My New Owls

Jan · Post by **Jan** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:01 am

Sally wrote:I am happy to get new bloodlines, as I have the feeling that many of us in this area trace our birds back to Mr. Davis in Oklahoma, who was THE big Owl breeder at the FW mart each year. He always sold out by noon, and then you had to wait 6 months till he came to the next mart. And I am thrilled to find someone who NFSS closed-bands his birds! I think most people on here know what an advocate of closed banding I am!

I think you are so right about the Oklahoma Owl connection... I thought for the longest time I had three different sources only to find out they all traced back to Oklahoma..

Post by **Sally** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:12 am

Jan wrote:
Sally wrote:I am happy to get new bloodlines, as I have the feeling that many of us in this area trace our birds back to Mr. Davis in Oklahoma, who was THE big Owl breeder at the FW mart each year. He always sold out by noon, and then you had to wait 6 months till he came to the next mart. And I am thrilled to find someone who NFSS closed-bands his birds! I think most people on here know what an advocate of closed banding I am!
I think you are so right about the Oklahoma Owl connection... I thought for the longest time I had three different sources only to find out they all traced back to Oklahoma..

I think that is something we all have to be aware of, with any species. If no one in the area is bringing in new bloodlines, then we end up swapping out the same bloodlines, diluted somewhat by the odd bird here and there, but that is why it is so important to bring in outside bloodlines from time to time. I have been lucky with my Blue-caps, as I have gotten outside bloodlines for them, same with the Senegal Fires.

6finchfriends · Post by **6finchfriends** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:03 pm

Oh Sally they are adorable!! I was so worried about little Trouble! What a rascal!

I hope some day I can get a pair!

yvonnew · Post by **yvonnew** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:11 pm

oh, Sally your owls look fantastic!!!
I need to ask why did you get 3 hens and 5 males? why didn't you get 4 pairs? How does the odd numbers work into your breeding plans?

I'm trying to understand this bird breeding stuff

kcdozy · Post by **kcdozy** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:29 pm

Sally,
That is a great idea to start a shipping thread, you are more than welcome to share my info. I bought 5 of them at petmountain.com they came to around $15 each including shipping and taxes. I originally bought the same style with a wire top for $20 each, that has a nice door on top. I took one to delta cargo with me one time and they said all carriers now have to have a solid top. I am going to design a door on the side for easier bird removal. Think if I cut a 4x4 hole and take a 5x5 piece of heavy plastic, drill holes and zip tie it with some zip ties.
I just got tired of building my own boxes and just do not have the time to do it anymore.
Rich

Post by **Sally** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:21 pm

Yvonne, I originally just ordered 3 pairs, all unrelated. Rich was able to come up with those 3 pairs, and then I would have loved to have gotten extra hens, but since he did not have any more hens, I took 2 extra males instead. Everyone seems to be short on hens this year.

Rich, I will do a thread later on shipping. Even without the door, it works (I just should have used the bath towel

).

yvonnew · Post by **yvonnew** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:45 pm

Sally, thanks for explaining the numbers to me, I thought maybe I had missed something and I needed more males in order to get chicks.
My female lays eggs her and the male seem to do everything correct but, so far no egg has been fertile

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:35 pm

Congratulations on all the new Owls and for getting Trouble out of his trouble spot.

I'll be looking forward to hearing the peeps of many many new chicks in your nests, Sally!

Post by **Sally** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 10:56 pm

Yvonne, Owls can be funny, a pair can be introduced and go right to nest, raise babies, all is well. Then another pair will come along and try your patience. They aren't always easy, but once they get going, they will usually do fine. If the hen is laying but the eggs aren't fertile, then the male is not getting his job done. This can be due to inexperience, or on the other extreme, getting older. Are these closed banded birds? Do you know the ages?

I just reread this post, and I am wrong in blaming the male completely. It also could be a case of a young hen that doesn't know she needs to be still for just a second.

Sometimes these darn finches will keep us guessing for the longest time, trying to figure out what is wrong, when they just aren't in synch.

Liz, some of these guys are quite young still, so it will be a while before I set them up--that's OK, I have lots of time.

yvonnew · Post by **yvonnew** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:55 am

Sally,
my hen is closed banded 2009, the male is not. I guess I will just wait to see what happens and hopefully someday soon things will work out

bugaboo5 · Post by **bugaboo5** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:20 am

Congratulations on your new owls! I just love owl finches - they have such character. They are the circus of my house. Your owls are just beautiful!!! Bravo Sally and kcdozy.

monotwine · Post by **monotwine** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:50 am

That is a hearty bunch of new owls. They look wonderful. I wish you all best with them with less trouble but many little "Troubles"

Post by **Sally** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:24 am

yvonnew wrote:Sally,
my hen is closed banded 2009, the male is not. I guess I will just wait to see what happens and hopefully someday soon things will work out

Your hen is certainly young enough. The other thing I forgot to mention is are you sure you have a male/female pair? Owls are so hard to sex, and many mistakes are made. I was sold two pairs once, and they turned out to all be hens. Have you heard your male sing? If so, you have a true pair. If not, then you can either put them in separate cage, and if they are in laying mode, you will find an egg in each cage in the morning. The other way to do it is to clean out the nest, then count how many eggs are in the nest each morning. If there are ever two fresh eggs in the morning, you know you have two hens.

This is the one drawback to Owls, trying to sex them, but they are worth every minute--they are such fun!

yvonnew · Post by **yvonnew** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:27 pm

Sally, I pretty sure I have a pr each time the two of them have laid eggs (which has been twice) there has only been 4 eggs.

I have played a sound track from the Internet with both female and male sounds and it was just what I hear from my two.

This might sound strange but, could size have anything to do with infertile eggs? My hen is waaaay bigger than my male:)

MLaRue · Post by **MLaRue** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:35 pm

What a beautiful little Owl flock! ;)

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