Look what JohnBoy sent me!

[cindy]

Candace, Not everyone bands. I do not and never have, I HAVE been doing this off and on for over 40 yrs. So I am not inexperienced.

John and I have had many conversations in regards to the birds he shipped. I fully understand that they could be brother and sister. If you read what I posted I was writing about the fact that John and I talked about the tails and sexing of silverbills. As soon as the birds arrived and were put into their cages the male sang, I got so excited. The tail sexing worked. Did I mention I was going to breed them? No, they are to young. I do plan on getting 2 unrelated male and female an a few months. I am in no rush to breed them or any of my finches. Like John stated there is a 50/50 chance they are unrelated. It is my choice to breed them or not. They do have a nest in the cage for sleeping as John suggested.

The last time I got birds you questioned my RCCB and shaftails. I trust the people I buy from and I am picky about it.

I have also had experience with people putting bands on birds and passing them off as unrelated and younger than what they really were. Once discovered the birds were returned and reported to my club. So banding doesn't always equate to honesty in some cases.

This topic was to share with everyone the birds John sent to me. The details and background of the birds is between John and me.

This forum should not be a place where one should feel like they need to justify or defend what they are doing. This is a place for sharing and learning.

[cartel]

Woooow!!! its begin to feel alot like Christmas.....

BTW nice birds and pics Cindy

[cindy]

It felt like Christmas the day I received the birds.

Thank you Cartel

[CandoAviary]

And what nice birds they are, er, thanks for sharing I guess a lot of people don't band...for whatever reason. And a lot of people do band, some closed, some colored plastic, some numbered, some with personalized bands...And those that show their birds the bands are nescesary to gain points. It is an added expense to bird keeping and it does take time and a little skill. I guess for people having more than one breeding pair of the same species it is just the simplest method of identification. Probably why so popular. Sorry you took offense to my question, none was intended. Happy Birding, banded or not, and Peace

[cindy]

I am very pleased with the birds John sent. We talked daily either by phone or email. He caught birds from different avairies, put then in individual cages and watched for them to sing or not. He sent pictures. In the end I let him decided which birds to send. His choices are wonderful.

Now I have (9) cages in a row stack two high and my flight cage with the shaftails. And of course Louey's (lovebird) cage.

HMMMMM do I need a bird room or flight aviary or what? I have extra cages for young. It looks like the shaftail are sitting, I am not going to disturb them even though the birds are a very tolerant pair.

As far as banding goes I have had birds that had to have the bands removed due to having the wrong size or the band being improperly put on by the person I have purchased from. Many breeders remove the original band from the original breeder and put their own on if using a color code method. Other breeders color code cages as I did with my lovebirds of the same mutation. When the chicks were sold the new owner got a card with the parents colors, it's birthdate and when it weaned.

I am not a fan of banding, it is fine if you do large masses of birds but small scale as I am it is something I am not interested in. Money is not an issue nor is skill, neither has anything to do with it, I just prefer not to do it. Each person does what is best for them. Maybe banding should be a new topic to discuss elsewhere.

All I know is I am a very happy bird owner!

[dfcauley]

All I know is I am a very happy bird owner!

And a very caring one. That is all that matters!!!

[cindy]

Thank you Donna.

I will keep you posted on the shaftail. Hope this first clutch is fertile.

[earlybird09]

How much did you pay? Just curious!

[cindy]

SHHHHHH! it's a secret!!!!!!!

[Domenic]

I am going to keeping my birds in a large display aviary and I prefer unbanded birds. When you see a bird with a bright green band on it's leg it really takes away the exoticness of it.

[cindy]

I agree, they don't have bands in the wild either!!!!!! both pairs of owls have bands. One has one on each leg and the other has 2 on one leg and one on the other. The other pair has one on only one leg. I want to have them removed, one bird has it crimped wrong.

I spoke to my avian vet back when I had my Gray, she said you'd be amazed at the injuries and the need to have bands removed due to them being incorrectly sized or put on. I microchipped my Gray he hated the band on his leg the breeder put on him, he was always tugging at it, yelling at it.

I used a color code if I had 2 "unrelated" pairs of parrotlets where both males were American yellows and the females were normals split to yellow. their offspring and baby cage (kept in a separate cage) would get the two color dots that represented the parents. Easy peasy...

[cindy]

Ok...rethinking an outdoor aviary on the porch..it looks like we may have a late in the season hurricane. Hope this thing falls apart before it comes back into the Gulf waters which are still very warm right now.

Hmmm, maybe one that is on wheels that can be wheeled into the house during the winter and bad weather.

[JohnBoy]

Is there really a storm out there? The gulf coast was really lucky this year. I never want to go through what I did with Katrina. The end of Hurricane season is Sunday.

[cindy]

It is still in the lower Gulf and to go over land. They are hoping the land masses will shear it apart but it is suppose to go back into the gulf where the waters are still warm and gain strength, they show it possibly coming in above us and Tallahassee sometime next week.

Maybe our luck will continue and it will just be a tropical storm or go away!

[cindy]

John,

It looks like the fawn male and fawn female are pairing up. The chocolate male is singing to everyone, he did sang to the Pearl last night and was beak to beak with her. (the Pearl is always the first to bath in a clean bowl of water!)

The little male zebra is turning his tail towards the female, fanning it at her and just singing his little heart out. He has tried to mate her, I don't know is he has been successful but he is in the nest calling to her, she hasn't gone in. I haven't given any of the societies and zebras coco fiber yet...they may need it soon!