comments on Zipdogso diary...March 2012

This is a place holder for any comments on my diary.

Any comments please feel free.......

Hi Simon just reading your diary upadate sorry to see you lost that RWAO cock bird, do you have any yellow agate opals to put with your hen as that is how I bred mine last year, RWAO cock to YAO hen resulted in 2 RWAO hens (plus 5 YAO cocks and 1 YAO hen all cracking birds), just a thought.

AndyB wrote:Hi Simon just reading your diary upadate sorry to see you lost that RWAO cock bird, do you have any yellow agate opals to put with your hen as that is how I bred mine last year, RWAO cock to YAO hen resulted in 2 RWAO hens (plus 5 YAO cocks and 1 YAO hen all cracking birds), just a thought.

Recessive whites arent sex linked so the YAO hen must have been a RW carrier to produce RW young?

Ninetails wrote:

AndyB wrote:Hi Simon just reading your diary upadate sorry to see you lost that RWAO cock bird, do you have any yellow agate opals to put with your hen as that is how I bred mine last year, RWAO cock to YAO hen resulted in 2 RWAO hens (plus 5 YAO cocks and 1 YAO hen all cracking birds), just a thought.

Recessive whites arent sex linked so the YAO hen must have been a RW carrier to produce RW young?

Yes thats correct she is a carrier.

AndyB wrote:Hi Simon just reading your diary upadate sorry to see you lost that RWAO cock bird, do you have any yellow agate opals to put with your hen as that is how I bred mine last year, RWAO cock to YAO hen resulted in 2 RWAO hens (plus 5 YAO cocks and 1 YAO hen all cracking birds), just a thought.

I wish....Still I have got something hopefully if I can keep the hen I will be able to breed some RWAO's next year....I was rather hoping to have the short route with an RWAO pair. I had a pair of RWAO's when I last kept birds, 20 odd years ago, the first year the hen laid everything except a normal shape/size egg, one even looked suspiciously square... the second year I could only replace the cock, she laid good looking eggs that time but they they were all clear I was really hoping to crack it this time. RWAO's are one of my all time favourites.

Ive a RWAO sat on five at the moment and the other one does not want to know so fingers crossed I might have something for you come October!

i love the external nest pans that are home made, they are great!!

Yes I must admit I was a bit smuggly proud of those last year....

A bit of bugger cutting all those short lengths of wire. I stupidly put off building some more last summer (when I had plenty of time !) and left too late this year then my drill/driver broke down and I couldn't afford to replace it so I couldn't drill all the holes. I have a new drill/driver but it's too late.
Notice of one them still didn't get the wires painted I never seeem to finish anything !!! Some of my cages still havent got all their doors !!!!
I did plan to fix a egg container to the top, much like the ones I bought but that idea has failed so far.
Lazy bugger me.

Well done on your diary very informative and nice pictures

looking good like the wooden nest boxes with the round wire under them also plenty of info
Bob

r.costellow wrote:
looking good like the wooden nest boxes with the round wire under them also plenty of info
Bob

Yeah I didn't actually make the wire nest pan I bought them. I got mine from Kent cages. In 2010 when I started keeping birds again I ordered allsorts of samples.... dishes, nestpans, feeders, drinkers you name it I got one to have a look and see what they were like and to see what I needed to do with regards to making my own cage fronts, I was rather taken with nest pans and designed the box around them. One problem...they are 13 cm dia so they are bigger than most nest pans and certainly bigger than most available nest felts they are about 1cm short from the top of the pan, last year I solved the problem with my own nest liners cut from coir matting but this year I just left it short and the hens filled it in. I bought enough wire nest pans so I have just got to bottle down and make the boxes....somewhen !!!!

zip the dominant white black have to admit have never seen these before but the cock bird looks good can see why you like him lovely bird

Robby Mitchell wrote:zip the dominant white black have to admit have never seen these before but the cock bird looks good can see why you like him lovely bird

Dominant whites seem to of died out, a few people have them but they are not nearly as common as when I last kept birds.

He would of cost me a bit more as an individual if I hadn't haggled on the job lot. Initially I think he was €70 but after I haggled the job lot he worked out at an average €30.

Zip,I like that bird as well, which I see you're now using as your avi pic.

I dont know much about dominant white blacks in the Coloured canaries as we dont have classes for them here. They seem to be considered "old colour" rather than "new colour" and hence are only found as "blues" in type birds.

But looking at your bird would there be any possibility that it's an agate rather than a black? It's just that his beak looks quite pale in the pic and there seems to be a lot of ground colour showing through?

Ninetails wrote:

But looking at your bird would there be any possibility that it's an agate rather than a black? It's just that his beak looks quite pale in the pic and there seems to be a lot of ground colour showing through?

