Aug 3, 2013 4:01:37 GMT
Boonze
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 10
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Post by Boonze on Aug 3, 2013 8:40:58 GMT
Hi everyone! Aside from my border collie bitch which will be due in about 5 weeks, I've been focusing on breeding zebra finches. I have no 'wild' coloured finches anymore bar 1 hen, so I get some nice colours out of them. I have 11 fledglings, most out of the nest, and I due to not wanting to disturb the parents too much, I've mostly left the chicks alone except for a check once - twice a week, so I haven't really taken note of their colours until they came out of the nest (apart from the obvious white feathering on about half the chicks). So apart from the expected fawn, fawn pied, and normal pieds, I've come across this. I've never seen a zebra this colour before, it's almost like a roan colour with a hood. Note the pale cheek patches (keep in mind these are fresh-from-the-nest fledglings - I didn't expect them to have any sort of 'adult' markings except for the cheek bars in the case of non-pieds or lightly marked pieds. The white male (unmarked white..? Is that a mutation?) is the father of this odd chick, and the wild-type hen the mother. Are there any finch experts here? It's an exciting discovery for me I've always previously been able to identify all the chicks that come through my aviary.
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Post by Hezz on Aug 4, 2013 0:45:33 GMT
Well we are a budgie forum, not a finch forum, so don't know whether anyone can help you with this. Some members have kept finches as well, but whether any still have them, I am not sure. Are there no finch forums where you can ask the questions?
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Post by Learner on Aug 5, 2013 2:45:17 GMT
In the long distant past I kept and bred Zebras by the bus load. They were a very common and popular little bird - rightly so in my opinion. They are charming and entertaining as well as down-right hardy.
I have never seen this variation before. Unusual due to the "hooded" appearance. Looks lovely!
I particularly like the lighter cheek patches that are extenuated by the darker plumage of the rest of the head. It's hard to tell from the photo but I'd imagine the rest of the plumage to be a mixture of grey and possibly fawn?
Cock bird or hen? I have a feeling it might be a cock bird but I guess you'll have to wait for the adult plumage or, failing the development of the usual orange cheek patches, you'll have to wait for the beak to colour up and to see if it pipes the normal cock bird song.
More photos soon please.
It would be interesting to pair this bird with an unrelated one showing similar colour. I'd try in a breeding cage once the bird is old enough then you can be sure who the parents are.
Keep a look out for anything similar during the rest of the season. You may find this beauty a one off.
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Aug 3, 2013 4:01:37 GMT
Boonze
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 10
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Post by Boonze on Aug 5, 2013 8:15:31 GMT
I think you might be right, since I don't think the cheek patches would be that obvious in a hen, but as you say, we'll wait for him to colour up (decided for the sake of ease it'll be referred to as 'him' until I'm sure.
Good news inbound! This little guy's youngest sibling has almost exactly the same colouring as him, except with more 'pale' (smaller dark colouring on head). It's just started to properly feather up, and I think the remaining two chicks will be fledged in a week or two. I can't wait to put some new pics up of the youngest one. I will most definitely be breeding the parents again to see if it's a regular thing with them. At the moment they're all in a aviary on a colony basis so they get to choose their own partners, to think I might have never come across this guy from paired breeding. I wanna try paired matings with a few of my birds, will be starting with the young from three different (and unrelated) parents once they mature.
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Post by Learner on Aug 5, 2013 18:52:31 GMT
How many zebras have you got? Are you sure you can recognise the parents? I used split rings to help as I had quite a few very similar looking birds in a mixed foreign finch aviary. Now and then I would select and pair specific colours housing them in double flight cages for breeding. My favourite were chestnut-flanked whites I think. Is your aviary planted? There's little chance of doing that with budgies as they enjoy reducing most green growing things to shreds...but never-the-less they are very entertaining friendly birds with wonderful personalities. Do you keep any other finches? Among others I had Bengalese finches (Society finch) - they make great foster parents and, as their other name suggests, they are very sociable creatures. I have 101 questions I'd like to ask about your birds... I'd better not get started!
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Post by kikkinu on Aug 5, 2013 18:59:51 GMT
That mutation exists, with a greyish kind of hood. expect it to get darker as he grows older
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Aug 3, 2013 4:01:37 GMT
Boonze
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 10
|
Post by Boonze on Aug 6, 2013 7:02:29 GMT
I have 5 adults at the moment so it's very easy for me to see who his parents are (I spend some time watching them interact often to be sure). It is a planted aviary, there is one tiny tree in there (tea tree) as the others died when I stupidly had guinea pigs in with them (duh!). The guineas were fine but the reason I built such a large aviary was because I wanted to plant it. I also used to have a pair of bengalese, both males so they never bred, but they were very amicable with the other birds (had 'em in with tiels and budgies). At the moment, I don't have any other finches apart from a European goldfinch, but I plan on getting some gouldians at some point - I love their colour, and I can spend hours in the aviary with my camera! 101 questions? Go for it I'm happy to answer them all as best I can. - Kikkinu - mind telling me what mutation that is? I can't find any other pics on the net, and I've searched for ages.
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Post by Learner on Aug 7, 2013 1:00:26 GMT
First question Do you have an "inside" or sheltered area for your finches as well as an outside flight?
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Aug 3, 2013 4:01:37 GMT
Boonze
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 10
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Post by Boonze on Aug 7, 2013 6:53:41 GMT
Not an inside one, no. Most of the weather here is very fair to very hot, and winter can barely be considered winter (lowest it goes is about 10 C). I have one end of the aviary covered in clear plastic (corrugated) sheeting, on the top and sides to stop them getting wet from storms and to protect them for wind. There's also some 'greenhouse' netting on the sides, you know that green plastic-woven-mesh stuff, to provide some shade from the north-west side (sun's on them in the afternoons). That plastic is really strong - survived a hailstorm with hail stones as big as golfballs without so much as a chip or crack! Also, shelter is provided with overhanging trees from the neighbour's yard. It's very cooling
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Post by Learner on Aug 7, 2013 12:36:41 GMT
Am I daft or what!! I forgot you were a long way "down south"... and not in the UK at all. Having a milder climate must be a great help although I guess you pay for it by having much, much higher temperatures in summer. My finches were housed in a 12' flight with a 8'x6' bird-house/ shed that was heated in winter. The zebras were pretty hardy I remember but many of the other foreign finches would not have survived the cold. Question 2. Would you be able to share a few photos of your aviary? I'm being nosey (don't get out much) and rarely have the chance to see anyone elses aviary. Seeing other peoples set-ups is a great way of nabbing getting fresh ideas.
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