New Zebras & Breeding Possibilities!

[MiaCarter]

So, there's a little pet shop that my husband and I frequent.
He knows I'm on the hunt for some zebra hens so he peeked in today and came home with some delightful surprises!!

This is Penny.
She's a lightback hen and she is GORGEOUS!


This photo doesn't do her justice. But every time I turned on the UV lights, she started freaking out and didn't calm down after 15 min. She'd had enough stress with the transition to a new home so I just left the lights off. We'll try again in a couple days once she's more settled.

This is Chip.

I was frightened when I first saw her as she is VERY young and I wondered if she was even weaned. Her beak hasn't turned at all and she has no tail which makes her so stumpy and cute!

But she seems okay and doesn't beg (If she did, I have a society who could help.)

She appears to be a normal grey hen. She has white feathers coming in on the center of her chest and they go up very high. So if she's a male, then her chest bars would start VERY high up!

My husband wasn't sure if it was a hen. He said there were 2 other babies and they were both obviously males (singing.) But this one wasn't. (He didn't realize that some don't start singing right away; some males are late bloomers.) But I think his guess was correct.

He just fell in love with her as she's so sweet and curious. She comes right up to the bars to investigate you. She's shockingly tame. I'm going to work with her to keep her friendly.

And the best part? This shop is supplied by a couple local breeders. Not a commercial breeding facility as supplies Petco or Petsmart. So I can buy them without feeling bad that I'm supporting a "bird mill."

As an aside, my husband also mentioned these little society finches with "funny hair" and I knew exactly what he was referring to - cresteds!
I've been dying for a couple of cresteds, either society or canary. So we're going to drive out and get them today (praying they're still there!)

Look at this face!!!


There's a chocolate pied crested too but the photo isn't so good.

So, now, to my question!
I have lots of new breeding possibilities!

I have....

-CFW male
-2 NG pied males split to CFW, Fawn
-Fawn hen
-Lightback hen
-Several NG males (unknown if any splits)
-2 NG hens

Cindy and anyone else who knows.....
Can I do anything with the lightback hen?

Can I only get lightback splits? Or are there any interesting combos possible?

What happens if I pair the fawn and the CFW male?
Well actually, they've paired up and have 2 eggs! She's far too young to raise it. I don't like that she's laying eggs at all at her age. So I'm going to pull the nest. But I may foster the eggs if they could be something interesting. (Interesting = something other than NG)

For the crested societies, is that gene dominant or recessive?

[delray]

MiaCarter congrats!!!! I want a soc like that!!!!

[MiaCarter]

delray Me too! I hope, hope, hope he's still there! I'll be so disappointed if he's gone. There were a couple, but I'm in love with this fawn guy!

[Sheather]

Crested societies are dominant. All the cresteds in my flock hark back to my Albert, who introduced the gene. You only need one crestie to make a ton of cresties!

Beware though - Sylvia may abandon her zebra hubby if you bring home any male societies that sing a better tune, so to speak.

[MiaCarter]

Sheather --- Oooh, yay for dominance!
I love cresteds. LOVE!

Aw, I hope you're wrong on Sylvia abandoning Jackson.
I know that's a possibility, though.
Most do prefer their own species.

My husband is en route home now so we'll be going to get them in about 20 min. So excited!!!!

[MiaCarter]

Got 'em!

We got the little fawn pied crested in the photo above (dubbed Thomas by my husband, though I strongly suspect she's a girl!)

We also got the chocolate pied crested, now named James. (Though I suspect she may be a girl too. At least one and perhaps both started cricketing/trilling like Sylvia within about 10 seconds of flying out of the box and into the cage. It's been a while since I've had a male society, but I don't ever recall a male making that sound.)

They're both so sweet. I've got the societies in quarantine with the 2 zebras and the societies have already cuddled up with the baby, Chip.
The older zebra hen seems a bit of a loner so far.

Here's the pic I have of the chocolate pied (in the background.) Her hairdo isn't as noticeable as Thomas' whose 'do covers his eyes!



