Species Recommendations?

[ac12]

The bad part of bird marts is you see so many interesting birds that you can easily dilute your breeding by getting the other species. Then your breeding effort is spread over multiple species, possibly with different breeding requirements.

Heck just w gouldians you have green, yellow, blue, silver, dilute, etc. And I got into that pickle with greens, yellows and blue. I decided that I have to concentrate so right now I'm working on 2 blues and 1 yellow. Once the blues finish breeding and get separated to rest, I will work on more yellows.

Finally, you will need MORE cages for all your new friends.

[Sally]

It's too late now, but if you could find out when they are planning to have more marts, or if you could get the website for the people who put on this mart, we can get their bird marts/fairs/shows posted on the calendar.

In fact, for everyone out there, if you hear about a mart/fair/show in your area, please post it under Marketplace/Events, so it can be placed on the calendar for all to see--thanks!

[moonrise]

The bad part of bird marts is you see so many interesting birds that you can easily dilute your breeding by getting the other species. Then your breeding effort is spread over multiple species, possibly with different breeding requirements.

Heck just w gouldians you have green, yellow, blue, silver, dilute, etc. And I got into that pickle with greens, yellows and blue. I decided that I have to concentrate so right now I'm working on 2 blues and 1 yellow. Once the blues finish breeding and get separated to rest, I will work on more yellows.

Finally, you will need MORE cages for all your new friends.

I had to be really careful not to buy more birds than I had room for, plus leave a few open cages for any offspring! LOL! ;)

It's too late now, but if you could find out when they are planning to have more marts, or if you could get the website for the people who put on this mart, we can get their bird marts/fairs/shows posted on the calendar.

In fact, for everyone out there, if you hear about a mart/fair/show in your area, please post it under Marketplace/Events, so it can be placed on the calendar for all to see--thanks!

Will do!

Edited to add: Here's the website for Camp Jordan in Chattanooga. Click on "Calendar" on the left to see the upcoming events. No new bird fairs are listed at the moment, but I think they have them twice a year or so. I'll try to watch.

Link: http://www.campjordan.com/

...

Hubby went back to the bird fair this morning (well, yesterday morning, since it's after midnight now - LOL!), and brought home two pairs of shafttails.

I've got everyone situated, and put the two cages of owls off in a quieter corner of the room so they'd have as much privacy as possible. One pair has taken up residence in their nest already. They didn't come out even when I sneakily replaced their food and water.

I tried to snap some photos of the others, but my camera battery fizzled. It turned off and didn't even retract the zoom lens first like it normally does, and naturally I can't find the charger cord. I'll have to go digging for it.

Hubby made me the neatest thing! I bought a gigantic roll of 24" wide white paper, and he built a dispenser for it. I make quilts, so I put the paper dispenser on the opposite side of my cutting mat, which has 1" lines on it. I can just pull the paper out, and use an old rotary cutter to cut the paper the exact size of the bird trays. Waaaay easier than cutting newspaper or paper towels to fit, and the white color looks nicer, too. I'm so thankful to have a supportive Hubby who enjoys critters just as much as I do.

As far as deciding what species to concentrate on, I think I've pretty well decided to go with 2 zebra finch mutations, the owls (adorable little things!), the shafttails (lovely!), and also keep 2-3 pairs of societies mainly as foster parents. I've got a whole room dedicated to my birdies, so there should be plenty of space.

[lovemyfinch]

Congrats on your shopping spree
Looking forward to those pics

[moonrise]

Sorry it took me awhile! I never did find that stinkin' camera cord, and after pricing a replacement, I just bought a new camera instead. My old camera was becoming obsolete, anyway.

Here are the photos!

Here are the two pairs of owl finches:





Here's one pair of shaft-tail finches:



Close-up:



And here's the other pair:



Here's the crested male society finch (front), and his female companion (back):



And here's the new female society finch (on the right), to go with the lone male I already had (on the left):



Pics of my in-progress bird room to follow ...

[moonrise]

And here's my in-progress bird room. I'm still working on decorating it, but my plan is to have lots of plants to make it look jungle-y. DH is going to fix the cage stands where an extra cage will sit on top of them, for future use.

View from the door. I'll be changing the burgundy curtain to a blue and green one with birds on it.



Same picture, without the chair in the way. The "desk" is actually a sewing machine cabinet, which holds the old Singer 15-91 sewing machine I inherited from my great-grandmother. It needs some work, but we're eventually going to try to fix it up. On top of it is my record book, bird food, and more supplies on the shelf. The white and blue hanging container has clean food cups in it. There are some plants in the windowsill, and two hanging plants in the floor that haven't been hung up yet. In the corner is my trash can, and the much-used broom and dustpan!



Left wall of cages. Top row has two pairs of society finches in the first two cages, and zebra finches in the last cage (complete with a baby). The bottom row has a pair of diamond doves, and two pairs of zebras in the last two cages.



Right wall of cages. Top row has a pair of zebras, a pair of societies, and a pair of owls. Bottom row has two pairs of zebras in the first two cages (the first pair has two babies), and the second pair of owls in the last cage.



Cages beside the door. Each has a pair of shaft-tails. I still have to make a curtain to go underneath it. Birdie supplies are behind the curtains.

[lovemyfinch]

Wonderful little bird room
And a beautiful selection of birds

[debbie276]

VERY nice set-up! Yup, I can see myself sitting in that chair for hours.
Best of luck
thanks for the pictures

[annague]

Great story and choices on birds, Moonrise! I always think Societies are under-rated because they're 'easy'... and so they are but they are also very fun to watch since they are not too shy and it's a big benefit that they will raise other birds babies, too! I like my Owl finches better than I thought I would, too. They are real characters. I have no Shafties but people seem to really enjoy them as well...

So wonderful having a loving, supportive hubby for your hobby (hobby hubby?)

Thanks for all the pictures and be sure to keep us informed!!

[6finchfriends]

what a nice bird room! Love the shelving with curtains. Easy to organize all the food etc! Your choices for birds are wonderful as well. I sure wish we had bird marts up here but we don't The only bird fair we have in my area (35 miles away)is a little one in September with mostly parrots, but last time I was there, there were a few finches as well. This summer I plan on doing a lot of yard sale shopping for cages and fix up a room for my birds. You've given me a lot of good ideas! Then I might have to go to that bird sale in September.....

[cindy]

Sounds like you had an excellent time and found some wonderful new additions to your family!!! (psssst...go get shaftails!!!)