I've been meaning to get some pictures up of the newer members of my flock. Getting good photos is a challenge for me, though. I think I have enough to make a start, I can put up 4 out of my 13 recent acquisitions.

 

It all started with Donovan. Actually, it started with a couple of pretty birds I saw in the pet store, which got me to thinking I should wait until I found some spangles. So then I found Donovan. (I went back and got the pretty birds later! )

 

 

 

This is from when I first got him, and he had missing feathers due to being plucked in the nest box. He is going through his first moult, now, so here are some updated pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I got Donovan, I scoured the city looking for other spangles. I was also looking for recessive pieds, and I picked up a few of those, but I couldn't find any more spangles anywhere. So even though I had some reservations about Donovan's breeder, I decided to go back there and buy his two nestmates. They are Kevin and Fiona:

 

 

 

In this picture, Kevin has begun moulting, but Fiona hasn't started hers. Kevin's moult right now is at 8 weeks and counting. Donovan and Fiona have finally started moulting, but it just goes to show how much variation there can be even among nestmates born just days apart. (They are 5 months old this week.) They are doing a pretty good job growing new feathers over their plucked areas, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is always a visual disturbance there.

 

More pictures of Kevin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some more of Fiona:

 

(on the right)

 

 

 

That other hen in there with Fiona is Sorcha. She's the one who has the beak issues, and her own thread. She is the 4th and final bird that I bought from that same breeder. She was kind of an impulse purchase, which goes to show that it really is better to think about these things for a while first.

 

I had wanted to buy the mother to the three nestmates, as she is a white DF Spangle. But she was on eggs again, and not for sale. The breeder really only wanted to sell her birds in pairs, and I didn't want to buy an extra bird, just to get one I wanted. But then she remembered about this hen whose mate had died a few months prior, so she was willing to sell her singly. When I heard that she was grey wing, I asked to see her, and when I saw that she was YF type 1 as well, that decided me. That was when my brain left my head and I forgot to check her for signs of ill health. Well, I have learned my lesson on that one!

 

Oh, and I guess I should add what I think their mutations are.

 

Donovan- Cobalt or Violet Spangle (Leaning toward violet, as he looks more like Fiona than Kevin.)

 

Kevin- Sky Blue Spangle

 

Fiona- Violet Grey Wing Spangle (Could possibly be clearwing or full body greywing, because her body color is really quite vibrant.)

 

Sorcha- Goldenface/Yellowface Mutant I (combination) Cobalt Greywing Normal (Although she seems to have a violet blush to her neck there, so if anyone were to argue that she were sky-violet, I would concur.) I'm not real good at identifying cobalt, but she just seems too dark to be sky.

 

I will add more of the other birds someday when I get decent pictures of them.

They're gorgeous!

 

I love it when people give their pets "people names" !!!

They're gorgeous!

 

I love it when people give their pets "people names" !!!

 

 

Thank you. We've been having a lot of fun following a theme of Irish names. We're starting to have to dig a little deeper!

They are lovely Finnie, you must be so happy and excited!

They are lovely Finnie, you must be so happy and excited!

 

 

What really made me happy was that once I had a bird room, I got to have a little more free reign on deciding how many birds I could buy. My husband has become a little more understanding of what this endeavor means to me, and is a little more supportive and encouraging now. (Although he is still a little worried about my ability to sell them, and has taken to keeping track of the egg count! )

he is still a little worried about my ability to sell them, and has taken to keeping track of the egg count! )

 

 

Tell him from me the wise old saying

 

Dont count your chickens until they hatch

he is still a little worried about my ability to sell them, and has taken to keeping track of the egg count! :rofl: )

 

 

Tell him from me the wise old saying

 

Dont count your chickens until they hatch :rofl: :rofl:

 

 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Time for the next installment of my flock.

 

 

 

In the foreground, is Ariel. She is my first recessive pied. In the store, I picked her out because I hoped she was male. After the guy caught her for me, her cere began to look pale around the nostrils, so I didn't buy her. But I really liked her, so after I searched around and found some other male birds to buy, I went back and bought Ariel, too.

 

I thought she looked cinnamon in the store. In fact, to tell the guy which bird I wanted, I told him the purple and white one with the brown spots on the wings. There were about 4 fitting that description, but some of them looked blacker than others. Once I got her home, she didn't seem so brown anymore. In fact, I got a different cinnamon girl later, and now Ariel looks nothing like cinnamon to me.

 

Since I needed a male bird to go with her to keep my flock even, I bought Keegan at the same time:

 

 

 

Keegan is a dark eyed clear, green series. I'll have to breed him to find out what he is masking.

 

Here are some more pictures of Keegan and Ariel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Ariel between the cinnamon hen and a greywing:

 

 

 

Later I will try to get pictures of more of them. :sadsorry:

I have to say something..............I would hate for you to find a bird the way i did due to toys that are dangerous

 

this one

any fringing on toys longer than an inch and a half can often result in hanging a bird :sadsorry:

they weave throughy the fringing and turn and twist and next thing you know they are caught up. I have lost three birds over the years this way. One was only caught by the wing but flapped and flapped to free itself until it died. Other two were found with the fringing twisted so tight around the neck that even the one found still alive could not be freed without death.

Suggest remove that toy or cut off fringing to a very short length.

Edited January 18, 201015 yr by KAZ

Thanks, Kaz. I will check on the whereabouts of that toy. I think it got old and thrown out. :sadsorry:

 

 

 

I've been very excited, lately, because my boy Kevin has begun to talk!!!

 

Of course, no one else has heard it, and they think I'm imagining it. But for a long time, when he chats to Sorcha or his toys, he has made "speech-like" noises. Then the other day I distinctly heard him say ".......pretty b--...."

