Hi guys. Have spent hours reading all the information on your site and it's really helped me get set up and ready to start breeding.

 

I have a dark green opaline cock (2 years old), a grey dominant pied cock (21 months old), an albino hen (18 months old) and a grey (I think) normal hen (8 months old).

 

I was going to pair up the opaline cock and the grey hen, but after reading everyone's advice about when to breed a hen, I have thrown that idea out for at least another 6 months. She is a very good bird though, she has good size, great markings and a good head. I'm pretty sure she is a grey, as her cheek patches are grey, not blue. All the birds are together in the aviary I've just built and the two hens have very dark brown ceres.

 

My dilemma now is which cock I should pair with the albino hen.

 

I've read that I should watch the birds to see which one's naturally pair up, but then I know a breeder who just selects the birds he breeds with so he gets a certain result. I've only got one hen who's ready to breed, so at least that part of the decision is easy!

 

The grey pied cock does not have as good a head and is very slightly smaller than the dark green opaline cock. The albino hen is smaller again and has a small head.

 

I am wanting to use these four birds as the basis of my flock, but will probably purchase better quality birds down the track to improve the flock overall. I like the colouring of the pieds, but I understand the need to have good quality normals as well.

 

So from what I've read here, I believe I could expect the following results if I paired the birds together:

 

Opline cock & Albinon hen – Normal/albino cocks & Normal hens. Some of the cocks may carry the opaline trait, but any female carrying the opaline trait will be visibly opaline. Will I only get green birds from this mating, or will I get other colours too?

 

Dominant Pied cock & Albino hen – I don't know whether the cock is a SF or DF, but I guess I'll know soon enough, as DF will produce all SF chicks, SF will produce 50% SF and 50% normal. I presume some of the cocks (or all?) will carry the albino trait, but none of the hens will carry it? Once again, I am not sure what colours I will get either.

 

I guess the other and probably more important aspect long-term, is which cock I should put with the grey hen in about six months time.

 

Is it okay to use the same cock with the albino hen and then swap it to the grey hen, or should I 'rest' one male so he's ready to mate with the grey hen?

 

The grey hen is the better bird and I'm not too fussed on albinos to be honest, so I'd rather be patient and keep the best birds for breeding.

 

I'd really appreciate any suggestions or advice. Thanks in advance.

Edited August 31, 201014 yr by The Black Doctor

Hi Doc, are you control breeding, breeding in cabinets or colony breeding.

 

if your Albino has a small head I would put your best cock over her because it is hard enough to breed good albino, the the best colour to put with an albino is grey but you do not have a grey cock .

Your grey hen you can breed from her at 12 months.

Yes it should be okay do put the cock to the grey after he has finished with the albino. The birds can raise 2 rounds safely a year.

Good luck with your breeding

Hi Doc, are you control breeding, breeding in cabinets or colony breeding.

 

if your Albino has a small head I would put your best cock over her because it is hard enough to breed good albino, the the best colour to put with an albino is grey but you do not have a grey cock .

Your grey hen you can breed from her at 12 months.

Yes it should be okay do put the cock to the grey after he has finished with the albino. The birds can raise 2 rounds safely a year.

Good luck with your breeding

 

Thanks splat.

 

I'm breeding in cabinets - one question - is it okay to leave the cabinet inside the aviary or is this a bad idea?

 

The dominant pied is grey, so would it be better to put him over the ablino hen? The dark green opaline cock is the better bird though - I just don't want to end up with a heap of green birds.

 

I guess I'd then have to buy another albino hen to mate with her offspring cocks if I wanted to produce an albino, or buy a male albino or normal/albino to breed with my existing albino hen?

 

I want to have a good flock of dominant pieds, so would it be better to put the grey dominant pied cock over the grey hen? (she is the best bird out of the four)

 

Any idea of the colours I could expect from these pairings?

 

I might take some photos of the birds and post them.

 

Thanks again for your help.

Edited August 31, 201014 yr by The Black Doctor

Hi Doc, are you control breeding, breeding in cabinets or colony breeding.

 

if your Albino has a small head I would put your best cock over her because it is hard enough to breed good albino, the the best colour to put with an albino is grey but you do not have a grey cock .

Your grey hen you can breed from her at 12 months.

Yes it should be okay do put the cock to the grey after he has finished with the albino. The birds can raise 2 rounds safely a year.

