Troy

Hi Kaz, It happens - you look at the aviary, before breeding, and there is so much promise, and then you fill the cabinets, and you wonder what is left. When I did an interview with Bob Smith about 3 or 4 years ago, he made comment to me, that rings very true - if in doubt, its out. The greater number of lesser quality birds that you keep, the more the average birds of the stud come down, as you get tempted to use them when a hen fails, or something of the like. The people who seem to have the greatest success tend to be the hardest cullers', irrespective of numbers.

Looks like an Australian Yellowface Blue Spangle hen.

Hi Dean Good luck with it all - it is the tribulations that make the wins all that more sweet, and either make or break you. In terms of your breakout - I like your methodology. I like to believe the old saying that you can't manage what you can't measure, and you do a great job of record keeping, so you can see where things break down, relative to a normal breeding cycle. When you consider your eggs, 37 across 6 pairs is a good average of 6 per nest. All things considered, 6 of them being clear is not a bad average. So, the breakdown seems to come with 1/ DIS, 2/Poor Mums. A lot of people will tell you in this hobby to buy your cocks, and breed your hens (when purchasing). People often move on problem hens, so you can buy a can of worms, where the cocks job is much simpler. So, I'd make an allowance here for the new birds that you brought in, that you havent used them before, and dont know how they individually behave in a breeding cabinet. I find those hens raised by good mums, most often turn out to be good mums. Now, in terms of getting them right, it is important to wait until the right time to breed, and not too early, but I think you'd see more fertility issues than you've seen, if you started too early. It looks to me like a possible Doxycycline issue, and a B12 issue, as your rate of hatchability seems to be down. A lot of people adovacate Doxy for two weeks, three weeks prior to pairing - the last week is reserved for vitamins etc. The Doxy has the effect of clearing up any infections in the bird (thats a broad statement I know, but that's the intent), and the B12 in the last week gives amazing strength to the chicks as they try to hatch - they come out of the egg a bright red color, screaming for food, and have a lot of strength to chip out of the egg - I call these the 1%'s, and they've worked well for me. Hope some of this advice helps! All the best for the rest of the season, and keep the chin up.

Anybody hear how the Pine Rivers Auction went today?

Hi Lozza, I am not a judge, but looks like an Australian Yellowface Pied

I would suggest that you treat it like any other fault - if a bird has some exceptional features that your stud needs, then you'd probably use it, keeping in mind that you always try to prevent doubling up on faults. A lot of people contend that many UK fanciers stopped breeding with flecked birds, and studs went backwards. That's not to say that flecked birds brought them forward, but more so to be careful about blindly discriminating against them. Flecking can be bred from birds that show no visual signs of flecking also, so you need to be mindful of this. Some line's of birds also breed absolutely flecked headed birds, and others in the nest that are completely clean, which is astounding, but never-the-less true. The best advice I can recommend is to treat it like a bird with small spots, or long flights, or a shallow mask, and pair it appropriately.

Hi Matt, He had a few nice ones in the Interbranch today - one Cinnamon Opaline LGN that looked a ringer for the one that he had that ran third last year.

We had our first open show for the Interbranch this year in SA - normally we have our club preselections like NSW and VIC. I could only put three hens in, as everything is just finishing up the first round, and I dont think its too fair to be putting them straight into a show (hadnt planned it that way, but they all laid late). I did manage a first with the Clearbodies, and a 5th in the hens class, so I'll have one in the team. Found my clearwing and its tail had parted ways during the judging! *LOL* No luck there...

One little point of interest here - an observation I picked up in reading that does work - Gerald Binks mentioned in an article once that he was visiting Daniel Lutolf, and Daniel had a baby that was pale and white, compared to the rest of the nest. He got a crop needle, and put a small amount of Olive Oil direct into the crop, and in a matter of minutes, you could not differentiate the colour of the chick. I had been meaning to try it myself, and a couple weeks ago, the opportunity arose, and I have to say I was stunned. I had a white chick, that looked like it was on death's door. He would have been about three or four days old. I took the crop needle, and put about 0.2 mL of olive oil into it, and shot it direct into the crop. I went about my business, and came back to the cage about 20 minutes later, and could not tell which chick had the olive oil into the crop, it changed colour THAT quickly. I also tried it with a chick who appeared stunted. The others in the nest were growing on, and he seemed to stay the same age and size. I put the olive oil in his crop, and he got some meat onto his legs, and started growing within days. I dont know why it works, but it does....

This is my first time posting photographs, so I hope that I've got it right! (I followed KAZ's instructions) Here are two chicks currently in the nest - both going to be hens. First is a Grey Spangle Opaline Cinnamon Hen. The second is a Grey Green Cinnamon Opaline hen. Assuming this works okay, I will post a few more, and apologies in anticipation if I've stuffed it up! Let me know what you think!

Brisbane BRASEA, July 25th I believe

Kaz, did you get Wally Capper's Sky Cinnamon Violet Cock?

Thanks guys - I heard it went very well, for all those involved. I know people dont like their names to be associated in the press, with the dollar amount, through fear that the tax man will hunt them down, but speaking with Gary Gazzard yesterday, he said that the top price was $4000 for a Grey cock, and that a man who had some very good birds in the auction, who's been very hot at the Nationals of late, averaged $2000 a bird.

Hi Everyone, Just a quick update - I got an email from Debra Milton, advising that the Townsville auction, which was delayed due to localised cyclone conditions, is going ahead this coming Saturday (April 10th 2010), and will be held at 4 PM. There are some good birds on offer at the auction, and given the delay, and the clash with the Wynnum Redlands Auction, I certainly think it will be a buyer's market, if you're in the market for some good birds, cheap. If you're interested, Debbie Milton can be contacted on 0410 025 754, or via email on dgmiltonbirds@gmail.com - proxy bidding is available, and birds can be sent interstate. I've attached a copy of the catalogue, for anyone who's interested Townsville Auction Catalogue 2010