First pair is Augren and Viola. I have a second pair on 6 infertile eggs, but the cock is EXTREMELY gentle and although he is with his partner, he has never showed any signs of wanting to mount a hen no matter how much he flirts

 

Augren is a Yellow Face type 2 opaline sky blue split for ino, Viola is a Yellowface type 1 violet cobalt.

 

Breeding expectations are -

 

100% cocks split for opaline, 100% opaline hens

50% single dark factor (cobalt), 50% zero dark factor (sky blue)

50% single factor violet, 50% normal

25% Yellowface Type 1, 25% white face, 25% Yellowface Type 2 'normal', 25% Yellowface type 2 'composite' (Type 2 masking type 1, except thats technically not the correct term).

25% normal cocks, 25% cocks split ino, 25% normal hens, 25% ino hens.

 

Four chicks will remain in this nest, the other 4 will be fostered to the pair with infertile eggs.

 

Two eggs have already hatched and the first is an albino hen, the second unknown as yet. Expecting another chick in 2 days.

 

Here are some high definition closeups for you to enjoy

 

 

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Edited July 25, 200915 yr by Dean_NZ

oh aren't they just beautiful! Wonderful photo's there! BOM competition???

They seem to have the "show head" on them? are the parents show types?

Yes both parents are from show stock, albeit the cock is average quality and the hen has very few 'good' points i purchased her because almost no-one has show stock violets for sale and i took what i could get This pairing is more of a colour pairing, although i am curious to see what quality the chicks are show-wise. Its a shame the other pair have infertile eggs as that cock is my best show type and the hen is good as well

seems to be the case unfortunatly most the time The ones you want to breed, never do or rather, mostly never

Third baby hatched a day earlier than expected. Not 'early' per-say, but while the first and second chick can often hatch on the same day or one day after the other, generally the rest hatch every two days. So far one chick has hatched every day for 3 days, but i know the 4th will come tomorrow because the egg is making peeping noises today

 

I have swapped the last 4 eggs into the other nest where the hen had 6 infertile eggs. She will now hatch and raise the last 4 herself.

 

Here is a picture of the three hatched so far cuddling up together

 

 

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Beautiful clear photo

awwww....group hug!

Love how the smallest one looks to be shielding its face from the camera! "NOOOO IM TOO SHY!" *Hides*

how these chicks comming mate

Sorry guys! I'll hardly be around for the next month, im away in a rural hospital doing a clinical placement for my nursing degree.

 

I had someone look after my birds, but came home to find only 5 of 8 babies alive. All dead babies were from same nest, i assume hen/cock werent feeding well as this is their first clutch (all eggs were infertile, they were fostering 4 eggs from a clutch of 8). The other 5 seem to be doing fine, coming into feather now. Two albinos, one YF blue, one blue. Wasnt enough light to tell what kind of blue when i got home an hour or so ago.

 

Update soon.

thats a shame mate

4 better than none and id be happy with albinos lol

Thats a bummer.

 

Do you have to be away lots still? My poor husband has the job of feeding, watering and ringing birds when I'm away with work - the poor sod is paranoid and his main aim is not to have anything die while I'm away....... but it happens often enough as he just doesn't see things happening like hens getting off chicks or not them not being fed properly even though it's been probably 8 years now...... sigh.

Edited August 13, 200915 yr by nubbly5

okay update time. I am really greatful to have someone looking after the babies while im away, but its SO not the same. I came home today to find all sorts of food caked on their faces, covering the cere and the beaks. Im extremely concerned as one or two chicks beaks seem to be forming a bit oddly underneath that muck and i asked the person taking care of them to ensure they are CLEAN daily, but they dont want to hurt the chicks and so they cant really get rid of it properly :emoticon112:

 

Remind me never to breed until im on holidays

 

Anyway:

 

Chick 1: Albino hen

Chick 2: Looks to be a violet sky blue cock

Chick 3: Yellowface (type 1 i think) violet cobalt cock

Chick 4: Sky blue opaline hen (keep an eye out for pics of this one in a second - interesting one)

Chick 5: Albino hen

 

okay, so I havent taken 'proper' pictures of them to show you how they look just yet, i wanted to focus on directional feathering and get some comments/feedback, as well as pictures of a beak i am worried about.

 

Heres some directional feather pictures for comment:

 

Chick 2:

 

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Chick 3:

 

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Chick 5: (Can you see the soft red area that was immediately under the caked on muck? Lower mandible appears okay, but im a bit worried about the upper where the crusty food was, seems a tad indented - will it smooth out as she grows?)

