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dave huntington

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Posts posted by dave huntington

  6. Posted

    Usually buffy birds with plenty of brow that get troubled with this with the brow feathers touching the eye making it uncomfortable for the bird who rubs it on perch ect and ends up with infection

    like Paul says salt water good remedy as long as not too infected as baz says golden eye ointment supposed to be good however not used it before

    dave

  7. Posted · Report reply

    Hi Gareth

    i agree with Trevor.chanel your energy into getting your accomodation ready and maybe visit some breeders near you to get an idea of what you should aim for

    join the zfs or a local bird club there is a welsh zfs you could join and maybe could point you to some local breeders

    this will save you heartache in future i cannot stress to you how important good bright airy accommodation is

    all the best

    dave

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    could be part of  the problem mate bleak winter days often the birds will just roost in the box without the main lights on

     

    maybe have them on for a few hours in the morning aswell?

     

    Dave

  14. Posted

    im afraid its something birdkeepers have been trying to work out for ever why fantastic parents fail to rear a round of chicks then previously poor parents turm out to be great parents

     

    i definetly know the higher pedigree the birds used the more problems arise in fertility and rearing of chicks

     

    dont get downhearted and dont doubt your husbandry skills and make changes it just happens,quite often too !

     

    good luck

     

    Dave

  17. Posted

    Got a couple of old pairs on full eggs

     

    Have got all my pairings worked out hopefully start pairing in a week or two all this wet weather seems to have hens starting to lay

     

    Dave

  19. Posted

    Unless you show your birds its worth waiting until spring when days are longer and warmer and last years youngsters have had  time to mature

     

    im hoping to pair in about 3 or 4 weeks  have usually paired by now but trying to give them a bit longer as had a couple of poor early starts last few years

     

    Dave

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Basically just by selecting the cleanest looking birds you breed off them and discarding the others,

     

    Sods law has it that the outstanding birds you breed will be the one with chest barring though

     

    but by retaining the cleanest birds both cocks and hens as you might get hens with faint tear marks too in a couple of years should improve

     

    it can be hard letting otherwise good birds go but its a must

     

    good luck mate

  22. Posted

    After a couple of really bad starts in last few years have decided to hold them back a few weeks at least till February in the hope that they are a little more mature and fertile as most of the retained birds i kept are young birds as most birds i bred were quite late bred

     

    hoping to breed a few good Normals this year after a few lean years with them also a couple of silver lightbacks would be nice obviously hoping to breed some good fawns aswell

     

    Good luck everyone

    • Like 3