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Emmy

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Everything posted by Emmy

  1. I caught the male singing to the female this morning - no idea if this is normal mating behaviour but at least no feathers flying. Emmy
  2. I'm beginning to think my Madagascar Lovebirds are not in love. I've tried several different types of nest boxes - given a variety of different nesting materials ( they let me know they didn't approve of any of them- tossed everything straight out from the nest box.) Things I have tried over a long period of time: Had all 4 together in large cage so they could choose their own partner- didn't work Then paired them off into two separate cages- didn't work Was suggested to put two males with one female - didn't work Also suggested to try the reverse two females with one male- didn't work So this is what I'm trying now similar to what you do with canaries but I added another 'stage' in the process. About 6 weeks ago I put the two pairs in a breeding cage that had a divider and I put the two females in one half and the two males in the other half I made sure there was a perch on either side close to the divider and they have been using those perches more than the others that were in the cage. Today I have separated them and used a 2nd breeding cage so now there is only one female and one male in a cage but the divider still in place with a perch on each side close to the divider. I intend to leave them like his for about a week I don't expect the male will feed the female as canaries do but time will tell. I would like your opinion re should I add a nest box to the female's side of the cage just now or wait until I remove the divider. ? At the moment one pair is sitting facing each other while in the 2nd cage the female is sitting with her back to the male - maybe she's trying to tell him to 'get lost'! I'd appreciate any suggestions. This is the pair that seem to be 'talking' (lol) Emmy
  3. Trevor ---Meantime The Tablet is for ME!!!!! they get offered enough treats and turn their 'beaks' up at them -so no tablet for them just now but great suggestion Trevor I'll tell them if they produce some chicks they'll get a whole bar of tablet to themselves. Emmy
  4. --- Guess I've lost count but I reckon there could be about 30 in outside/inside flights. and I have others in cages in my other shed for selected breeding. I have some 'penguins too and a couple of crested zebra finches which I will later pair up with other finches. I also have cockatiels ,canaries, diamond doves, Bengalese, gouldians, owl finches etc and a few chinese painted quail. (Better not forget the one budgie I just couldn't resist at one of the bird sales lol). I would have posted some photos but I've just recently got a new computer and unfortunately my brain didn't get updated at the same time and I've still to find the prog. where I can resize the photos so I can upload them on here. (Sometimes I've been lucky and managed to get one posted) Wishing you well with the pair you have. Emmy
  5. Thanks Trevor guess my patience is a bit thin on the ground at the moment. One of the first jobs though is to sort out the Madagascar lovebirds to try to get them to breed. Trying out what I did with canaries. At the moment I've got the 4 of them in a breeding cage -the two females together -two males together separated with a divider. Next move will be one female and one male in a breeding cage separated with a divider then after about a week + I'll remove the divider - Still haven't made up my mind if I'll put a nest box up on the females side of the cage before I remove the divider or what type of nesting material to offer. I've tried so many different things over the past 2 years but still to find the answer - if only they could talk and tell me what they want Emmy
  6. Welcome to the forum Freddie. What colour are the two birds you have?
  7. Fantastic Trevor when its a bit bigger can you train it to fly North ? That's going to be a wee beauty. and a definite 'keeper' Next year is going to be very interesting for you (Now ME! I've got a zebra finch in my outside flight I'd like to catch its a pale fawn with peach coloured cheeks but it has ideas of its own and wants to choose its own partner.) Emmy
  8. 2nd egg (fostered) I put into their nest has hatched out and they are feeding the new chick too- now just waiting for their own eggs to hatch. Emmy (sold some diamond doves today and also finches) Emmy
  9. That's great news Dave. Are you keeping any of them? Sadly little Toots died- I had it at the vet to get its crop emptied and it seemed as thought it would be OK but it died the next morning but Titch and Tosh are doing OK and are out of the brooder now, but still not feeding by themselves yet. definitely keeping those two Bird sale tomorrow and I'm taking 3 diamond doves and maybe some finches but it will depend how I feel about parting with them when tomorrow is here (lol) Remember 'Shadow' the zebra finch I hand reared a while ago well not only do 'Shadow and Snowy' have 4 eggs in their swing nest (lol) but I've managed to put a tiny zebra finch chick which hatched out in the incubator this morning into their nest and also the 2nd egg from the incubator which is about to hatch too and they are definitely feeding the wee chick and they haven't tossed out the other egg either. Fingers crossed it works out! Emmy
  10. Back to the 3 new arrivals -- Titch, Tosh and Toots. this is them now. https://youtu.be/sG0b2gbrEWU Their eyes seem to be a bit slow in opening so every time they get fed I have bathed their eyes with lukewarm water and its helping = I'm noticing a difference every day. Guess these three are going to be some more 'keepers' Emmy
  11. Thanks Andy Think this will be the best thing for me. Emmy
  12. How much does a memory stick hold Andy? I have a LOT of photo folders and also Microsoft Word documents- Grandson said it would take about 6 hours to transfer the photos but I'm thinking he may be 'pulling my leg' saying that Emmy