 

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Chick 4: The interesting one! There is good news and bad news. 'Good news' is that the directional feather on this one is really odd (good news to me lol). Has anyone seen this before? Does it grow out? Or do you think it may be some sort of crestbred or crest forming? Have a look -

 

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And a different angle:

 

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Heres the other problem - im worried about the lower mandible. To me it appears to have stunted growth? It just doesnt look/feel right to me. Thoughts/comments? If it is stunted, what can i do about it to ensure it grows as best as possible? Any ways to restore it or lengthen it? As long as she can feed herself as an adult, i will be happy, but i would hate for her to have any difficulties. Have a look -

 

 

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And another angle, also showing how the feathers above her cere protrude in an unusual way -

 

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okay so thoughts?

Edited August 20, 200915 yr by Dean_NZ

they are very cute

i myself wont comment as i decided not to remark on things on the forum anymore

but my

i wouldn't ever leave others in charge of breeding birds unless they knew how to manage birds or breed them selfs thats only comment i will make and thats as you never have success due to them not having proper knowledge and not knowing what to do if things go wrong :emoticon112:

you have recognized this thats the good part

I normally wouldnt let anyone but myself care for my birds, but my studies have forced my into a 5 week out of town hospital placement totally without warning and I already had fertile eggs and chicks by then.

 

I'll wait and see if anyone else has any thoughts :emoticon112:

Having seen beaks like this on other chicks on other forums and the AFTER photos I think you will find the beaks will come good :emoticon112:

I think the problem maybe.a biuld up of dry food,under the top beak,clean that out & it might help.

Thanks guys :emoticon112: Any thoughts on the crest/unusual direction feathering?

Kind looks like a crest to me. Sometimes even those breeding crests comment on the fact that babies with obvious feather disturbances in the nest will grow out to look like normals. They call these crest bred from my understanding of it. It'll be interesting to see how this chick develops on.

I have finally finished my placement, and BOY what a mission it has been trying to get any sort of breeding results during the last 5 weeks. Heres the short and sticky of the mess that has been the last 5 weeks (remembering that I put down two test pairs before i realised i would be placed in a rural hospital for 5 weeks unable to effectively manage my breeding program).

 

2 pairs down.

 

Pair 1 = 8 fertile eggs

Pair 2 = 6 unfertile eggs - this was expected as the cock is my best cock who has a gentle nature (doesnt flirt much) and a bad wing (not good for breeding easily).

 

So i evened it out to this:

 

Pair 1 = 4 fertile eggs

Pair 2 = 4 fertile foster eggs.

 

Eggs start hatching for pair one. Next week i come back and eggs start hatching for pair 2. First chick hatches and dies same day, i suspect hen didnt feed it. Second chick hatches and i place it back in nest 1 just in case then i go back to my placement.

 

Pair 1 = 5 chicks

Pair 2 = 2 eggs about to hatch.

 

I come back and find the 2 chicks in nest two died of starvation. Hen was a virgin, perhaps needed older babies at first but i wasnt there to micro manage.

 

So pair 2 start laying again. This time im preparing myself, researching AI. With the help of a dear friend on this board (not sure if i should say who - you know who you are!) i finally pieced together the last missing bits of Artificial Insemination information i needed and began practicing. Of all my cocks, none of them gave me a sample. I was dissapointed to say the least! Then i decided to try the one cock i had wanted to learn AI for - old bung wing! And he gave me a sample the second day i tried him! MAGIC!

 

So i began to AI the hen, and the first 3 eggs were clear (was still getting the hang of it) so i know he wasnt filling them himself. I got a perfect sample and transferred it perfectly after egg 3 was laid.

 

At this point i had:

 

Pair 1 - five chicks

Pair 2 - 3 infertile eggs, successful AI.

Pair 3 - Feeder pair, no eggs.

 

A week later i came back to:

 

Pair 1 - five chicks

Pair 2 - 3 infertile eggs, 3 fertile eggs.

Pair 3 - 3 eggs.

 

I continued AI'ing the hen as often as i was home and good old bung wing gave me a daily sample Just before i left again, i had this really strange feeling something was going to happen. I had discarded the infertile eggs, so pair 1 and 2 were both sitting on 5 eggs before i left. The nest boxes are identicle, so i quickly swapped them around before i left and the hens went straight back in none-the-wiser.

 

This week i came back and found:

 

Pair 1 - 3 eggs (round 2)

Pair 2 - 4 DIS foster eggs, 1 fertile foster egg, 4 infertile eggs (my dad said the budgies had a night fright the day i left, i assume this hen left the nest for a period of time, somehow knew some eggs had died and began re-laying without any AI samples in her - so they are infertile eggs).