Good luck with your breeding

 

Thanks splat.

 

I'm breeding in cabinets - one question - is it okay to leave the cabinet inside the aviary or is this a bad idea?

 

The dominant pied is grey, so would it be better to put him over the ablino hen? The dark green opaline cock is the better bird though - I just don't want to end up with a heap of green birds.

 

I guess I'd then have to buy another albino hen to mate with her offspring cocks if I wanted to produce an albino, or buy a male albino or normal/albino to breed with my existing albino hen?

 

I want to have a good flock of dominant pieds, so would it be better to put the grey dominant pied cock over the grey hen? (she is the best bird out of the four)

 

Any idea of the colours I could expect from these pairings?

 

I might take some photos of the birds and post them.

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

 

well i read this from your welcome post so to start with welcome

ps i love the name

 

im going to say that if your worryed about colour and your breeding for show standards then dont as as you get more birds if you think about the chicks you produce this time with your two pairings and then buy in a bird to introduce the colour it will be okay

just for show birds its best to pair the birds that dont have same fults rather than best to best (untill you have only good )

 

unless i saw the birds i could not comment on my pairing opinion

as idealistically anything you pair with the albino will give you split albino cocks

but if you dont know what your albino hen is masking

eg opaline spangle skyblue cobalt or grey possibly even violet or sky violet

then id be inclinded to pair her to the opaline boy this way you will find out if shes Opaline or not

and spangle at same time and as for colour well you may get a prize and he may be split blue so you will find out alot from this pairring however if shes masking grey you will find this out also as you will get grey greens maybe to see if hes split cinnamon

 

thats just me though when i have no back ground i tend to breed things that can bring out the most of whats hidden

well good luck

oh and its better not to breed in aviary as toes can be bitten off but if you cover cabinets or put shade cloth on tightly so bids cant get caught and can all still see eachother what not its okay its just the protective nest thing that makes probblems in my eyes

I'm breeding in cabinets - one question - is it okay to leave the cabinet inside the aviary or is this a bad idea?

 

Bad idea......too many distraction to the breeding pair and also other birds clambering all over the breeding cabinets.

Hi Doc, are you control breeding, breeding in cabinets or colony breeding.

 

if your Albino has a small head I would put your best cock over her because it is hard enough to breed good albino, the the best colour to put with an albino is grey but you do not have a grey cock .

Your grey hen you can breed from her at 12 months.

Yes it should be okay do put the cock to the grey after he has finished with the albino. The birds can raise 2 rounds safely a year.

Good luck with your breeding

 

Thanks splat.

 

I'm breeding in cabinets - one question - is it okay to leave the cabinet inside the aviary or is this a bad idea?

 

The dominant pied is grey, so would it be better to put him over the ablino hen? The dark green opaline cock is the better bird though - I just don't want to end up with a heap of green birds.

 

I guess I'd then have to buy another albino hen to mate with her offspring cocks if I wanted to produce an albino, or buy a male albino or normal/albino to breed with my existing albino hen?

 

I want to have a good flock of dominant pieds, so would it be better to put the grey dominant pied cock over the grey hen? (she is the best bird out of the four)

 

Any idea of the colours I could expect from these pairings?

 

I might take some photos of the birds and post them.

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

 

well i read this from your welcome post so to start with welcome

ps i love the name

 

im going to say that if your worryed about colour and your breeding for show standards then dont as as you get more birds if you think about the chicks you produce this time with your two pairings and then buy in a bird to introduce the colour it will be okay

just for show birds its best to pair the birds that dont have same fults rather than best to best (untill you have only good )

 

unless i saw the birds i could not comment on my pairing opinion

as idealistically anything you pair with the albino will give you split albino cocks

but if you dont know what your albino hen is masking

eg opaline spangle skyblue cobalt or grey possibly even violet or sky violet

then id be inclinded to pair her to the opaline boy this way you will find out if shes Opaline or not

and spangle at same time and as for colour well you may get a prize and he may be split blue so you will find out alot from this pairring however if shes masking grey you will find this out also as you will get grey greens maybe to see if hes split cinnamon

 

thats just me though when i have no back ground i tend to breed things that can bring out the most of whats hidden

well good luck

oh and its better not to breed in aviary as toes can be bitten off but if you cover cabinets or put shade cloth on tightly so bids cant get caught and can all still see eachother what not its okay its just the protective nest thing that makes probblems in my eyes

 

 

Thanks so much for the info GenericBlue - it really helps.

