fordmob

looks like a hen to me too FT

Thanks for the comments guys. The parents of that skyblue are not visually that good at all. I have a feeling that the cock (a 2011 grey) is pre-potent so will test mate him again and see if he throws on again. I was lucky enough to have a bird like this years ago and it can really kick you along. I have a grey opaline hen from the same nest that is feathering up very nicely as well. These birds are out of what I will now call the "cobalt line". They are birds that I bought from a local breeder who was selling out and I was lucky to get them. You don't need big money to breed good birds, just a bit of luck.

Very happy thanks Kaz and Flip. It's good fun checking nests at the moment.

Not sounding good for you. Very hard to say what is wrong with a chick of that age, and hand rearing makes it all the more complicated. Good luck.

Is there still food in the crop or is it emptying it completely?

Um... when you win Best in Show Splatmeister it doesn't matter what class you show in. You will probably be in champion in 12 months.

Merry Christmas Keith and Tweety Tweetmas Frisky

she states the above in her post Fordmob. this clearly has to be connected to the yellowface gene. I was just asking GB (who I know) to clarify something for me. I know very little of goldenface breeding and GB does. You may have all the answers, good for you.

I am very happy with my start Kochy, have been lucky to pick up some nic stock birds from some very good breeders which has made it easy to pop out a few good ones. I needed to try and breed a few comepetive birds as I have gone straight inti intermediate status. Coming up your way in late Jan GB I think, will let you know.

Have you seen birds with a white cap and yellow mask before GB?

Great result, handy to have a few hens like that one.

Thanks Twisted/Macka. I reckon it looks like a tufted as the bent feathers are fairly close to the cere. Either way it's destined for someone elses place. I don't want to start breeding them, the fallows and redeyes are enough for me.

Thanks all, interesting to know that it is possible though it sounds likely to recur. Will weigh it up next season.

WOW!

The Mrs reckons thats the way I like em.

I suspect that one of the hens I got hold of this season was crest bred. IIt has no visual crestedness. I bought it from a crested breeder and it had a coloured band on it which obviously usually means that it is split for something. I paired it with a normal grey cock, no crested in its background to my knowledge. I have got three chicks out of her. The third is a grey opaline and is about 3 weeks old. It has some funny looking bent feathers just above its cere and I strongly suspect that it will have some type of crest/tuft. I have tried reading the genetics of it all but I really struggle with anything that isn't dominant, sex-linked or recessive ie goldenface,violet etc. It seems to me that from what I have read that it is possible to get a crest from a crest bred to normal pairing. Can someone confirm?

I have very good dominant pied hen who I was looking forward to using. She was one of those who has heaps of feather and is cock-headed and going by my past experiences with these hens they rarely breed. Cutting a long story short I paired her up and she began to lay all appeared to be going well and her eggs were filled. She did for an unknown reason stop sitting and began to lay on the floor. All her eggs addled but she continued to lay. In the eggs that she laid on the floor I could see that the shells were getting thinner and more abrasive. I busted the pair up and popped her in a holding cage. A day or so later she prolapsed. I popped it back in and she seemed to be okay. That was about three months ago. She is now in exceellent condition and I caught her up and inspected her vent area. I was surprised to see that there was no swelling and all appeared very nice and healthy down there. I have no intention of trying to use her again this season. My question is has anyone had direct experience of having a hen recover and breed after a prolapse? Edit: She is a 2011 hen born last October.

I love it when you get a hen like that that has got a bit about her and doesn't have a heap of feather. I reckon those are the birds that you can really work with because you know that it they look good without feather they will look great when you add a bit of feather to thier offspring. They are the sort of birds I try to buy. The dom pied is a big strong boy with length and shoulder. He has really good permanent directional feather, he also has heaps of backskull. It's funny how birds with backskull can lose thier impact a bit as it gives the impression that they are pinched at the front where really they are just extra wide through the skull. It's all about getting the proportions right I suppose. Edit: The pied is out of Henry George's Bob Smith line. He definitely has a bit of a Bob Smith look about him. http://bobsmithbudgerigar.com/

That's good Dave, lot's of hens is happy days.

My dominant pied cock bird and a classy opaline hen that's feathering up nicely. Hey GB. Will PM you. I have more than enough to work with next season now so I can probably get some big cock birds to you.

Agree with SQ on the sexes. Some birds develop late and some birds for whatever reason never brown up and are often non breeders. I think that hen may start to brown up in the cere.

She's nice Julie, has lovely soft feather and good direction. At this stage she is on the smaller side. She is from a Fox stud hen. Maybe you should see her about a yellowface. The other two are big strong birds with the grey green pied being a big solid cock bird. I will get some better photos of him. The cinnamon grey green is really showy with classy lines and lovely feather. Am really rapt with her. She is a hen I can really build my stud on. Bred from a Fox stud cock bird and a bird with a crook hip given to me by Graham Tevelein.

I lost one nice grey green but I have it's sibling who is just as good. Things are going okay GB. Not breeding heaps but breeding keepers at the moment. Starting to slow down and slowly emptying the breeding cages. Looks like I am a cinnamon breeder again which is interesting since that was my most succesful variety last time around. That grey green above which is a dom pied was from the Henry George cinnamon and that dom pied hen that I got from your friend. He is a big strong boy, you can't tell too much from that photo but he will be a nice bird. You know where the other 2 have come from.