There are nests of little chicks hatching all around the bird room! So far, most pairs are producing fertile eggs, hatching normally, and seem to be feeding well. I set a small group of hens in early April and a second larger group the very end of April, which are hatching this week. A third group of hens are due to hatch next week. A fourth small number of hens are building nests, or beginning to lay eggs.
For 2021, I have roughly 31 hens, most of which are set up as pairs with a male. Most are birds of my own raising. There are 13 American Singer pairs, 3 Fife hens, 6 pairs of the Thompson line of yellows, 1 pair of bronzes, and 8 agate or opal hens.
For the past 8 months I have worried about some way to keep my total numbers down. I had too many birds last year... too many pairs, and too many youngsters. Oh, I had FUN! And I raised so many really NICE youngsters!
I proved several theories about the various families in my bird room. Plus, I met some wonderful people as I sold my extras last fall and this spring! But, I did not have as much time for leisurely observation of the birds, seated in a rocker in the bird room, and sipping a coffee drink!
My goal is to maintain approx 20 pairs, with only a little wiggle room for extras! :) At the moment, I have no idea how to drop approximately one third of my plans!
But that problem can be postponed until later this summer! :)
We are HALF WAY into breeding season in the new bird room!
I did make a Bird Room Make Over video together; watch it below or larger sized on my YouTube channel.
The 'new' birds I bought last fall were a bit slow to set/hatch, but the hens of my own raising are doing well. I am most excited over the beautiful American Singers! Even a couple of older AS hens have given me chicks. A five year old agate opal-carrying hen is on her second nest! Several older males are also producing youngsters.
Soon, the FUN of choosing the youngsters to include in next year's breeding BEGINS!
I love to watch the young ones as they mature and begin to show their potential!
This year will be even more exciting as my favorite birds have produced Beautiful Kids!
I will have LOTS of youngsters to choose my own keepers and to sell! (See photo, left, for my Bird Room Numbers!)
I made THREE decisions:
#1) I will be removing each egg as it is laid, and replacing it with a fake egg... storing each hen's eggs in a little cup, and returning them all when she lays the fourth or last egg.
I just left the eggs with the hens, for all the first round of nests. And I lost a few chicks!
Half of the hens did okay.... because they laid an egg each day, thus the eggs were hatching day after day. Most of these same hens also did not begin incubating until the final egg. And, they fed well after hatching, searching out the youngest ones and feeding them in turn. The other hens were less efficient, in all aspects of breeding.
The males behaved similarly: half were skilled, half not so much.
This was a good learning experience for me.... but for this second round of nests, I removed the eggs as they were laid, and returned them all at the same time! :)
#2) When/IF I buy new stock birds, no matter how 'well-known' the breeder is, I will carefully, and cautiously, observe them before I mingle them with my own birds!
Ten years ago, when I first began buying 'new birds' in the fall of one year, I would pair some of them with my own birds the very next spring. And, in the following years, I would pair their offspring with more of my own birds.
Three years ago, I took a critical look at the 'new birds' and discovered some of them produced good offspring, and others did nothing but pass along serious faults!
In the two breeding seasons since, after culling some birds that 'should have been good' but were NOT, and keeping my own lines clean, I am now seeing some great results!!
After the past 10 years of buying birds, I am convinced the best birds are of my own breeding! I am learning how to pair birds! :)
I have found about 6 'good' birds, and several exceptional ones, from various American Singer breeders. I am building the opals from very good groups of birds I bought from two breeders, both of whom I believe are no longer breeding with the same bloodlines. I have several great, solid families of yellows from Bruce Thompson. I am thinking of selling all my bronzes and mahoganies, but they are really very nice birds, from three breeders.
Long story short: I have LOTS of good families.... with good solid genetics.
From here into the future, I need to remind myself:
no matter how fun it is to get new birds, resist the temptation!
#3) 36 pairs are too many! :)
I have no idea how I will make the decision of which ones to keep, but I am setting a goal of 25 pairs for 2021! I'll keep you all updated on how well I am doing toward this goal!
(This journal entry has been added 7/2019. Sorry for the delay, but I am returning to keeping the Bird Room Journal up to date!)
2019 has been a strange year, outdoors. March, April and May have been warmer and much sunnier than normal
In the bird room, progress has been going according to plan!
I have learned a few things about the effects of the changes in my diet plan. I have been mostly satisfied. I am keeping notes, and will post a summary of what parts of my new diet worked/didn't work. :)
The Good News: Most of my 'most anticipated' pairs produced some very, very nice youngsters. There were also some unexpected beautiful babies from new pairs.
The Bad News: Most of the newly purchased birds and several of my oldest pairs did not produce a single chick! In early April, when these pairs were not beginning to nest, I began putting fertility vitamin supplements in their water, and increasing their protein, in both seed and softfood. I understand why the old males (8-9 years old) did not produce fertile eggs, but the new young hens who layed/set and still did not hatch a single egg, are a mystery to me. Four of 6 birds from one breeder died! Three of four hens from another breeder sat in an empty nest without building or laying eggs. But they sure were happy just sitting in the nest for days on end.
Here are the first youngsters, hatched in April! I haven't taken photos up close, but there are many very nice ones!
My rocking chair is still in the bird room, but the seed tub is all that is sits in it
In my life away from the canaries, the ranch work has been busy.... and keeps getting even more busy!
May Month by Month Journal ============= COMMENTS are enabled for these journal posts so please jump in with your advice or questions!
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Things went well this month!! I do return my seed mix to the 'basic mix', instead of the enriched mix with all the 'goodies' I have been feeding for a few months. The reason: I don't want to push my hens too hard. I don't want them laying larger than normal eggs, more eggs per nest than normal, or laying too closely together. Each hen has her own 'schedule'... some hens lay an egg every day... other hens wait a day or two between producing eggs.
I feel a hen that has been fed a healthy, strong diet will lay properly. : ) I do continue the Ioford and DufoPlus combination. And of course, there is cuttlebone and mineral powder in their cages.
As they begin hatching clutches, I am careful to provide eggfood to parents twice a day. I feed as soon as possible in the mornings, and again late afternoon. The precautions about spoiling egg or soft food are something to remember! I do several things that I think help prevent my eggfood from souring:
Each time I add fresh soft/egg food, I remove any food remaining from previous feeding.
I wash the dish at least once a day.
I prepare the soft food immediately before serving to the birds. DO NOT SAVE the food in your fridge. You may freeze small amounts in freezer bags, pressing out excess air before placing in the freezer. It crumbles apart while still frozen, and may be placed in their cage frozen.
Use fresh ingredients... including eggs and any other ingredients. Do not use any greens that have spoilage, oats that have been in a warm cupboard for months, or eggs that are anywhere close to their expiration dates. I use eggs from my own hens, and I am very fortunate that I know how many hours old they are! : )
I feed in small, flat dishes with low sides... such as dipping saucers, lids such as spaghetti sauce or pickle jar lids, or espresso cup saucers. I have heard of breeders using small paper plates, the plastic lids from Pringles chip canisters, etc. These flat containers let any left over food dry out... rather than stay moist! This extends the time the food remains edible and does not need removing immediately. I would not recommend re-using the dried leftovers!!!