 

He said it two or three times. I can't make out if the second word is boy or bird, I call him both, so it could be either.

 

Needless to say, I've been stepping up the amount of time I spend talking to him, in hopes he will say more.

 

I really never expected a talking bird amongst my rather large flock, but you never know. This is quite exciting!

Thanks, Kaz. I will check on the whereabouts of that toy. I think it got old and thrown out. :rofl:

There's that toy

 

and still long enough to hang a budgie. I lost 2-3 that way.

They are all so lovely :rofl:

Thanks, Kaz. I will check on the whereabouts of that toy. I think it got old and thrown out. :rofl:

There's that toy

 

and still long enough to hang a budgie. I lost 2-3 that way.

 

 

Kaz, I knew you were going to pick up on that. :rofl: It is the same picture! Don't worry, that toy is long gone!

 

But it is good to keep mentioning it so someone new doesn't come along and think it's an okay toy.

Kaz, I knew you were going to pick up on that. :rofl: It is the same picture! Don't worry, that toy is long gone!

 

But it is good to keep mentioning it so someone new doesn't come along and think it's an okay toy. :rofl:

I have vivid memories of finding birds hung by such things.....therefore I am super vigilant now about the possible dangers

Finnie your birds are so gorgeous :rofl: And I love the names too.

 

The picture looking into the cage that looks quite long...what are the dimensions? It looks like a great cage!

 

having a "bird room" is great isn't it? I've sort of taken over my oldest son's bedroom since he moved out for my bird room but he's building me a bird aviary shaped like a six sided gazebo for out on our deck instead, heated of course Guess he didn't want them in his old room :rofl:

Edited February 6, 201015 yr by defieldsfamily

They are all sweet, Finnie. Can you get pics of the whole flock?

The picture looking into the cage that looks quite long...what are the dimensions? It looks like a great cage!

 

having a "bird room" is great isn't it? I've sort of taken over my oldest son's bedroom since he moved out for my bird room but he's building me a bird aviary shaped like a six sided gazebo for out on our deck instead, heated of course Guess he didn't want them in his old room

 

I really do like having a "bird room"! When I talked my husband into letting me breed the budgies, my limit was going to be 12 birds, including any babies I kept. Once we set up the bird room in the basement, I suddenly felt more free to make my own decisions on what birds to buy and how many to keep!

 

(My oldest daughter was living in that half of the basement, and she moved out and left all her stuff there, which I piled into one corner. I don't think she'll be wanting to move back any time soon! :laughter: )

 

They are all sweet, Finnie. Can you get pics of the whole flock?

 

I'm trying, Ratzy. My goal is to put up a little blurb about each bird with a few pictures. But I am slow. And right now photographing birds has taken a back seat to housebreaking the puppy.

 

But I will re post a couple of pictures of the long cage, just for you. (By the way, the long cage is 65"wide, 21"deep, and 34" high.)

 

 

 

(Note to Kaz, this is an old photo, and that deadly toy has made it's way in there, bottom left. It must have been one of my favorites, but I swear, I don't have it anymore. They like string type preening toys, but I'm being careful now to make sure the string parts are very short. )

 

 

Look, you can see that the hanger that string toy was on is empty in this picture! I think what happened was that it fell down to the bottom and got pooped on, so I threw it away. That was before I knew it was dangerous.

 

Oh, and that beige stringy thing that's on the perch there, next to the spangle, that was a napkin ring I got at Goodwill. It's wrapped in twine or something, they love to tear at it.

 

How is your lighting being as its in the basement ? Any natural light ?

How is your lighting being as its in the basement ? Any natural light ?

 

 

Lack of natural light is a problem. There is one window, but it is small. To compensate, I have bought a couple of 5 arm floor lamps, and I've put fluorescent bulbs in some of the arms, and some light bulbs that are labeled "full color spectrum" in other arms. I don't put a lot of faith in the label "full color spectrum", because I think it is meant more for how the light appears in your room, rather than how strong of light waves it is emitting. But, hopefully between the two types of light, they will do okay.

 

I also make sure they get calcium and vitamin d3 supplements in their water.

 

Here are some photos of the lighting set-up:

 

 

 

 

Hi Finnie, just a quick note, the yellow faced bird pictured is not a spangle, but a yellow face greywing cheers Clearwing

Hi Finnie, just a quick note, the yellow faced bird pictured is not a spangle, but a yellow face greywing cheers Clearwing

 

 

Hi Clearwing,

 

Are you referring to my comment about the stringy thing next to the spangle? Because I went back and looked, and realized that the comment was meant to go with the picture above it, but there is another stringy thing in the photo below it, too. And in the lower photo, yes, it's next to Kelly, my yellowface greywing hen. But if you look in the photo above, there is a twiney napkin ring hung from the perch, and it its near the spangle, Donovan. (And Kelly is there, too, further to the left.) Sorry for the confusion. -Finnie

hahaha now i'm confused sorry hahaah

 

I thought your yellow faced hen was Sorcha - do you have two yellowfaced hens? You had already described Sorcha as a Yellowfaced greywing - did you change her name to Kelly? haha i'm a bit useless

Yes, Amy, I have two yellowfaced greywing hens! Sorry,about that!

 

Here is Sorcha, who I bought in October. She is a YF mutant 1, or possibly Goldenface, or a combination of both. Also, she is cobalt.

 

 

 

And here is Kelly, who I bought in August. She is a skyblue YF2 greywing.

 

 

I think Kelly is yf2 because there is some suffusion of yellow into her body and wings, however, she has gone through 2 moults since I got her, and the suffusion is not turning her to a seafoam green, like I expected. So Kelly could be a yf1, likd Sorcha. But her colors over all are much more diluted than Sorcha's.

ahhh that explains it! I can see the difference in them but I must have missed that picture whoops