Blue subheadings for easy skimming! LOL
Priscilla is sick....yet again.
This is the fourth time in the past few months. I'm at a loss. I was brainstorming with Laraine and she suggested that perhaps it was just stress. It did all start around the time of Squeepers' fledging. She has always been very lovely and nurturing with Squeepers and now, with Pippin and Piper, so it hadn't occurred to me. But it could very well be the case.
There are far too many birds in that cage -- a total of 7 zebras in two interconnected 37x18x18 cages (so I believe that's 37x36x18?) Two pairs and 3 kids. They get 8+ hours of free fly per day, but she's been staying home under the heat lamp. And Molly Sue and Ivy have stayed close to home when Pippin and Piper were younger, so it only just recently started clearing out during the day.
So I decided it's time to remove the kids to their own cage!
I already had a new cage on order and it arrived yesterday. Just a simple 30x18x18.
As you may recall, Squeepers has *really* resisted all attempts to move away from home. On the most recent attempt, I tried to move him in with a lovely little hen, Juliette, and he started crying and sulking and pacing and refusing to eat. I moved him into a different room, but the parents, Molly Sue and Ivy, could still hear him and they got very distressed and "pace-ey" and started neglecting the babies (Pippin and Piper were still hatchlings). So I gave in and returned Sir Squeepers after it became clear that the timing was all wrong.
So this time, I'm going to move him with his siblings.
I'm going to relocate Piper, Pippin and Squeepers to the new cage.
All three siblings are quite bonded, so they will do nicely together.
Once settled, I hope to interconnect with another 30x18x18 and introduce Juliette for Squeepers, then separate them out.
Of course, they may have different plans! LOL
I'll be banding them when I catch them to put them in their new cage, so that will be good fun.
Plastic split bands, of course. I've never done it myself, so it will be a delight for everyone involved, I'm sure.
And the BIG news....
We've got a boy!
Piper, whom I'd arbitrarily deemed female when he was younger, is most definitely a BOY!
Over the past couple days, he's sprouted a single orange cheek feather, several brown spotted flank feathers and a dozen or so striped chest feathers!
What's curious is the total lack of adult plumage on Piper's sibling, Pippin.
Pippin's beak is almost totally orange and he's always been several days ahead of Piper in development. Yet there's not a single feather to indicate male-ness. If Piper has a bunch of male feathers, you'd expect Pippin would have sprouted at least a couple.
But there's nothing.
Now, Pippin is a CFW, as is Squeepers and Squeepers took a bit longer to color out (in fact, at 4 months, 1 week, and 1 day old, he's still not finished. He's got a few obnoxious grey straggler feathers on his head. But they're falling out, slowly but surely.)
So I'm thinking perhaps it's a CFW thing? Perhaps they're just slower to color up?
Has anyone else found this to be true???
Of course, there's the possibility that Pippin is FEMALE.
I would be completely and utterly shocked.
That would make Pippin the single most pushy, bossy female I've ever met!
Pippin acts VERY male. He's a juvenile and he's already a very pushy zebra. (I have no idea where he gets this! Nobody else in his cage is pushy, despite the crowded conditions. Ivy and Molly Sue are the sweetest birds ever!) But Pippin claimed one of the in-cage shelves, deeming it his property and beak fences with anyone who dares enter his territory uninvited. (Even his dad, Molly Sue!)
Needless to say, Pippin isn't going to live in a community cage. He'll likely be destined for a pairs cage (30x18x18) with whomever s/he chooses as a mate.
And lastly, we have a name for the African Silverbeak!
We've named him/her Silva. (That was my husband's doing. "Silver" with a Boston accent.) But It's actually fitting. S/he liked it so Silva it is!
I'm really unsure on gender. Quite vocal, but doesn't do the characteristic male song. I'll definitely be doing a DNA test when Silva when s/he is feeling better!
That's all for now!
I think silva is a great name. Hope Priscilla feels better! 
Messi's change seems to be typically gradual, while Spot's seems incredibly fast. He dropped 40% of his feathers almost overnight! And now he's chuck full of pins all over, many of them not in his baby white base color.
