Just thought I'd post a few pics quickly taken this morning of 2 babies which have gone into the baby cage in the last few days. Both are from the same nest and hopefully will turn out to be keepers. The Grey is definitely a cock but the Sky Blue is one of those who are sometimes hard to pick. His/Her sisters from the first round were the same. Although I'm leaning towards the Blue being a cock this time. Here they are:

 

 

 

 

 

Terrific !!! Looks like two boys to me too :ohmygod:

wow look at the feather on them too beautiful :ohmygod:

Thanks Kaz and GB. The Blue is actually a fair bit bigger than the Grey but I couldn't get a picture showing it. They came from a nest of 8 (out of 8 eggs). The first nest was 5 from 5. The father is a Henry George bird which Henry said was a very fertile line. He wasn't wrong!!

 

There's also a Normal Blue sister I like but I can't get a photo of her as she's a bit older and more aware now. There's also another brother, the Grey below, who came first in a class of 10 at Ipswich last weekend. It's a shocking photo of him. He's a showy little fella but needs more width. Not sure if I'll keep him long term but he's here for another year while I decide

 

Edited October 9, 200915 yr by Daryl

The grey has a nice head, and knowing how they grow on I would be keeping him to see how he turns out if I was you

The grey has a nice head, and knowing how they grow on I would be keeping him to see how he turns out if I was you

 

Yep, I think I'll have to do that. I think perhaps the picture flatters him a little, but it will be interesting to see how he looks in 6 and 12 months.

WOW Daryl your spangles are just stunning you must be very pleased with them.

WOW Daryl your spangles are just stunning you must be very pleased with them.

 

Thanks. I think both of these guys will be better than their parents and that's what breeding for show is all about. The one thing I'm most happy about with this line though is the fertility. I explained the father above but the mother, who I bred, came from a nest of 4 (from 4 eggs) so I'm hoping good fertility will be inherent in this family of birds. It's the often unthought of feature we need to be aware of when trying to breed budgies.

Fertility seems to come with a certain breeders birds I bought...all my Gary Armstrong birds have great fertility. But also seems to be a thing with spangles too, I have noticed.

Managed to get a few more photos of the family. The first photo is the Sky Blue hen I mentioned above (even though the cere looks blue in this picture she is definitely a hen). The second and third pics are of another Sky sister who is a bit finer feathered.

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely gorgeous Daryl ~ Well done!

Thanks Renee. I think the first Sky hen will turn out pretty nice.

 

Also have 1 more picture taken today of the fuzzy Grey in the show cage above. This one is better focused but he is not blowing as well here. Still not sure if he'll stay as I think he lacks impact. But as Kaz mentioned above they can change a lot while growing up.

 

Edited October 9, 200915 yr by Daryl

very lovely babies, Daryl

Here's one more, related, but not from the same nest. This guy is bred from the grandfather of the babies above (ie he's an uncle to them). He was bred in April and he came second in his class at the Ipswich Bird Spectacular in June to the bird which went on to win Best Novice Nestfeather. This picture was taken at the show.

 

 

 

Here he is today, still going through his first moult. His mother is a Spangle Violet as is he, although on some monitors he may look Cobalt.

 

Here's one more, related, but not from the same nest. This guy is bred from the grandfather of the babies above (ie he's an uncle to them). He was bred in April and he came second in his class at the Ipswich Bird Spectacular in June to the bird which went on to win Best Novice Nestfeather. This picture was taken at the show.

 

 

 

Here he is today, still going through his first moult. His mother is a Spangle Violet as is he, although on some monitors he may look Cobalt.

 

 

 

I thought he looked violet in the first picture. Less so in the second, but it is probably the lighting.

I'm new to all this, so I was wondering, do the spangle markings lighten when they moult?

In the first picture they look sort of "thicker", in the second it's almost as if the feathers are bigger, with more white area, and smaller black area.

Is this just my imagination?

Or maybe due, again, to the different lighting in the second picture.

But since I know that moulting brings on changes in color intensity, I was wondering if the spangle markings area also affected.

well done daryl very nice

Yes Finnie. it's quite common for Spangles in their baby feather to have nice charcoal Spangle markings which then moult out to become less distinct. The mother of this guy has very dark Spangle markings whilst the father has very pale Spangle markings. I think this one will end up somewhere in between.

I'm not involved in the show side of things, but for you, are darker markings preferred?

WOW Daryl your birds are stunning, love the spangles, well done

Just an update. Although it doesn't seem so from the photo, the Spangle Sky Blue in the top pictures has turned out to be a hen! This happend with her older sister from the first nest too. Maybe it's a family trait in that some of the hens in this family start with a pink cere. I'll try to get a photo of her sometime but she doesn't sit still near the camera now

Just caught this thread Darryl and you have some stunning young birds.

 

Just you hang onto that grey (for at least 12 months) and then make the decision. The biggest improvement in my stud came when I could keep younger birds longer before selling them off. When I sold them before 12mths old I tended to get rid of those ones that didn't look like much as babies but then "suddenly appear" in your aviary having you ask yourself "where on earth did THAT come from?".

 

I kept seeing nice birds in other peoples aviary that turned out to be ones of my own that I had sold on as youngsters - I figured out quickly that I was selling them way too early!

Just caught this thread Darryl and you have some stunning young birds.

 

Just you hang onto that grey (for at least 12 months) and then make the decision. The biggest improvement in my stud came when I could keep younger birds longer before selling them off. When I sold them before 12mths old I tended to get rid of those ones that didn't look like much as babies but then "suddenly appear" in your aviary having you ask yourself "where on earth did THAT come from?".

 

I kept seeing nice birds in other peoples aviary that turned out to be ones of my own that I had sold on as youngsters - I figured out quickly that I was selling them way too early!

 

Thanks nubbly. I will keep him if only to be able to show him next year as I haven't bred many red ringers (edit: damn, just realised I cut the red ring off and kept the blue one!) Don't get me wrong, I think he will turn out to be one of those "nice" birds. But for the breeding cage I'd like to try and use only cocks that excel in something and I reckon he'll just be nice overall without having an outstanding feature. Whereas the Spangle Grey cock, whilst not a fantastic bird, has a bit of shoulder about him and I don't have many that do so he should stay.

Edited October 20, 200915 yr by Daryl

Just caught this thread Darryl and you have some stunning young birds.

 

Just you hang onto that grey (for at least 12 months) and then make the decision. The biggest improvement in my stud came when I could keep younger birds longer before selling them off. When I sold them before 12mths old I tended to get rid of those ones that didn't look like much as babies but then "suddenly appear" in your aviary having you ask yourself "where on earth did THAT come from?".

 

I kept seeing nice birds in other peoples aviary that turned out to be ones of my own that I had sold on as youngsters - I figured out quickly that I was selling them way too early!

 

So true and guilty of it and I still keep doing it