Andrew123

Is it also split bc?

A confusing bird! If it's cream one of the parents would have to be visibly cream or silver as it's a dominant gene. My bc silvers don't get black cheeks until they have their first moult, so yours should come through with a moult. The bird in my profile picture is a bc silver and she has pretty much no black in her cheeks at all.

As above. It looks cream. Is it cage or aviary bred?

I forgot to say - nice penguins!

It is certainly possible. If both parents carry the pied and the penguin mutation then chicks can be pied penguins. It's not regarded as a particularly desirable mutation because the pied can take away from the penguin markings. In reality though, desirable mutations are whatever you want, not what anyone else wants. Andy

If they are both visual bb then all the chicks will be bb. If they are are both split for ob then they have a 50% chance of getting ob from mum and a 50% chance of getting ob from dad, so a 25% chance of being full ob. They also a 25% chance of not getting ob from either and being bb only. This is a useful resource - http://zebrafinch.info/index.php/genetic-advisor/#

Hi Phil, I didn't go to Stafford, it's a bit far for me. I did buy four pairs of zebs today though! Welcome to the forum. Andy.

Very nice.

It can be quite difficult to achieve good cheeks in fawn bc birds. They have a habit of fading out away from the tear marks. Good cheeks are acheived with selective breeding. I would add that this is only from research and not from first hand experience. Andy

It's the black breasted part that removes the tear mark. A bb cfw hen is completely white except for the few black feathers next to the beak. Nice looking birds. I didn't know that the pair I had bought were split for anything, I was quite surprised when the first nest of chicks came through. The best part really is that they are huge birds with good form. If I can get two chicks out of them that match I might even consider being brave enough to start showing. My main problem is that I only have the one pair of cfw's so I really need to find some equally good birds to continue the line. Andy

Thanks Emmy, The cheeks have a slightly dark tint to them - both parents are split for black cheek. This bird has a very similar older sibling who had no black in her cheeks but as she is moulting they are getting a bit darker. So the concise answer to your question is - I haven't got a clue!

Just sharing this little beauty. I'm very pleased with this one.

I'm really sorry to hear your sad news Emmy. Don't blame yourself. You did everything you could for Billie. Andy

Light Back Cock. x C.F.W. Hen. = Light Back/C.F.W. Cocks + Light Back Hens. (from zfs website) Half of them will be split bc. Andy

Really happy to read this. Good luck with him Emmy - and Billie, stop scaring mummy.

Very nice Lee, nice looking birds too. You should definitely be in next months photo competition. Andy

Florida fancy is american version of an isobel (pretty much the same). Having seen the pictures on my computer it looks more fawn than it did on my phone. Because of the extended cheek patches on yours it looks black breasted as well, so phaeo. I'll let someone who is a bit more knowledgeable than me take over now..............

I'm going to take a punt on normal grey black breasted isabel.

Thanks for the link Rolf, My German is more than a bit rusty so it took a while to read through - Google translate is very helpful. There are definitely some differences there. I don't think either is right or wrong, it just depends which target you are aiming for. Thanks again Andy.

Hi Rolf, Welcome to the forum. Forgive my ignorance but what is the European standard for zebra finches? Thanks, Andy

Hi Derek, I live about an hour away from you, near Cranbrook. It's nice to hear from another breeder from kent, which mutations do you keep? I've got ideas of the mutations which I would like to refine from my stock, but at the moment it's all dependent on the quality of the offspring that I can produce. Andy

Thanks Dean, That's useful to know. He's on my list of people to get in touch with already, as he is the contact for the Kent ZFC. He's moved up to the top of the list now.

Hi Mrs Lawson, Yes I'll be selling some, although I don't have any babies yet. I should have my breeding room ready in a few weeks, but won't have anything to sell for a while. There are a couple of bird sales that I know of in Kent, one in Nettlestead and one in Larkfield, if you are after something a bit sooner. http://www.gns-cagebirdsociety.org.uk/buying_birds.html Andy.

Hi all and thanks for the warm welcome. I'm stocking up on zebs at the moment. I've picked up a few nice zebs so far - CFW pair, Nice clean penguin pair BCBB/CFW cock BB/BC hen BF/BB cock BF cock Fawn/OB hen x 2 Grey/bc pair and a couple of impulse buy hens - DSBC and a fawn(ish) BC. A comprehensive list for you! I want to stock up on similar birds to those above and possibly some nice big BC/CFW. The main problem I have is that I don't have any local contacts for exhibition stock, but I'll work on that. I'm toying with the idea of the long drive to Stafford for some more birds, I really need a few pairs of quality penguins. Most importantly, this started out as a small garden aviary for the kids to enjoy but as soon as I bought my first few pairs I decided that they were too good to breed in an aviary and have started planning the breeding program! I'm getting very excited! Andrew

Hi, I'm back to breeding zebs after a fifteen year absence. I should think I've met some of you on the facebook groups already. I'm in Kent hopefully some of you are too! Andrew