Pedro & Eva

After a few years of keeping and breeding Kakarikies my interest in parrots in general had increased and I decided earlier in the year that Id like to expand my flock.  I was thinking about a Caique but I really liked the look of Sun Conures.  I read loads and asked for advise from other birdy people and looked more into the conure families.  I really didn't want anything too loud or noisy and was rather taken by the Mutation Green cheek Conures.  I read up about the genetics... which has never been a strong point of mine.... that's reading and genetics ... so the two together was quite hardcore.  I really liked the look of the yellow sided and the Pineapple Mutations so I started looking about for a pair of either.  What I had learned was that a pair of pineapple mutations would produce all pineapple babies.  I got in touch with several breeders i found online and looked at online adverts but nothing materialised.


I decided to go to the Parrot Society fair at Stafford.  I had never been before and had a plan... run round everything and check out whats there... narrow down the possibilities and think about it over a coffee and only buy if its exactly what I want at the right price.  I got there early..... and OMG..... where had all these people come from...!!! it was packed.  I barged my way in and started up and down the many rows of birds.  They were not in any particular order canaries next to African Grays next to kookaburras. So I walked up and down trying to spot any Green Cheek Conures then barged my way in to have a closer look and check the prices.  There were quite a few dotted about.  One pair took my fancy but they were not the mutation I had wanted and although nice birds they looked a bit small. I continued my quest and found a few more to add to the short list.  I then came across a table full of really nice looking birds and saw a pair of lovely birds right in the middle.  I looked around all the others but kept coming back to them.  I talked to the breeder and his wife and they were both really helpful. i told them i liked them but i needed to look around the rest before i made a decision..... 10 minutes later i was handing over the cash and carried them round with me while i bought them a new cage and stocked up on provisions.


I had managed to bag myself a pair of mutation Green Cheek Conures that are rather special.  The male is a yellow sided split to Pineapple and also split to Blue and the female is a Pineapple split to Blue.  Now if you don't know much about genetics in green cheek mutations..... like me..... this will not mean much.  By this time I had just about got to grips with the genetics of how you get to a Pineapple and the sex linked stuff and the males being split..... I had seen mention of the blue mutation but thought that was far to complicated.... so I had more reading to do and more google image searches to study.   I still don't have it sorted completely but I know this pair can produce quite a large variety of different mutations.


MALE CHICKS

1. YELLOW SIDED  split to Pineapple and Blue
2. YELLOW SIDED split to Pineapple
3. BLUE YELLOW SIDED split to Pineapple
4. PINEAPPLE split to Blue
5. PINEAPPLE
6. BLUE PINEAPPLE

FEMALE CHICKS

1. YELLOW SIDED split to blue 
2. YELLOW SIDED
3. BLUE YELLOW SIDED
4. PINEAPPLE split to blue
5. PINEAPPLE
6. BLUE PINEAPPLE

I have time to learn a bit more about all the genetics stuff while I wait for them to settle in.  In the mean time here's some photos taken just after I got them last month

This is Pedro

This is Eva

Eva hanging out with Pedro

Pedro showing off his blue bits

I love the markings around Eva's face

What a handsome Chap

A cheeky look from Eva 

Eva :"Hey Pedro, what do you think those other birds are?"
Pedro: "Hmmm.. I'm not sure Eva, but they arnt as beautifully as you" 
 Eva: "Pedro you're such a creep i will lay when I'm ready!"

Gilbert Greeny & Big's First Babies

Gilbert Greeny and Big Banana got together earlier in the year and their first clutch of eggs was laid in the summer.  Big sat on them and sat on them and sat on them some more but they wouldn't hatch.  I took them out when she was out eating and having a spruce up and changed the shavings in the nest box.  A few weeks later she started laying again and again and again... and sat on them again.

Big sitting on her second clutch of eggs

This one hatched second (at 6 days old)

On the 30th September I found a dead chick in their nest box... which apart from looking a bit bruised seemed to have nothing wrong.  It was a bit sad but these things happen and at least I knew they could do it.   