It's not a great pic, but it's the only one I have at the moment. They're quite flighty right now whenever I come near the cage, so tomorrow will be picture day once they've settled!

[Sheather]

From the picture she looks female and I agree, cricketing is either a hen or a very young male. My adult males all have single note calls, but my Lucky is really confusing me and it must just be because he's young. He sings all the time now, but he makes very clear cricket noises and no normal male calls besides song yet.

[Derk]

MiaCarter
So happy you were able to get the crested societies! Glad to know the crest gene is dominant. I have had a crested fawn pied male for a while. It has taken a bit but I finally found him a girlfriend. I also just recently acquired a chocolate pied crested female. I have a male ready for her, too. Do you know not to breed two crested birds together?

[MiaCarter]

Derk - YES! I actually did know about the crested gene being lethal when doubled. I know it's true in canaries too.
There are a number of genes like that. Off the top of my head, I believe dominant silver zebras is another lethal-when-doubled gene.

I don't think I'll be doing any breeding with these guys because I really think they're both girls! LOL
(And my other society is also a hen).

Sheather - That's interesting on Lucky! They're often confusing when they're young, especially in a mixed aviary where they're hearing all sorts of vocalizations!

Vocalizations aside, how do you tell gender by looking at societies? I know you mentioned something about the head shape that you'd devised for determining gender?

I've noticed that male societies tend to have a heavier, more munia-ish beak. But I've never noticed a significant differential in head shape (I've never had a large number at once to compare!)

I'd wanted at least one boy, but I watched them for about 90 min and I couldn't spot any apparent boys. No dances or mating attempts. (And a couple who seemed to have heavier "male" beaks ended up cricketing/trilling!....I suspect they were all young.)

So I just settled for the cutest one (Thomas) and the sweetest one (James, who was constantly preening and cuddling the others.)

Okay, off to go make egg food and serve breakfast so I can peer at my new lovelies! I've wanted cresteds forever! I'm so excited to go watch them!

Yeah, I'm a geek. LOL

[Jen]

MiaCarter
Congrats on your new BEAUTIFUL flock! It is so exciting to get new birds!!!!! I also have a crested fawn hen, but didn't know that was the dominate gene. Out of all her babies, I've only had one crested baby....but sooooo cute!!! I love them too. Enjoy....and can't wait to see more photos!

[cindy]

on Penny can I see a clear picture of her and the back and tail... Lightbacks do not usually have diluted tears, the tears should remain full strength.

the tear and tail bars are they by chance silver or fawn?

[Colt]

Congratulations on the new lovelies!

[MiaCarter]

cindy --- Ooh! You're right!

I hadn't noticed the diluted tears because she's in crappy light and I thought it was just a trick of the lighting.
And Chip, the NG baby she's with doesn't have a tail yet! So no direct comparison for that.

But I looked closer and flipped on their light for a minute and you're absolutely right - her tear mark is definitely diluted, as is her tail.

Her tail is basically the same color as her tearmark - silvery. (Definitely different from Cecily's tail and tear - Cecily is fawn.)

I couldn't get a good photo without grabbing her, as she's not putting her back to me. (Cautious girl. LOL)
But I captured one from the side that lets you see it a bit.


I'll get a better photo in the next day or so. But as you can see from this image, it's definitely different from the NG tails.

So definitely not a lightback!

Perhaps a recessive silver or Florida Silver?

What would it mean if she had a fawn tail vs a silver tail?

And the important question: can I pair her with any of my eligible bachelors?

-CFW male <--- probably not him, as that would dilute more, right?
-2 NG pied males split to CFW, Fawn
-Several NG males (unknown if any splits; looking at the babies of one of these males, it looks like one may be split to fawn.)

[cindy]

I could not tell from your pictures what exact color she was it was a bit grainy... silver bars would be Florida silver... most likely she is a Florida silver. CFW and FF or FS are not good combos...it dilutes the colors in the young. FS is co dominant so if you breed her to a NG you should get NG/FS and FS young.