honest fordmob I started weighing 'cause A. I wanted to compare fosters with non-fosters' weights, B. I had never done it before and I was curious, and C. I should have been swamped with chicks and I ain't so I have the time to do it! Very true Kaz Gone are the days when I cul my birds at 6 months .... I'm holding on to them right up until I do my breeding selection But I'm liking having the extra data so I can look back and learn

Sad news today, little chick number 6 to the Sky DP and Green hen passed away late last night. I don't think he was sick with anything, I just don't think he was fed enough in the first 3 days of its life so it became very weak and was rejected. Chick number 7 on the other hand is doing really well and this morning I fostered it into the DF Albino nest. Their eggs are due to start hatching from today onwards, in fact one egg looked like it was due any minute. The hen is experienced so I am not anticipating any feeding issue but this way chick 7 will be closer in size to the new nest than the one it's been in so far. There is only one egg left in the Sky DP nest, I haven't candled it, it doesn't look fertile. But 6 chicks out of 8 eggs is a very good result! It really is too early to say whether the hands off approach I am adopting is bearing fruit, I guess I will know in about a month's time.

Look I have just flicked backwards to the beginning of this thread and you started at the beginning of June so you have been going for 5 months now. That is plenty for 2 rounds and it is starting to warm up now so yes indeed, time to wind up I would have thought. Look we all know what happens when summer bites, the bugs and lice etc become a real nuisance and not everybody's set up is suited to the warmer months. Just take it on the chin as one to forget, count your blessings in the beautiful chickies you have bred and move on and look forward to nest year. Well, that's what I would do.

I certainly believe that is the real definition of a stud. Well done you Splat! How many years has it taken you?

Believe it or not Renee there ARE classes in shows for cinnamons LOL .......do you still have that aversion for cinnamon ? Yes I know, the AOSV Class or Cinnamon Class. But yes you are right, I do have a certain bias against Cinnamons and Opalines but only because they are such pervasive varieties - I regard them as a rather difficult weed to eradicate, like couch grass or similar: no matter how hard you try they just keep coming back. But of course I am aware how useful Cinnamon can be to help with Suffusion which why I tolerate it in my Spangles and Double Factor Spangles or Lutes; and of course it is running through my Recessive Pied lines but I don't mind that. But I swear to god if I ever bred an Opaline Cinnamon I will have a major hissy fit!

You have? well I am not a breeder of Spangles but I would love to know how? DO SHARE

Okay is it my screen or am I beginning to see cinnamon now everywhere?! But I'm assuming that she is Opaline Sky hen .... ? $170 is a good deal for her, even by WA standards of bargains. I have no doubt she will chuck beautiful chickies for you Kaz. Well Done Ken for choosing her

Lovely chickies Splat! You have every right to be delighted with them

Oh I am sooooo glad he is a good breeder You know that is what you hope for when you sell a bird - that he/she goes on to make his new owner happy!

Have you ever heard the expression 'You look but do not see'? Well I'm a bit like that. Faced with the overwhelming evidence that my little Recessive Pied boys are Cinnamon I wondered how that happened. I mean it is not a surprise insofar the Great Grandmother and foundation hen for the Manno line was cinnamon but I hadn't noticed it in the generations that had followed. Well that was until I had a good look at their mother hen (she was the one that was such a ferocious feather plucker) and Low and Behold she is cinnamon! I just caught her up from the aviary for this photo: Now in my defence I will say she is more of a dark chocolate shade of cinnamon And here are some photos of her little cock chicks: See how there is still down where his little wing feathers were ripped out? I thought maybe I'd never be able to show them but here are some feathers re-growing

Well finally the Avi-Cal I ordered on August 22nd has arrived. I won't go into details but needless to say I am happy it is here. So Finnie here are the details for you - Liquid Calcium & D3 supplement. Active constituents: Calcium Borogluconate 200g/L; Cholecalciferol (Vit C3) 12,500 IU/L; Magnesium Sulfate 5 g/L. Dose rate: 40 ml/L in water OR 10ml/cup of seed

Cool back the excellent quality of photos we have come to expect from you Kaz Love the chickies! And at the risk of sounding like a cracked record - Where are the photos of the 6 SWBC Auction birds (with blurbs) and How about some photos of the birds Liv gave you and Yes I too would love to see what you current breeding set up looks like???!

Well yet another chickie arrived to the Cobalt Dommie Pied and Green hen this afternoon - that is the 7th! I had fostered the little number 6 to Magic's nest but while the Grey hen was doing a super job of feeding chickies 4 & 5 I didn't feel she was really feeding the smallest one so I popped him back with Mum. Now that there is 5 in that nest I will have to look around for another foster pair for these littlest ones - but not immediately, maybe in 3-4 days time. I have done another Egg Check and happily there are another 2 pairs with fertile eggs - 08 Green cock (JK) to Light Green Spangle hen (GDA): 6 eggs / 1 Fertile I am really surprised there is only one fertile egg in this nest, hopefully by the time I check again in 14 days time there will be some more showing. Even so I am excited about this pair. I especially like the hen that I got from Gary Armstrong earlier this year. 10 Sky Dommie Pied to 11 Cobalt hen: 7 eggs / 1 Fertile Again this another nest that confounds me. This cock is definitely fertile and has filled eggs for me already so I am assuming she started incubating very late and that more eggs will show fertile soon.