This one hatched third (at 3 days old)

On 2nd October another hatched and two more on the 5th and 6th.

I noticed when taking these photos  that the eldest chick had a lump of food stuck on the side of its beak and quickly tried to wash it off but it didn't want to budge.                             

This one hatched fourth (at 2 days old )

I didn't want to keep it out of the nest box too long and wrongly decided that Big would probably clean it up.  A few days later I peeped in the nest box again while Big was out stretching her legs n wings and the food blob was still there so  decided I'd have to get it out and soak the food off.  I soaked it very carefully with cotton wool and warm water and it just came away on the cotton wool.  When I looked at the beak that whole side of the lower mandible was gone and it wasn't in the food blob.  I had noticed that Big seemed to be quite rough while feeding although I was trying not to disturb her too much I had peeped in a couple of times while she was feeding after Id found the dead chick.  I sadly put the chick back in the nest box and searched the Internet for info on beak damage in chicks.  The outlook was bad.  It wouldn't grow back and the bird would probably not survive and would have to be hand fed for the rest of its life.... not much fun for bird or owner!

Later that day the chick was put down.  I still am not sure if the beak was damaged and the food blob formed because of a hole, or weather the food was stuck on the outside and got infected from bacteria... although I'm not sure that the later could happen in just a week.

The other Two chicks continued to do fine and still are!  

The Big one #12 (at 17 days old)

The Little one #13 (at 16 days old)

As you can see over the next 2 weeks they grew loads and got fluffier and fluffier and a lot more gray, but still had white patches of fluff too.  I ringed them at about a week old, I find that's about the right time but its better to check to early than for them to be too big as then you cant ring them with a closed ring.  After my success with Oscar I decided to bring them in the house at 3 weeks and start hand feeding and taming them.   


I made a brooder from a heat pad used for reptiles and a 

Home made brooder (from above)

plastic pet carry box on its side, with some fleece and kitchen roll for bedding and a thermometer.  I put a couple of balls of fleece in for them to lean on....so they don't squash  each other too much and added the babies when it had heated up. 

Brooder and Chicks 3 weeks old

 They were a bit scared to start off but after a couple of days were getting used to being handled and taking the formula from a syringe really well.  I start with a 5ml syringe and move up to a 20 ml one when they get the hang of it to deliver the goods a bit quicker.

Chicks in their new warm home

You can just see the tips of the yellow wing feathers in the smallest chick and the green feathers on the huge one.  I'm getting quite impatient waiting to see how they are going to look when they are bigger.















 

Oscar can now Tweet

you can now follow Oscar on twitter 

Follow @OscarGarland

Petal, Bruce & The Baldy Baby

This year has not been as successful as the last few years in the baby department but I put that mainly down to losing Jimmy my male who was bonded really well with Petal and was a fab dad.  I blame myself as it was in some really hot weather and I hadn't opened the Bird House early enough as i was feeling ill and when I got out there I discovered Jimmy laying dead on the floor of the cage with no drinking water left; my stomach turned with guilt.  Petal pined and didn't like being on her own so I found her another manbird hoping she would accept him.  Bruce has now bonded with her and they have had 2 clutches of eggs of which only one chick hatched. 

At about a week old. has fluff and eyes are just opening.
I have just fitted leg ring

At about 3 weeks old looking rather plucked

The first two weeks were fine but then I noticed the baby was far less fluffy than it had been and by 4 weeks had no fluff on its back at all.  Petal had been plucking at it to encourage it to leave the nest.  I have previously moved chicks at about this age to a  smaller nest box with an open front to allow the dad to continue feeding while mum lays another clutch.

however.... this happened just as the weather changed and I was worried that the loan, bald baby would get cold on its own with no one to snuggle up to, so I brought it into the house in a budgie box on a hot water bottle and started hand feeding it. I had never hand fed a baby Kakariki before so read up and got all the stuff I needed and set about feeding.  I will go into more feeding detail at another time.  