Pair 3 - 5 AI foster eggs, ALL HEALTHY AND FERTILE AND READY TO START HATCHING THIS WEEKEND!

 

I tell you, it has been such an effort to get chicks out of this cock and hen. I have my fingers crossed that this feeder pair are good parents as this is their first clutch and the chicks they have are like gold to me! My first successful AI from my best cock and an oh-so-troublesome hen.

 

Cross your fingers for me! I'll post picks from the 5 fledged chicks from the first pair, and hope to report back with some good news on sunday about a new AI baby!

I have all my fingers and toes crossed for you Dean

AI baby #1 hatched on saturday night and seems to be doing well. Interestingly enough, the remaining foster egg (remember the others were DIS when i came home) has hatched and the hen seems to be feeding superbly. She didnt feed her first fosters a month or so ago and they died, so it looks like she's caught on now. AI baby #2 is hatching as we speak, should be out in about 2 hours, but its late so i wont check until tomorrow morning when it for sure will have hatched.

 

Cant believe it worked! Babies from my best cock who would never breed on his own Touch wood they survive to fledging and beyond - I'm terrified of getting my hopes up or jynxing it lol, but I'm so glad I spent the time (and had some help) learning AI techniques so I can use them on the rare occasion where there is no other hope. All part of my growing library of breeding skills Pics soon! I know im slow on it but i have one more assignment to finish and then i will have time

okay so here is a quick update. I should have pictures tomorrow

 

Augren and viola round 2 - they have TEN fertile eggs. Egg #1 is DIS, but egg # 2 hatched yesterday. All the other eggs are looking great I have so far fostered egg 2 and 3, so no eggs have actually hatched for viola yet. I plan on fostering 1 or 2 more out so she only raises 5 or at most 6 since she is a great parent.

 

The AI pair are raising one foster egg from the pair that are raising the AI eggs instead and now they are raising the first of augren and viola's second round of chicks. She seems to have clued on to feeding now, and doesnt appear to have any problems there so fingers crossed. She also has 2 further AI eggs that were laid a bit late and are fertile which i hope she will be able to raise herself fingers crossed.

 

The foster pair have got 3 AI chicks hatched and growing, a 4th started hatching yesterday but it seems to be slow going. There is a decent whole chipped in it but the egg feels quite tough, so i expect it'll either be hatched and happy tomorrow or dead. Find out when i wake up. There is one more fertile AI egg to hatch in this nest (which means including the other 2, there were 7 eggs successfully fertilised by AI out of 10 for this round).

 

So in total, there were 10, 10 and 6 eggs laid in the three nests. 3 were infertile, a night fright caused 5 eggs to chill and the remaining egg hatched, another egg is DIS for unkown reasons and the remaining 17 eggs have hatched or are soon to hatch. Looking to be a bumper crop for me, considering I have only a handful of pairs down at a time.

Edited September 21, 200915 yr by Dean_NZ

Great results

Here are some quick pics:

 

Augren and viola round 1 - 3 of their five chicks (the other two are albinos so yeh, you know what they look like lol).

 

 

I will be keeping the large violet sky blue hen on the left (look how skinny her brother on the right looks by comparison lol). Then there is a normal cobalt split opaline cock i will be selling, and a YF1 SF violet cobalt cock split opaline i will be keeping. I will sell the two albino hens from this round too.

 

In the next nest we have one foster chick from a feeder pair, and the first chick from augren and viola's second round. There is one more egg from augren and viola to hatch, plus they have two of their own AI eggs being incubated. So eggs/chicks from 3 nests in the one box lol.

 

 

And here are the AI babies who wouldnt exist if not for AI! The youngest one you can just see amidst the scrum hatched late yesterday when i checked just before it got too dark.. I thought the hen was eating her baby at first, she had a bloody face and i could see blood coming out of the egg membrane. But before i intervened, she proceded to eat the egg shell right around the baby and then all of a sudden there was a baby! Seems to be doing well, and has been fed already. One remaining AI egg to hatch here, and i added an infertile egg to stop mum sitting too heavy just in case.

 

 

And yes i am trialing a mix of kitty litter and rolled oats this season. I remember reading somewhere that kitty litter can be a bit too absorbant and may dry eggs out? Anyone used it before? I am loving the solid grippy base it provides and its very absorbant, i use the oats to add a softer touch to the base.

Edited September 22, 200915 yr by Dean_NZ