I am using my sisters little point and shoot and colours here and there are not very good, (look at the agate hen !!! looks like a brown, it is not it is definately agate in real life.) I did try using photo software to correct it but you correct one area then another goes wrong so I gave up and used the shots as they came. It would not be great to use these photos to ID a bird. I assure you this is not a agate it is way too Black and as I said he has lots of optical blue. He is probably the most "Blue" bird I have ever seen. I will agree that his beak is perhaps not as dark as it should be but is darker than it looks in the pics, he lacks a bit on his feet as well. With a bit of selective breeding here and there in a couple of years he offspring should be better and I am hoping to use his Blackness to improve some others.

Thanks Zip.

some lovely birds there zip,,,one question bugging me where did you get emu feathers from ,,,johnboy...

johnboy wrote:some lovely birds there zip,,,one question bugging me where did you get emu feathers from ,,,johnboy...

I shouldn't let it bug you too much....I wondered if using feathers I could try to discourage the rampant feather plucking I got between the broods last year. I was ordering some stuff from America anyway so I bunged a bag of emu feathers on the order just to try 'em...like you do.
I had no idea what emu feathers were like...They aren't particularly favoured by the birds except that RWAO hen who used little else, They are a bit springy and long and thin and the hens tuck them into place then the feathers spring out again as soon as they turn their backs ! Also they arent really what you'd call soft......I only got a small bag...as it turns out, at great expense, I expect to have some left come the summer and probably wont bother again unless of course it does stop the plucking between broods....somehow I doubt it !!!!

zipdogso wrote:

johnboy wrote:some lovely birds there zip,,,one question bugging me where did you get emu feathers from ,,,johnboy...

I shouldn't let it bug you too much....I wondered if using feathers I could try to discourage the rampant feather plucking I got between the broods last year. I was ordering some stuff from America anyway so I bunged a bag of emu feathers on the order just to try 'em...like you do.
I had no idea what emu feathers were like...They aren't particularly favoured by the birds except that RWAO hen who used little else, They are a bit springy and long and thin and the hens tuck them into place then the feathers spring out again as soon as they turn their backs ! Also they arent really what you'd call soft......I only got a small bag...as it turns out, at great expense, I expect to have some left come the summer and probably wont bother again unless of course it does stop the plucking between broods....somehow I doubt it !!!!

a great idea zip i hope it works for you,,,nothing worse than when you see the young with blood n feathers missing,,,i often use chicken feathers after my m8 slaughters them on his allotment,,,i havent had a feather plucker for a long time,,,and the last one was an overly aggressive ck wanting the young outta the way to re breed,,,easier to deal with than a hen,,,best of luck for your season,,,got my first egg today off a pair of clear red mosaics so overjoyed,,,johnboy...

I know it terrible waiting on the first round Zip but when it comes you wont notice the end of the breeding season as it flys by.
I dont use the flash in my birdroom as there is enough light in there. See my photos no flash on with them.

John_Graydon wrote:I know it terrible waiting on the first round Zip but when it comes you wont notice the end of the breeding season as it flys by.

I have got 8 nests in my first round and a couple of hens to go still...last year I had only about 8 nests all season - I dont think this year will pass me by without realizing - OOops I hope I havent jinxed it....

John_Graydon wrote:
I dont use the flash in my birdroom as there is enough light in there. See my photos no flash on with them.

I know there should be enough light in mine too but my sisters point and shoot is so tiny - smaller than a fag packet - the lens aperture is tiny too, needs really good light, even outside it didn't record the colours properly.
I am hoping to replace my DSLR but the way things are going financially it wont be till the summer....far later than I hoped.

Hi Simon regarding the topping up you've done the right thing waiting a few days iv found if you top up too early the hen stops feeding just make sure its not to thick to start with and as they get older I make it thicker then I add egg food to the consistency of porrage. Good luck with the rest of the season.

AndyB wrote:Hi Simon regarding the topping up you've done the right thing waiting a few days iv found if you top up too early the hen stops feeding just make sure its not to thick to start with and as they get older I make it thicker then I add egg food to the consistency of porrage. Good luck with the rest of the season.

Thanks Andy.....

It is actually going rather well topping them last thing at night...I am surprised the hens don't mind the constant intrusion or at least don't show it...that was one of my concerns but honestly I think there is no better feeeling knowing the chicks are well topped up for the long hours, after all it is 10 hours, with my lights being on 14 hours.
I used to check on them at night then worry....now just top 'em up, worry over. I can imagine it is worth starting this before their eyes open otherwise they might be a bit reluctant ?

I'm ok with topping up from day one with my birds.
As Andy says there is the danger that the hens will stop feeding but I've had hens that didnt have a clue what to do and I helped out for the first few days and they were fine after that. Some birds need no help at all and others I put "on watch". Most times it's all about "knowing" our individual birds.

Ninetails wrote:I'm ok with topping up from day one with my birds.
As Andy says there is the danger that the hens will stop feeding but I've had hens that didnt have a clue what to do and I helped out for the first few days and they were fine after that. Some birds need no help at all and others I put "on watch". Most times it's all about "knowing" our individual birds.

for the novices,,,what do you top up with ,,,and at what consistancey,,,i use baby powder milk and eggfood in a runny consistancey ,,,then thicken it as the chicks progress in age,,,but as we know everyone has there own little ways,,,johnboy...