jetrick57

Thanks for asking,it's another Dark Wing Hen paired with a nice Black eyed Yellow Cock bird. They appear to like each other but nothing more than that. (Taking it slow you could say) I may have missed out on her condition wise and will wait till Spring as I don't want to drag this round on to long. I'll wait and see How are all of yours going?

59 chicks as of tonight and my first egg from my pair of Ken Yorke Dark Wings which is great. That gives me 19/20 nest that have late this round so the pressure is on this last pair of slackers!

Not much happening this week except feeding and cleaning etc etc. I know have 58 chicks, with five nest still with potential chicks to hatch. Of the 20 pairs originally put down 16 have laid and 13 of those have chicks. I replaced the hens in the other four nest and two of those have now laid. Better late than never I guess! The first chicks turn 3 weeks on the weekend so I will update you with some pics as feathers start appearing. There appears to be some intersting results. My nest of seven and three with six are going strong. I hace been lucky this far, with only the deaths of four Lutino chicks. Fortunately I still have two survivors. I optimistic the round will end well but cautious not to count your chicks so to speak!

Maybe make a list of all your initial expenses as you would in any business Birds? Pet or Exhibition quality you decide Aviary dependant on room,number of birds and budget Breeding Cages Type can vary as wll cost Nest Boxes etc etc Then consider what your weekly or monthly expenditure would be for quality seed,meds etc From here you should be able to establish a regular pattern of expense,barring the unforseeable vet bills etc Now consider what you and your daughter can realistically charge for a bird sold as a pet for instance? This amount divided into the the above running cost should give you an idea of how many birds you would need to breed and sell to come out at least even. Your intitial expense on set up will take longer to get back, but it will get you started and if you do it properly should save you in the long run. Hope that is what you had in mind?

Truthfully if she is thinking of taking it up seriously which is great by the way, she should decide what is she doing it for? If it's to produce pets that's fine but it won't be a money making venture if she is maintaining the birds to their optimum level. On the other hand if you see her doing it for the long term, I would suggest getting her to meet some breeders in your state who could inspire her with the possibilities of breeding exhibition quality birds. One again this isn't a money making venture but for a young person starting off it would be better to get some better birds (not expensive) to start off with and develop it from there. I started out about the same age and would have valued someone steering me in the right direction with my set up. Best of luck!

The 53rd chick hatched today and pleased to say my Opaline YF hen and Cinnamon Grey cock have produced their first chick. My nest of seven is doing well which is great to see!

My 50th chick hatched tonight. There are four nest which still have potential eggs to hatch. Can't wait to see them feathered up!

http://www.vetafarm.com.au/categories/BIRDS/ANTIBIOTIC/ Thanks Kaz I will get hold of some today. 49 chicks as of this morning so hopefully they will crack 50 by tonight.I am hoping my Opaline YF and Cinnamon Grey Cock produce something from their 6 eggs.They are due now so fingers crossed.The three Lutino chicks are still alive and kicking and appear a little stonger than the three born earlier.My 8 year old spangle Cock has produced 6 chicks from 6 eggs so not bad at all. Other pairings that look good are my Opaline Skyblue to a Skyblue normal Cock,Opaline Green to a Dominant Pied Cock,Mauve to a Violet Cock,Albino to a Yellowface Green Cock,Dominant Pied to a Cobalt Cock,Dominant Pied to a Violet,White Lacewing to a Normal Grey x 2 with one nest on 7 chicks and doing great and the second with 6 chicks. Plus a few more.... So far 16 of the 20 pairs I put down have laid with the other 4 pairings being replaced.Of the 16 pairs 12 have been fertile so far with 49 chicks from 105 eggs. Have a great day!

Pleased to say my nest of Lutino's is still surviving with the addition of another chick, as the last egg hatched today, bringing the grand total to 44. While the Lutino cock bird's health was concerning me he is obviously very fertile! I have him in a hospital cage over night while mum is on the eggs. I would like to be certain he is of no health risk to the chicks

Thanks for the advice is triple c the brand? I was hoping you were going to say something else could be the matter as I am pretty meticulous with all of thier water supply and use water additives from Dr Rob Marshall. That said as well as their normal drinker I have given them a pot of water with vitamin also to choose from. My suspicion it's the cock bird who could have something and passed it on to the hen. Over the past couple of weeks he has not been 100% and today I quarantined him, hoping the hen will cope with the remaining 2 chicks . Let me know what you think. The 2 chicks looked good this morning and were kicking and rolling around which was good to see. Overall up to 43 chicks today!

Spot on! What does that mean,as it was the first thing that I noticed since they hatched. Also their body skin is dry which made me think it was diet or should I say something they are not getting from thir mother.I am a little concerned that when they hatch they are fine,it's in the days that follow things change.

