Post by Azurei on Feb 5, 2014 19:44:22 GMT
Well, Bob and Marli have been in the breeding cage for a couple of days (actually, just after I said I had no pairs at the moment in another post I popped them in ) rings are to be ordered friday if I can get the right size (argh just saw Bob and Marli mate for the first time since I put them in but I need to ramble on some more hang on), and my proper breeding setup will be ordered within the next few weeks, as at the moment, I only have 3 adult pairs (plenty of un-paired adults mind you), all around 1yr to 20 months old, Suki and Skylar have had two clutches this year, 1 chick survived from the first clutch, 3 from the second clutch, both were new to parenthood and over all I was proud of them and how it went, but Suki decided to hoover the babies down, then late on the second clutch started on pinnies which is a shame, I can always foster her eggs out if I need to at a later date but for now she and Skylar are having a well deserved rest.
Suki and Skylar:
The other pair is Misty and Smudge, I popped them in a breeding cage, and Misty destroyed the concave and started to come out of condition though she let Smudge mate but still, that was a no go! Hence we have Bob and Marli and I'm very happy with how they have been these past two days, they seem keen, and at the right stage hormonally, so we're all go Within the next months I will have several pairs ready to breed and we can truly get the breeding season (my first) under way.
Misty and Smudge:
I am buying my rings from here:
www.avianid.co.uk/index
They will be violet or green this year, with my initials, the year and bird number, also the ring size in case anyone needs to know it, and I'm looking into split rings for my current birds as all are un-ringed and I'd like to know at a glance what year they hatched as I know their age, 2012 and 2013 birds, so a colour for each year would be nice, hopefully in red and blue and aluminium bands like the closed bands, I'm going to buy some and see what they are like, but if I'm not happy with them I won't use them, they are fairly inexpensive anyway. Something like this perhaps:
The setup I'm after....I decided to go with all wire cages in the end, I had been after the wooden setup with cage fronts but I had enough trouble cleaning next boxes never mind wooden cages! I bet they soak up everything! The four cages I am purchasing are stackable, with dividers, a door at the front and each side for next boxes, come with perches and feeders (though I will likely replace these) and are a good size, they come as a foursome for £106 including delivery which is very reasonable, and I can always buy another stack if needs be for next year, but I don't plan on breeding too many birds in one go as I am doing this inside my home, not outside
Bob and Marli have been in the breeding cage for two days, there is a liquid calcium/D3 supplement in the water, I put this in for a period of time before laying, and throughout laying, then periodically as the chicks grow for their bone development. The pair have egg food already and have had it for several weeks now so we get a nice rich yolk in the hens eggs, unlike Suki, Marli liked egg food straight away, Sukis second clutch seemed to fare much better, by then Suki was happy to eat egg food. Bob and Marli have also been given a range of veggies, this continues with or without chicks organic veg is given when raising young chicks.
I haven't got any methods down to a T yet, as I'm very new to all this! But we're not doing so bad as you know Bob and Marli have been observed mating today Marli does have a little bit of a bulge in the vent area and her poops are marginally bigger, but they could be all the rich food she's been having the past few days I expect her to start laying within the next two weeks, hopefully within about a week.
Sorry about the out of focus pictures in bad lighting The happy couple:
I'm also quite keen to see what this pair produce, I have no background on the ino (Winter), the cock (Sparks) is a dark green DF dom pied and a 2012 bird, the ino is a 2013 bird and not old enough to breed until summer.
Suki and Skylar:
The other pair is Misty and Smudge, I popped them in a breeding cage, and Misty destroyed the concave and started to come out of condition though she let Smudge mate but still, that was a no go! Hence we have Bob and Marli and I'm very happy with how they have been these past two days, they seem keen, and at the right stage hormonally, so we're all go Within the next months I will have several pairs ready to breed and we can truly get the breeding season (my first) under way.
Misty and Smudge:
I am buying my rings from here:
www.avianid.co.uk/index
They will be violet or green this year, with my initials, the year and bird number, also the ring size in case anyone needs to know it, and I'm looking into split rings for my current birds as all are un-ringed and I'd like to know at a glance what year they hatched as I know their age, 2012 and 2013 birds, so a colour for each year would be nice, hopefully in red and blue and aluminium bands like the closed bands, I'm going to buy some and see what they are like, but if I'm not happy with them I won't use them, they are fairly inexpensive anyway. Something like this perhaps:
The setup I'm after....I decided to go with all wire cages in the end, I had been after the wooden setup with cage fronts but I had enough trouble cleaning next boxes never mind wooden cages! I bet they soak up everything! The four cages I am purchasing are stackable, with dividers, a door at the front and each side for next boxes, come with perches and feeders (though I will likely replace these) and are a good size, they come as a foursome for £106 including delivery which is very reasonable, and I can always buy another stack if needs be for next year, but I don't plan on breeding too many birds in one go as I am doing this inside my home, not outside
Bob and Marli have been in the breeding cage for two days, there is a liquid calcium/D3 supplement in the water, I put this in for a period of time before laying, and throughout laying, then periodically as the chicks grow for their bone development. The pair have egg food already and have had it for several weeks now so we get a nice rich yolk in the hens eggs, unlike Suki, Marli liked egg food straight away, Sukis second clutch seemed to fare much better, by then Suki was happy to eat egg food. Bob and Marli have also been given a range of veggies, this continues with or without chicks organic veg is given when raising young chicks.
I haven't got any methods down to a T yet, as I'm very new to all this! But we're not doing so bad as you know Bob and Marli have been observed mating today Marli does have a little bit of a bulge in the vent area and her poops are marginally bigger, but they could be all the rich food she's been having the past few days I expect her to start laying within the next two weeks, hopefully within about a week.
Sorry about the out of focus pictures in bad lighting The happy couple:
I'm also quite keen to see what this pair produce, I have no background on the ino (Winter), the cock (Sparks) is a dark green DF dom pied and a 2012 bird, the ino is a 2013 bird and not old enough to breed until summer.