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Zebraman

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Posts posted by Zebraman

  3. Posted

    Hi and welcome to the forum.I’m really sorry to hear about your loss and I can understand how you’re feeling.There are a lot of things that can contribute to the loss of a bird and it can be hard to understand what those causes were without knowing the background and history of the bird before you got it.Sometimes it can be a change of surroundings if the bird has been used to living in certain conditions for a long period and sometimes it can be something as simple as a cold draft in the wrong place.As Paul has said birds are very good at disguising health problems until it’s too late to do anything about it, but a trained eye can see these symptoms well before it’s too late.What is important is that you get your remaining bird a companion as soon as possible, as Zebra Finches do not take to living solitary lives. A female companion will soon make him sing again and you never know you could soon be the proud owner of some offspring of the bird you call The Little One.Good luck and we look forward to hear how thing progress.Gary.

  4. Posted

    Hi Tyrone,Good to hear that you’ve got birds on eggs, especially after the cold weather we’ve been experiencing lately.The choice is yours, let your feelings guide you and look for the best of both of your options.If you’re looking to produce lightbacks then pair lightback to lightback, if you want some normals as well as lightback, then pair the hen with your normal cock.This is totally dependent on the inheritance of your birds of course.Good luck.Gary.

  5. Posted

    We went up to Cumbria (Kirkby Stephen) to a christening yesterday and I thought we had it bad. The snow was at least three foot deep in some places, you couldn’t even see some of the cars it was that deep!!! What’s going on… I came out this morning and it was -3 and snowing again, to top it all off the fridge in the garage has broken, so I’ll just have to keep my egg food outside now :lol:Gary.

  7. Posted

    Egg food twice a day here when the birds are breeding, using finger draws and I put a dish in the aviary once a week.Tyrone, watch your birds very closely and make sure they don’t become wet at the backend, if any of them do remove the egg food and wait until the eggs are closer to hatching.Some birds just don’t take to egg food, if you notice this happening give them charcoal, which should help with the problem.Gary.

  9. Posted

    It seems that we all keep this species in slightly different ways, but achieve similar results in the end.I'm amazed how this little bird acclimatises to a wide range of accommodation and varying temperatures?Gary.

  10. Posted

    I couldn’t believe it, I came out to the shed this morning at 5:30am as usual and the outside temperature was a staggering -8⁰ are we living in the arctic now? :oBlimey Tyrone it’s a wonder your birds are not built like Arnold Schwarzenegger with all those supplement’s. :DGary.

  11. Posted

    Thanks for the reply Trevor,Do you experience any problems with birds becoming egg bound.I’m not sure if as breeders we give our birds heat in winter just because we think they need it or it’s just solely because that if we don’t the loses will be far greater without it?I like you have kept bird in my porch way between the house and the garage before now without heat and just a towel covering the front on frosty nights and like you I never lost a bird. Admittedly there was a roof and a door at either side, but still they had no heat.So what does this lead us to believe, do we really need heat during the winter months?I have to say though that I do have some older birds that I think I would lose if I didn’t provide them with some form of heat.Tyrone, I agree with Paul and also try mixing your EMP with a chopped boiled egg and a crushed digestive biscuit.Gary.

  12. Posted

    It looks like the arctic conditions are set to continue for at least another week with snow forecast for the majority of the UK. Does everyone still feed egg food during the cold conditions?I still give the birds in the flights a dish full every couple of days.It’s also interesting to hear Trevor’s concept based on him not having any heat. What category would you say your birds fall into Trevor as in size and type.Regards,Gary.

  13. Posted

    With the current sub-zero temperatures causing havoc across the UK currently, what steps, if anything do you take to keep your stock comfortable.I currently have two small oil filled radiators in the setup, one at each end keeping the temperature at a steady 10c.Does everybody use heat; if not how do you keep you birds warm.I’d also like to hear form our members outside of the UK as I’m curious to know the climate in other countries.Gary.

  14. Posted

    You will need to contact the Animal Health Department for exports and they will put you in touch with an Official Veterinarian who has been specifically authorised to sign EHCs on behalf of Defra.The contact details are as follows:Central Operations for ExportsAnimal HealthHadrian HouseWavell DriveRosehillCarlisleCA1 2TBEmail: CentralOps.Carlisle@AnimalHealth.gsi.gov.ukTel: 01228 403600Fax: 01228 591900Also have a look at this link: Defra Bird ExportGary.

  19. Posted

    Well the new winter flight is complete and the birds are in, this should give the birds some well-deserved rest and exercise.Over the coming months I’ll complete some maintenance on the breeding cages and put some thought into what types I’m going to concentrate on for next year.I’m also thinking of entering a few shows next year, time permitting.Gary.

  23. Posted

    In past I have, like Dave H, tended to keep a few pairs down during the winter months as my setup is fully heated and has dusk and dawn light controls. I am also finding that some of my birds are more suited to the current damp conditions.This year though I’m going to change things around and I’ll be removing all the breeding cages and constructing a second internal large flight. My plan is to put all my cock birds in one flight and all my hens in another, the cock birds will also have access to the outside flight during the winter.This will give the birds some long awaited exercise as I am a great believer that fat birds become very lazy when it comes to breeding, it will also give me a break from managing all the breeding cages over the winter and allow me to do some maintenance on the cages before the start of the next breeding season.Gary.