 

I'm not really breeding for colour - I'm just interested in what I could expect, but it appears that the only way I'm going to get a bit more of an idea about what my birds are split for it to look at the chicks they produce. I'm guessing even then there could be a trait that doesn't appear in the chicks anyway! It's all a bit confusing, but at the same time exciting!

 

I wasn't sure how albino's came about or what traits my hen may be carrying, but from what I've read on this site and what you've told me, it sounds like she could be split for a number of traits - that's great!

 

I'll take some photos in the morning and try and post them, so you can have a look at them. Obviously, there nowhere near the quality of some of the photos I've seen on here, but I've got to start somewhere. Despite my enthusiasm, I want to be patient and do it right.

 

I'll take on board your and Kaz's advice re: the breeding cabinet not being in the avairy - I'll move it into the garden shed once I've cleared some space! I got the cocks on Saturday and put them in a cage with my existing hens. On Sunday I moved the birds into the avairy and they seem to be settling into it nicely. I was intending to pair them up this weekend - I just have to finish building the breeding cabinet.

Hi Doc Black, my avian Vet is Doctor Black .

 

Yes I would diffentley not put breeding cages in an open aviary, like Kaz said to much interuptions, and aviary birds will sit and land on the cages.

 

If you got your cocks last weekend and put them in with your exiting hen, you really should of keeped those new birds seperated for a a few weeks to make sure they have no diseases. Some say 4 weeks, others say 6 weeks. How long is up to you but it is really important.

Here is a link for one of Kaz's tables it might help.

http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....showtopic=23594

okay - I took some photos this morning, so please fire away with any suggestions for pairings!

 

Pong - Dark green opaline cock

 

 

Sami - Albino hen

 

Ping - Grey dominant pied cock

 

Jamee - Grey normal hen

 

 

 

Aaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh! Why aren't my photos sitting underneath one another!!

Edited September 2, 201014 yr by KAZ
fixed photos

Welcome Doc!

 

If you prefer greys/blues over greens then pairing the grey dom to the albino will ensure all chicks are blue series and all will be visually normal (unless the dom is split for ino of course). You might get some nice surprises to depending on what the albino hen is masking (spangle or some other dominant variety for example).

 

Pairing the green to the grey hen later on will give you the opportunity to breed away from grey as well (unless the hen is a df grey) and give you some nice dark factors. If the cock is split for blue then there is the chance for some cobalts maybe.....

 

UNLESS you want to pair for type rather than colour........ If that's the case then (although it's really hard to judge from the photo's) I'd pair the green with the albino. I actually prefer the albino over the grey as the grey has than pin headed look with a big rather squatish body. The head and face on either hen, there is not that much difference between. To improve your birds towards the exhibition style of bird then need to consider size, feather and deportment and pair best with best.

Welcome Doc!If you prefer greys/blues over greens then pairing the grey dom to the albino will ensure all chicks are blue series and all will be visually normal (unless the dom is split for ino of course). You might get some nice surprises to depending on what the albino hen is masking (spangle or some other dominant variety for example).Pairing the green to the grey hen later on will give you the opportunity to breed away from grey as well (unless the hen is a df grey) and give you some nice dark factors. If the cock is split for blue then there is the chance for some cobalts maybe.....UNLESS you want to pair for type rather than colour........ If that's the case then (although it's really hard to judge from the photo's) I'd pair the green with the albino. I actually prefer the albino over the grey as the grey has than pin headed look with a big rather squatish body. The head and face on either hen, there is not that much difference between. To improve your birds towards the exhibition style of bird then need to consider size, feather and deportment and pair best with best.

Thanks for the welcome and the information nubbly5. I think the more I read, the more inclined I am to pair the green with the albino, then the dominant pied with the grey (when she's old enough). I probably then swap each pair over and see what comes out of the nest, then I might look at bringing in some birds from another breeder, depending on which way I want to go at the time and what I end up with.And thanks Kaz for fixing up my photos!

seeing birds i would do as nubbly suggested green to albino

as the grey and the grey are very lacking in head if your trying to breed toward show birds

and the green as a better feather also his top end is better than the grey dom

 

you will enjoy your out come either way regardless of what the birds come out like

but id do green to bino if colours no issue