Its quite hard telling which sex a baby is when you have no other chicks to compair it to but I decided it was a boy so he was named Oscar.  I had thought about harness training before but none of my other birds have been tame enough to even consider training, but I thought I would get a harness and try to get the baby used to it slowly.  I spent time after every feed stroking and snuggling him and getting him used to being close to the harness and to me holding his wings up and other movements needed to fit the harness.  The first time I put the harness on him he was fine but had not yet flown.  but within a few days was flying and I was able to take him outside on the harness.

Oscar - with feathers

Bribery works well - Oscar really likes pomegranate seeds

Oscar sitting on the perch rich made for him from a couple of sticks

Oscars back is feathering up nicely and not looking like a tesco value chicken anymore..yay

Having a preen

Bored now.....

Introducing My Kakarikis

Petal feeding some of last years babies

All my Kakariki are Red Crowned Kakariki.  Petal is my oldest female she is a Black Eyed Clear Yellow Mutation. She had a new partner this year after I lost Jimmy the father of some of my other birds with heat exhaustion.

Jimmy feeding one of last years babies

Petals new partner is Bruce also a Black Eyed Clear Yellow Mutation. 

Bruce

Big with her 2 green feathers

Big and Little were my first ever chicks.  Ok their names are not very exciting, but I didn't know what sex they were and started calling them big fluff head and little fluff head, which inevitably got shortened and it now seems wrong to change it. 

Little being cheeky

Petal and Jimmy with Big and Little in the nest box

Little is now paired with Dave they are both Black Eyed Clear with no green feathers


Big who has 2 green feathers just above her tail but otherwise all yellow and also has black eyes is paired with Gilbert.  Gilbert I bought as a wild colour but has since grown a few yellow feathers at each moult so is there for Pied.  I thought they would produce some nice bright Pied babies.

Gilbert

They Built a Little Bird House for My soul

The begginings....its going to be a long job!

A few years ago I was really quite ill with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  I just happened to go to a local gaqrden centre to have a coffee and a rest after a visit to the Dr before I drove home again.  While I was there I saw some lovely birds I'd never seen before and I couldnt stop thinking about them. They were lovely!  I went back several more times and did a lot of online reserch and eventually went back and bought them.  They were a pair of Kakariki. Unfortunatley I lost my first pair to different problems but I got some more much stronger birds and over the next few years my flock expanded and  and my house was getting rather over run.

A lot or gravel to move

Last summer my boyfriend, son and a friend  built me a Bird House in my back garden

Showing the youngster how its done

Slabs going down... being inspected by Chilli Dog

Looking good!

I ordered the summerhouse and everything we needed and the hard work then started for me keeping everyone supplied with drinks.  It started off with a lot of soil moving, leveling, coffee drinking and sand moving by my friend steve.  Followed by slab moving and laying which my son Dan helped with.... and Chilli Dog watched on and helped in an advisory manor.

Time for the wood bit

Steve, Rich and Dan then set about sorting out the masive pile of wood that some how was going to fit together like a giant 3D puzzle into a Summerhouse. The floor first, then the walls, the planks all slotted together log cabin style.  
 

Its getting there

WooHoo..... look what WE built!

Holes were left in the right places for the window and doors and the roof was fitted in place








Nice one Dan!!

Painting .....and Chester the dog has moved i

Rich put the window and doors on and got them working right while Steve pretended he was a monkey and sat on the roof... he was actually putting the felt on at the same time.



Steve and my friend Emily painted the whole place from top to bottom in colours I'd chosen.  I wanted it to look like a beach hut, and I think it worked really well.

I love my Bird House, it makes me smile, and is now the main home for my birds as well as Dans Rabbit and Gerbils.  I would like to say a huge thanks to the Steve Rich Dan and Emily for all their hard work.

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My Bird House Today