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Andyn

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Posts posted by Andyn

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Your new bird looks to be a Fawn Pied hen and seems to be quite dominant. Apart from separation (which defeats the object of having two I guess) you could just let them get on with it but obviously keep an eye on them in case it gets too aggressive. They should settle down with each other once the pecking order is established.

    The other thing is, if you buy males you will need two otherwise the two hens could start fighting over a single.

    You could take the new hen back to wherever you bought her and tell them it is a hen and you wanted a Cock. Which should have reddish cheek patches, a thick chest bar and red & white speckling along it's flanks. Much the same as the bird in the following photo. Aug17_6.thumb.JPG.b6fa0d39d5b4d1decbbb84160c7f395b.JPGThis is a Black Breasted but you get the idea what it looks like

    There are variations depending on the mutation of the bird and a Pied would have broken patches, chest & flanks. Avoid White as both sexes are same colour and you would need to see it singing to know it was a cock.

    Don't be afraid to ask questions on here

  3. Posted · Report reply

    That picture suggests that it is a Pied.

    I believe the best way to tell a pied if it's not obvious is by looking for a white bib just under the bottom part of the beak. Some times you get just one white flight or tail feather. Some call these splits but technically they are Pied. As it is a recessive gene it takes two to make one. So both parents need to be carrying the Pied gene.

    When you say 'Blotches' is it on their backs or tummy. Photos would be useful Kev.

  4. Posted

    It sounds like both the cocks want to be the Dominant one and so you have the bickering. Only suggestion I can think of is to keep a watch for really aggressive behaviour. If that happens you'll need to separate them. Whatever you do, don't get any females as that would probably make things worse. Hopefully they will settle down and become friends again.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Sorry to hear about the chick Kev. I know about the Sparrow Hawks. It seems that August is the time for the young to 'Go it alone'. We have a football rattle for when we see them/it around. They do get the idea that there is no free lunch and eventually leave us alone. They do buzz the aviary now and again though. Like it's 'Just for fun'.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Hi Jo, and welcome to the forum.

    Some of us have experience of hand rearing but my own is limited to crop feeding for only a few days before the parents took over, but member 'Emmy' is the queen of hand rearing.

    So, when you are ready to ask your questions go right ahead.

    There is also a pinned article on here on how to make up a syringe and soft tube for feeding. I'll try and find it and give you the link.

    Enjoy your birds!!

    Here's that link. - 

     

  9. Posted

    Hens will generally 'Dry Up' when they are too old but I would use them for 4 years if really good producers. The problem is that they can start laying eggs when not much more than Chicks (3-4 months) and I had an adult hen who was mated by a White cock about 5 months old (accident) which when paired to a Fawn Cock produced 5 Normal Pieds. (the hen chicks should have been Fawn) so even at the young age that White cock was fertile.

     

  10. Posted · Report reply

    I know this might sound obvious but have you seen other birds doing this to her and then she is trying to tidy her self up. Unfortunately, the sight of blood does seem to make others peck at it more. Mine are usually tails and if there is blood more pile in. Have to separate, wash staining etc. off and let bird rest for a couple of days on it's own.

    It might all be down to breeding and nest building so the under dog is plucked for the nesting material.

    Hope that helps. 

    Andyn

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Hi Claire and welcome to the Forum.

    When you have sorted your birds out you might want to try a trick explained to us by member Emmy- Tie parcel string in bunches of strands around the cage/aviary. This will hopefully distract any feather pluckers by them going at the string instead. And if they get a bit off it can go into the nesting material.

    Andy 

  12. Posted

    Flight feathers take about 8 weeks to fully return but body feathers about 3-4 weeks.

    Suggest having your 2 females in place before reintroducing the males. Always try to have more females than males otherwise males might fight.

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Hi Matt, and welcome to the world of Zebra Finches.

    I have pairs that refuse to go into any nest box I provide and also tried a Canary Nest Pan. Some pairs took to that but others built on the cage floor. (took all the nesting material out of the box to build it though. (daft or what))

    Can you fix your box high up so that there is no space on the roof? Also what type of entrance do you have?. If it's a round 'bob hole' perhaps change it to a full open one. (letter box opening) Usually half open fronted. Hope that helps

    Andyn

  19. Posted · Report reply

    At a first look I would say that it is a White. The beak usually change to the Orange/Red when they get older.

    If it is a White then both parents are carrying the Pied/White gene which is recessive and requires two to make a visual one. (hope that makes sense)

    Sorry, just noticed that the parent cock is a visual White so the hen is carrying the gene.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    When you say 'Orange' beak was it more a 'Bone' colour? If it was/ is then it could be a White/Pied. If it was true yellow then it could be a member of the Yellow Beak variety.

    Your other chick (if that is the one in the photo) looks to be a Grey or Black Cheeked mutation.

    Hope that someone else helps out here.

    Andy

  21. Posted

    That article was in last week's C&AB mag if I remember. I will keep hold of any chicks that do survive. If any turn out to be Fawn hens then it was from the original cock. If any turn out to be Normal hens then it can't be the cock she was with. AND if any turn out to be Pied or White I'll know it wasn't original cock. (I do have Pied in my Normal line which came with original stock)

    It's like a mine field!! watch this space. :D

    • Haha 1

  23. Posted

    I temporarily put an adult Normal hen in a stock cage with 2018 rung youngsters for a week.(she was getting aggressive to her chicks.) Last week I witnessed a White 2018 cock mating with her. (he is about 3 months old) Next day there was an egg on the floor which could only have come from the Adult hen. So I took it out and wrote wire (cage) on it and put it under a pair who had only just started to incubate their own. I just checked the egg this morning and it's FERTILE! Is this some sort of record does anyone know?

  24. Posted · Report reply

    6 weeks is only 1 week on from being removed from parents and providing there has been no feather plucking it would be another 2 - 3 weeks maybe. If you think that the White one might be a cock then watch carefully and you might catch it trying to sing and the beak should go red.