robyn
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Everything posted by robyn
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If you are cage breeding and you want to pair up certain birds, put the pair into a cage without a nest box to see if they bond etc. if they look like showing breeding behaviour add the nest box. You can have male & female in flight cages together,no nest box's though, they may even pair up in there so that gives you a head start when you cage them. Providing you don't have any particular pairings in mind eg only pet types, you can then place bonded pairs in cages with nest box's. -
Heaps!! I have a 3x3 metre aviary 2 mt high. I have had 60-70 birds in free flight in it. If you intend to colony breed I suggest you read the pros and cons of that in the breeding sections. I cage bred by dividing aviary in 3, one section was cages depending how many pairs you want to put down I only bred 4 cages at a time.(pet types) rest was left as free flight for rest of birds.
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2 weeks isn't very long for a pair to be at egg laying stage. If the hens droppings have enlarged a lot that can be a sign she is ready to lay. I haven't had the vent plucking so don't know if this is normal with some hens. I think if you allow a bit more time, as long as they're both in breeding condition,you could have eggs shortly.
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Hi Bazza, I have not been on here for a while as I'm not breeding at the moment. If you only have the one bird, seed from the supermarket e.g. trill or seed from a pet store should be okay. you should not have to have supplements in the water as a general rule,when worming you can add this to water (check directions). Also give it vegs etc.it can take a few attempts of each new thing before it will try them, corn on the cob celery tops, silver beet, carrot sticks, a piece of orange apple or mandarin also mine eat. They love seeding grasses out of the garden. BUT before you try new things go to F.A.Q. and check out the safe/unsafe foods list. Also give calcium/iodine bell or cuttle bone. Hope this helps. cheers.
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This sounds like "jail-break" behaviour, usually birds who have had free flight are then caged do this. At five weeks it's unusual for this to happen. If your sure of it's age then I would suggest handling your bird calmly and often until it gets used to the cage.
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Hi, a birds colour will come through as soon as it fledges, it may darken in colour after it moults but the basic colour will stay the same. Your bird is not a baby, i.e. under 3 mths but it's hard to tell how old she is but looks like she is coming into or going out of breeding cond.. Depending on the mutation etc the weight does not really decide the age of the bird.
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Love the green n/gold pied's. I'd opt for hen also, great strength of colour.
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2 nice chicks, looks like last picture is a pied other chick maybe green spangle? Not sure though I'm not good at mutations. l.o.l.
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Sorry you had a bad season Nadene, I haven't been on much so have missed a lot of posts. The two you posted look lovely. Hope it picks up for you next round. Good luck with the new ones on offer. As we know there are ups and downs all the time but the ups outweigh the downs.
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If the chick is active and hiding among the larger chicks it's probably o.k, they only have a small amount of milky looking stuff in their crop for a few days not a full crop like the bigger chicks. If it's lying flat not active etc you could lose it, it happens. I'd wait it out for a day and see how it goes. Do you have any hens with similar age chicks you could foster the younger ones to?
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What a beautiful clutch of chicks well done. Love the pics.
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I don't think you need to put any thing on them, maybe a smear of vaseline, BUT make sure it's not the start of scaly face/feet etc as it could be mites. Check around beak also.
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Hi G.B, glad to see your still around. I'm out of buds at the moment as we are selling and moving, miss my little birds, can't wait to get settled and a new aviary started. Hope all's well with you.
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They will pop in and out of nest box for a few days, also beg parents to be fed when they can feed themselves. The chicks hatch about every 2 days so their size varies according to this. They usually start leaving nest box about a month after hatching, depends on the chick. Mum will tolerate the chicks in the nest box until she starts to lays a second round, sometimes she will become aggressive to chicks then so be alert for that.
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If you had another breeding pair you can foster eggs (marked so you know what eggs you moved). I have heard of some using incubators, but if you hatched any chicks it would mean hand rearing from day 1. Big job if you hatched a few. Also if first hen had started to incubate then left eggs they would be d.i.s.
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Love the action shots. Not easy to get, I had trouble getting any pics. Thank heaven for digital cameras. Gee Finnie, sure you got get his mutation right !!! What a mouthful l.o.l.
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Over to show breeders, but I'd say 12 mths plus is okay. same as "normal" birds.
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I have fixed a broken leg (with great difficulty) by wrapping a bit of cotton wool around leg, then 2 matchsticks either side of break then taping it all on with surgical tape. It's easier if you have someone hold bird for you. Check that foot is still normal colour and not swollen, so blood circulation is not restricted. I left it for a week before checking, if still not using leg normally redo taping. Only do this if there is no broken skin or wound. If so treat that before adding tape etc and check every couple days for infection. I used betadine on mine. Good luck and see how you go. Not easy but worth the effort, mine returned to normal and bred some lovely chicks.
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It did. Just to note, I used a plastic shoe box with wood shavings in it when I cleaned nest box's. I placed all chicks in it while I scraped out nest box (mine had a drop down end so it was simple to scrape straight into an ice cream bucket for disposal. Replaced old bedding with fresh shavings, replaced chicks job done. Mum never worried when I did this about once a week. By doing this you stop "gunk" building up on chicks feet, which can harden like cement if not removed, harming their feet claws etc., if you have wet feeders that get a lot of mush in bottom of nest. As Finnie said when oldest chick was 2 weeks I started adding seed to nest box by 3 weeks I removed old nest bedding and only added seed. Chicks were cracking seed for themselves as soon as they left box.
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You could put them together BUT remember to quarantine your new birds away from your older birds, for a few weeks, to see they aren't carrying any disease that could be passed on to your other birds. No nest box's in with them at this stage.
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It sounds like your bird could be ill. Place him under a heat lamp, no vegs just seed and water. It's hard to say what the problem is, it could be a trip to avian vet to see what is wrong. They get sick very quickly as they hide the fact they are sick, by the time you notice they could be really sick. Is there any wheezing or squeaky sound when he breathes? I'd isolate him from your other bird to see if he improves.
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As your in Cains they are most likely some type of tropical ant. Do you know or can you ring a vet or farm/produce store e.g. that may know how to get rid of them. Do you know where their nest is? I'd say you have to treat them at the nest to be successful. If you only have a few birds, you would have to move them out of cage/aviary until you treat it, as a lot of toxic stuff could affect your birds. Ants will also invade nest box's so you don't want to have your chicks attacked either. Maybe you could even "Google" for a remedy if you can identify the type of ant you have.. Let us know how you go.
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I hope you are right Finnie, nothing worse than sitting in limbo. I could manage to move 6 but not 80!!
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Hi all, We are trying to sell house to move but it hasn't happened as quickly as we were led to believe. SO I sold all my birds. Meanwhile after having withdrawal symptoms, waiting, waiting etc. I went out and bought 6 new birds.Pet types, it was pot luck but here are the six. no1 no2 no 3 no 4 no5 no 6 some very young, Lutino just out of nest so will see how they develop.
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Hi, even though his cere in brown he could have hormone problems. I had this also, try to get him some soluble Iodine (aquarius) I think it's spelt. or an Iodine bell may help. Could also be liver problems but some other better experienced breeders may help more. Hope he comes good for you.