Ricks Place

How long should we allow our breeding pairs

to continue breeding?

In December 1999 I paired up a Medium feathered Grey Grn Cock (C4578-65-97) to a Buff feathered Y/F Op Cin Grey Hen (H5074-135-97).

The pair had been down only a few days when I allowed myself to be talked into selling the hen to a friend. (And this will be the subject of my next story).

After the Y/F hen went I selected another hen from the flight. The hen I chose was a medium feathered, previously unused, Spangle Grey Green (C4578-42-98) and although on the small side when compared to her larger, heavier feathered brothers and sisters, she was well bred and she was in breeding condition.

I put the pair down on the 7th January 2000 and the first egg was laid on the 16th Jan. This pair are still together and at the time of writing (30/6/01) the hen has laid the 3rd egg of Round 10 with the first egg showing fertility. During the time this pair have been together they have raised 35 above average chicks. I have tried to rest the pair by fostering out the eggs from Rounds 4 and 9 but with disastrous results. Four

fertile eggs from round 4 were placed under a pied hen sitting on clear eggs, the following day the eggs had been tossed out of the box by the hen. The Spangle hen continued to lay a further 2 eggs one of which hatched (15 Aug) and has turned out to be one of the best birds I have ever bred - a large, buff feathered Spangle Grey Green Hen (C4578-36-00).

Because of the quality of the chicks this pair were producing I decided to let them carry on as long as they remained fit. They are housed in a double breeding cage and every egg the hen has laid to date has been fertile. The pair have remained in full feather throughout this time and there is a very strong pair bonding between them, so much so that I feel for sure that if I were to split them up I would lose one or the other or even both, as they would just pine being away from their environment. (I have had this happen with breeding pairs before). In Round 9 the hen laid 4 eggs, all of which were fertile, and these were transferred to a Y/F Op.Cin Grey hen (H5074-135-97)(See above) which I had bought back)). The day before the 1st chick was due to hatch, disaster struck and I found the hen dead on the cage floor when I went into the birdroom. The hen was cold and stiff, obviously dead for several hours, and the eggs were also cold. None-the-less I transferred the eggs to another hen and the 1st egg hatched on the 14th June. Unfortunately the other 3 eggs failed to hatch.

This is the way the breeding register on this pair looks:

Date paired: 7 Jan 2000

Round 1 - First egg laid: 16 Jan 00

No of eggs = 7

No of Chicks = 6 (4 x hens, 2 x cocks)

Round 2 - First egg laid: 2 Apr 00

No of eggs = 8

No of Chicks = 8 ( 4 x hens, 3 x cocks)

Round 3 - First egg laid: 4 Jun 00

No of eggs = 4

No of Chicks = 4 ( 4 hens)

Round 4 - First egg laid: 13 Jul 00

First 4 eggs trans to cage 4 on 20 Jul.

thrown out by foster hen on 22 Jul

2 further eggs laid 29 & 31 Jul & left

with hen.

2 Chicks hatched 15 & 17 Aug, only 1

survived - Ring No 36/00 -Spg Grey Grn

Hen - best yet !!

Round 5 - First Egg Laid : 20 Sep 00

No of Eggs : 6

No of Chicks : 5 (4 raised) All hens

Round 6 - First Egg Laid : 21 Nov 00

No of Eggs : 5

No of Chicks : 5 (3 cocks + 2 hen)

Round 7 - First Egg Laid : 21 Jan 01

No of Eggs : 5

No of Chicks : 5 (4 Raised) 2 of each

Round 8 - First Egg Laid : 27 Mar 01

No of Eggs : 5

No of Chicks : 3 (2 x DIS) 2 cks +1hen

Round 9 - First Egg Laid : 25 May 01

No of Eggs : 5 (All Fertile) Eggs trans to a foster pair on 4 Jun in order to rest this pair.

Foster hen found dead on cage floor 12 Jun. Cold eggs trans to another pair. One egg hatched 14 Jun and rung with ring No 23

Round 10 - First Egg Laid : 23 Jun 01

No of Eggs : 4 (At time of writing)

So there you have it ! I am more than pleased with the results from this pairing. All chicks bred are normals (Non Opaline or Cinnamon) Colours bred are Spangles and Normals in Dark Green, Grey Green and Light Green.

A Dark Green cock from Round 2 is paired to a Spangle Grey Green Hen (his mothers sister) and they have just started hatching their first chicks

A Spangle light green hen from Round 3 is paired to a light green cock and she has just laid her 3rd egg

So the question is: How long should we allow our breeding pairs to continue breeding ? Your comments and thought on the subject are invited.

Rick Craven

Halfsider bred by Mike Chase

WEST NORFOLK BUDGERIGAR CLUB MEETING

ANNUAL YOUNG STOCK SHOW

TUESDAY 26^th JUNE 2001

The Show was well attended with a total of 55 entries broken down as:

· Young Birds 35

· Any Age 20

The Judge on this occasion was Mr. Charles Swift (Charlie to his friends) who commented on the number of quality birds benched which made choosing an overall winner very difficult for him.

The up and coming partnership of Bob Jarvis and Nicky Palin had a double win by benching an excellent Young Grey Cock to take Best Young Bird and they also benched an equally excellent Violet Skyblue Cock to take the Best Any Age award.

This popular and dynamic duo have come on in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years and I have no doubts that they are well on course of achieving their goal of being right up there with the best of them.

It was unfortunate that more of our members did not show but this was due to the fact that many of them lived some distance from the Club and by the time they got their birds home automatic lighting in their birdrooms would have gone off. Putting the lights on override was not an option as noise from the birds after midnight was not conducive to good neighbour relationships!

Rick Craven