  13. Miracles do happen I was able to drag this photo This is Titch, Tosh and Toots (2nd Sept) Emmy
  14. Many Thanks for that Andy, Once grandson finishes 'tweaking'. between both computers I'll try that. At the moment we're having a ''discussion'' ?? (he doesn't know it yet but I'm going to WIN lol) I want ALL my photos transferred to the new computer - he says it will slow my new computer down. He's probably correct BUT I need access to all of them. Emmy
  15. Little 'Toots' hatched out this morning between 7am and 8 am . this morning - and yes - once again I missed the actual hatching. All three are in the brooder now and so far feeding OK. (still to work out how to resize photos on this computer Grr!) Emmy
  16. One pair of my cockatiels had 4 eggs in their nest box - all 4 eggs were fertile. I had to keep a close watch on this pair because they had a bad record for not feeding their young. The first egg hatched out on the 27th August and the chick looked healthy ( I could check without disturbing the parents\) so I had fingers crossed this time it would be OK.I usually checked in the morning but on the 29th I didn't get around to checking until the afternoon and I was devastated to discover that the little healthy chick hadn't been fed and it was hardly breathing. I did all I could to try to save it I put the incubator on but the wee thing was too far gone-- if I had only checked in the morning I would have been able to save it. I knew that one of the other eggs would be about to hatch so I decided I'd bring the three fertile eggs in and put them in the incubator and I put 3 dummy eggs into the parent's nest box. When I was putting the eggs into the incubator I could hear a chick chirping from inside an egg. That night (29th August at 7.15pm ) one of the eggs hatched -- it's a lovely wee chick and I named it 'Titch' This is Titch- photo taken 11 pm on the 29th August when it was just over 4 hours old. As cockatiels lay an egg every 2nd day I reckoned the hatching would be the same-- an egg would hatch out every 2nd day, so I reckoned that the next one would hatch out on the 31st August and it did - 'Tosh' (new one's name ) hatched out tonight at 6pm almost exactly 2 days after Titch. Tosh was chirping from inside the egg too before it hatched. So if all goes to plan 'Toots' which will be the 3rd chick's name if all goes well should hatch out on the 2nd September. About an hour after they hatch out I give them a 2/3 drops of warm coconut water- this is instead of electrolyte and I've found that helps with them digesting the formula when they first start to be fed. I do have photographs of Tosh but because the photographs need to be resized and I cant find the link on this new computer to do that I'll have to post them later. I have just finished hand rearing Taz and now I'm back again burning the midnight oil but Taz will be going to its new home sometime next week. Emmy
  17. Hi Paul Welcome to the forum Hopefully you will get a response to your enquiry. Sorry I cant help you - I have a mixed aviary but not a lot of pied or whites and I'm a bit too far away. Perhaps some of the other members will be able to give you information about bird sales in or near your area. Wishing you Good Luck in your search and hope you feel better now. Emmy
  18. Happy belated birthday Kim (Sorry its a bit late) Emmy
  19. Hi Sarah Glad to know there is someone else just as daft as me(lol) I'm forever popping abandoned eggs into the incubator. I'm cutting back on the quails and had only one pair of Texan Whites left. found one egg in their hutch and was going to bin it then decided I'd pop it into the incubator and YES it was fertile but that's another story about when it hatched but its OK now. Nice to read about what you are doing. Sorry I cant write more just now but I need to go and feed my cockatiel chick (Chirpy) still getting formula - and then check that the 3 love bird chicks I'm hand rearing are OK for the night . Will get back to you soon. (My computer is keeping cutting out so sometimes I cant get into the forums- think I'll be needing to get a new one soon) Love your photographs Emmy
  20. They'll need all the power they can muster he's a Bossy Boots Emmy
  21. Do you keep Chinese painted quail? then please take a closer look at the photo. I discovered this in the outside flight today - looks like a 3 headed quail No super glue was used! I think it's just one bossy male getting the two females to keep him warm (Just for a laugh) Emmy
  22. Hi Dave 'Chirpy' so far is doing really well but it's still early days yet. Comical though how it keeps chirping to me when I lift it up - My next project will have to be to learn a new language- "Bird Talk" This is Chirpy 3 days old Damaged Parrot egg-- still getting a strong heart beat Emmy
  23. I've no idea what colour it will be and to be honest don't even know which pair are the parents. I've hand reared a number of them but this is the first one that I've hand reared that keeps chirping to me (lol) Emmy
  24. Thanks Stuart -You should see and hear it this morning -- its even climbed out from the little nest box I had for it and its looking all fluffy and yellow too. I'm having no bother with the feeding either. (Had only one feed during the night at 3 am) So I couldn't have asked for more. Thanks for showing an interest. Emmy
  25. Chirpy just had its first proper feed (used a crop tube) but didn't over feed it. I'm thinking I'll let its crop empty more than just once a day to begin with. Though it will probably need another feed about 2.30am / 3 am. Tomorrow I'm going to make it a little 'comforter' for it to snuggle into- the small teddy bear that I used for the quail/ duckling is just a wee bit too big although Chirpy was trying to snuggle into it. (lol) Just a pity the parrot's egg hadn't hatched out at the same time they would have got on fine snuggling into each other (lol) Meantime everything is looking good. (parrot egg is still OK with good heart beat) photo of Chirpy after its first feed all snuggled up in the brooder.