42 chicks have hatched as of tonight and the two surviving Lutinos are alive and kicking. They look a little stronger which is good. I have an Opaline yf paired with a Cinnamon Grey on 7 eggs which I would love even one chick from as they are probably my best birds exhibition quality wise. I am very happy with the results so far as I started March with 66 birds and now have potentially 100+ What a great hobby!

As of this morning I have 40 chicks!Unfortunately only two Lutino chicks have survived this far,and are still very little.Whereas y nest of seven are doing very well ,but another hatching would be way too many.I'd like to foster Kaz, but I don't have a suitable alternative with most nest on 4 or moreor a big difference in the chicks age and development.The pair with 7 are proving to be exceptional parents which is great!! I have a hen sitting on 10 eggs currently and she may lay an 11th... 7 are showing fertile (right from number 1) and I assume the last 3 will also be showing fertile in a few days as they are currently too young to tell. I should have room to foster them all out as required. However all other hens are laying around 5-8 fertile eggs too so we'll see...That's great to hear,especially when you hear so many stories about infertility in nest.Keen to hear how you go!On a postive note my eight year old Spangle has now fathered 5 chicks!

well i dont know but my albinos they been very slow starters very weak chicks and so small but i let nature take course and with 7 eggs three 3 hatched on with help and two were not strong enough to get out and died on way very sad 2 of the three that hatched selfs were so small and very weak but all chicks grew rather large infact some my best chicks to date albinos and lutinos do take up to two years to really come to their potential size as do lacewings keep it in mind Thanks for that, they certainly are different! As of tonight five Lutino chicks hatched, but sadly only two have survived to date. Their Mum seems to be doing the right thing but as you say they appear to develop slowly compared to the others,fingers crossed the others make it. Next door I have a nest of seven going great guns which is the other end of the spectrum. Great to see though. Cheers Patrick

I now have a total of 33 chicks in the nest with one pair on 7 which I know is too many, but unfortunately for fostering every other suitable nest is on four or more chicks. On the plus side as parents they seem to be coping very well and I am pumping in the food too help out! My nest of Lutino's is still a concern and I really will be surprised if they survive. Fostering for them is also difficult considering the full house situation in other boxes. I am not complaining though as the chicks produced so far are the biggest I have ever bred. Looking forward to feather time!

As of this morning I have 30 chicks spread across 7 nest boxes with some still to hatch in the other boxes. One pair has 6 healthy chicks and potentially 2 more to come. I am a little concerned with my Lutino chicks as they are not of the size or as active as the other chicks. Curious has anyone else experienced a slower develpoment in a nest and did the chicks they survive. I'm probably being over concerned but like humans one family can be so different to the next even with the same food etc. And like humans some parents are just better at it! Rearing their young that is.

http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx85/je...57/P1020559.jpg This is a picture of my Lacewing hen that currently has 5 newbies and three remainings eggs.She is the less fussed about being photographed.Will try some others tonight http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx85/je...57/P1020551.jpg Sorry this picture is not so clear of my Lutino hen who has three newbies so far, and three more eggs under her also.I've never bred a Lution before so this is a bit of a coupe for me.Hopefully nothing will go wrong!

For sure! Should have my lap top back working today and will post some pics asap.

Now at 24 chicks with two more rung today. One nest has five and looking kinda busy. This is certainly where the bigger nest box comes in handy. Pleased to say my Lutino pair are up to 3 chicks.

Pleased to say I rung my first two chicks today from this March/April round . As of this morning I have 19 chicks with hopefully a lot more to come in the next few days.

Another newbie today! My first Lutino, I hope, from a Lutino pair!

Hi Ratzy Ten chicks as of tonight. The two highlights of today being one nest is on four which is a bonus with so many nest being smaller though my thoughts may change if the other four eggs are fertile. The other being a good looking spangle cock bird I inherited with an aviary I bought last year second hand has fathered a chick and he is an 02 bird. He actually seems pleased with himself!

That's right so I am hoping I will get Lacewings later in the year when I try the Skyblue/Lacewing Cockbird with his Aunty who is a Lacewing The Aunty is currently sitting on eight eggs and is paired to a normal grey which is an uncle to the the Skyblue/Lacewing mentioned above, so hopefully I have the beginnings of a family that I can develop in time. You MAY get some lacewings. The only way to find out wether or not your cocks are split is to breed with them...

Congratulations I think you have done well! Like you I like to break down the results just so,and in reality some pairs are brilliant and some drag the chain a bit! I have used 20 boxes this round starting out March 1st and have 16 pairs with 102 eggs in total As of this morning I am on 7 chicks since they started hatching on Sunday, so I will keep you posted so we can compare. I have been told a success rate of 50% on pairings is good so if you take that into account on your results you must been doing well. I have also been told 2 chicks per box is a good result and seems to be more common in some of the bigger birds of today. So well done!

For sure,and with it a lot more stress! But the good kind.