Time for a new breeding journal, and I have put 4 pairs down to start with. 3 pairs are from the Tonkin bloodline and 1 pair is a Kent bred spangle cock with a Cec Gearing bred DF spangle hen.

 

All pairings were recommended by the breeder I purchased the birds from.

 

Pair 1

 

Grey cock paired to a YF Grey Hen

 

 

 

Pair 2

 

GreyGreen Cock to a DF Yellow Spangle Hen

 

 

 

Pair 3

 

GreyGreen Cinnamon Cock to an Opaline GreyGreen Dommie Pied Hen

 

 

 

Pair 3

 

GreyGreen Spangle Cock (Kent bred) to a DF Yellow Spangle Hen (Cec Gearing Bred)

 

 

 

 

So this is the start to my breeding season. More pairs to go down soon, and new breeding cabinets to be purchased -

Edited October 26, 201014 yr by Dave_McMinn

Better quality birds than you have ever had to put together eh, Dave

 

Wishing you heaps of success

One day I will put one in a show cage and take it to my club and see what they think - damn novices

Good luck with your breeding season, I'd love to have birds like that to start breeding with.

Wow Dave those birds look really good, you should get some good chicks from them. all the best for your breeding season and I hope you breed some crackers

More pairs to go down soon, and new breeding cabinets to be purchased -

How many cabinets will you be running Dave ?

yep some nice lookers their dave

you will be producing some beauties id say

good luck with all the unexpected stuff we face

hears hoping it all runs smoothly

More pairs to go down soon, and new breeding cabinets to be purchased -

How many cabinets will you be running Dave ?

 

At this stage there are 9 breeding cabinets, but I am hoping to get about 6 more, so 15 all up. It is about not overdoing it, plus ensuring there is room to put other things in there.

More pairs to go down soon, and new breeding cabinets to be purchased -

How many cabinets will you be running Dave ?

 

At this stage there are 9 breeding cabinets, but I am hoping to get about 6 more, so 15 all up. It is about not overdoing it, plus ensuring there is room to put other things in there.

You will need the extra 6 going as soon as you can so you have backups for fostering etc if need be.

 

By The Way you can get solar lights for sheds at bunnings for around $20

I was thinking of solar lights. That is my plan.

 

Now breeding cages. Any links here appreciated.

 

I check in on the birds morning and night, looking for any signs of getting ready to breed. Pair one is all over each other, preening and feeding, but no signs of anything more. Pairs two and three are still in the bonding stage. Pair four acted like they hated each other to start with. There were raised beaks and dominance of sitting positions. Today I went in and the hen had been in the nest box and had begun preparations by cleaning out wood shavings. A good sign.

Great looking birds Dave. This where I bought my cages http://www.petmania.net.au/BreedingFlightCages.htm. If you email them, they might give you a better price

Try this to Dave because they are probably closer to you

http://www.lentradirect.com.au/contents/en-us/d5.html

the ones I currently have are the 73cm on a 3 tier stand.

 

Do the 61cm ones come with 2 doors?

Great looking birds Dave. This where I bought my cages http://www.petmania.net.au/BreedingFlightCages.htm. If you email them, they might give you a better price :rip:

I bought some from there recently. They were a very good price

the ones I currently have are the 73cm on a 3 tier stand.Do the 61cm ones come with 2 doors?

mine had two side doors, three front doors

The ones I use are 2ft wide and I think 40cm deep and mine has 1 great big large door at front with a small door in the big door, door small doors each side of big door and a small door on each side of cage.

The ones I use are 2ft wide and I think 40cm deep and mine has 1 great big large door at front with a small door in the big door, door small doors each side of big door and a small door on each side of cage.

Same as mine from where RachelM said :rip:

I will buy some more breeding cages this week.

 

Still only four pairs down in the new breeding shed, but all have been checking out the nestboxes, which I am very pleased with. Only yet to see Pair One not engage in the bonded feeding and preening, but I do not stand in there watching, so chances are it is happening.

 

Doing little things for the breeding shed as I go along. Put eye bolts and hooks on the doors so they can stay hooked open so the wind does not blow them closed, scaring the birds inside.

 

I also bought a solar light that will charge during the day and run down over a 3 hour period at night. I will put this up tomorrow afternoon.

I bought a whirleybird to put on the roof to let any hot air out that is accumulating on the roof. I will attach this either this week or the coming weekend.

I bought some flyscreen frames, some mesh and the required components to make flyscreen doors. at the moment I am simply using the bird mesh that I used to hang over the birds when they were under the awning.

 

 

New pairs to go in soon.

Can't wait to see photos of the chicks from the grey cock x yellow faced grey hen!

 

And I like the shed set up you have.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost you to get something like that set up?

Looking good Dave. glad yours pairs are showing interest, won't be long before they start laying now, shed is looking good too, can't wait to see the doors on. Thanks for the idea of the hook and eye bolt as I was wondering how I was going to keep the door open.

My shed sould arrive by the end on next week. BUT still haven't done the cementing as it has been to wet, I really wish the rain would go away for a while. But then I know we need it so I shouldn't say that.

Can't wait to see photos of the chicks from the grey cock x yellow faced grey hen!And I like the shed set up you have. If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost you to get something like that set up?

Hard to determine cost as you have to factor in the shed, the slab it is sitting on, all the cages inside, all the little things you need to purchase.Too depressing to add it all up -

Looking good Dave. glad yours pairs are showing interest, won't be long before they start laying now, shed is looking good too, can't wait to see the doors on. Thanks for the idea of the hook and eye bolt as I was wondering how I was going to keep the door open. My shed sould arrive by the end on next week. BUT still haven't done the cementing as it has been to wet, I really wish the rain would go away for a while. But then I know we need it so I shouldn't say that.

I look forward to seeing the thread on your setup Splat

Thanks Dave I will do a photo essay on it, but I still watching yours for ideas keep them coming.

Update

 

Pair 1 - expecting the first egg tomorrow. Definitely an egg bum there

 

Pair 2 - 2 eggs layed so far

 

Pair 3 - feeding and preening should lead to eggs soon

 

Pair 4 - at least one egg has been layed but it seems to have been eaten. I am lookign to see if another egg is layed here and I will put it under another hen.

Edited September 4, 201014 yr by Dave_McMinn

Cool :nest: exciting, wish you all the best with your breeding

Pair 1 - no eggs

 

Pair 2 - 3 eggs layed, 4 in the box

 

Pair 3 - no eggs yet

 

Pair 4 - they ate their last egg, so I have moved the egg to the Pair 2. I have put a fake egg in the nestbox to encourage the hen to continue laying. I am also going to put some millet in the nestbox. Hopefully by attempting to eat the plastic egg and being unable to, plus the millet to chew on, it will mean that the hen will stop trying to eat the eggs

 

Also pleasing as my new rings arrived. This is the first year I have rings coded for me. DMC.

 

 

 

I cannot wait to ring my first bird with my own rings.

Edited September 5, 201014 yr by Dave_McMinn

First coded rings are always exciting :emoticon112: