shnapper20 wrote: ↑01 Mar 2018, 16:02
point taken arthur, if they are hybrids Ill seperate the parents. Not yet as they are still weening them, and go looking for a collector who doesnt breed them.
Even if the babies look a bit 'iffy', I'd wait until after their first moult before making any decision on their future....sometimes questionable features become clearer then.
If they prove to be hybrids, they may be the first (or first RECORDED) for many years.
I also believe the birds should not be punished. Let them live out their normal life spans without a mate. I still have a Bengo hen by Java cock chick here. She has laid one very small egg once in her life, so I know she is a hen. But is getting on in years.
LML
just a follow up, the young continued to look normal, so I'll assume the painted was helping out. There are more young in the nest same hen, so Ive been watching for days to try and spot her partner. She came out of the nest followed by a black headed normal gouldian cock?? The young started screaming for food again and yes the same gouldian went racing into feed them. Well either the diamond hen is extremely tarty or the raucous demands of the chicks brings out the best in all species. There is no sign of a male diamond bothering to feed them?
shnapper20 wrote: ↑08 May 2018, 13:15
just a follow up, the young continued to look normal, so I'll assume the painted was helping out.
Undoubtedly the best outcome, John, but it means that you probably won't be getting a mention in the next edition of 'Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World'.
Possabilities. You have birds that are so clucky they will feed anything. You have too few nests so they are sharing. (I'm assuming not.) This nest is the best one location and type wise and you should put more near it and like it.
Either way good to hear you are getting young and they are being fed well.
LML
I run Goulds, Painteds and Stars and have had all three either raise/fledge/feed each other. I suppose the maternal instinct kicks in when you have screaming kids wanting a feed. Pretty well documented about cats raising puppies and the reverse as well as heaps of other animals. Think yourself lucky that an extra pair of hands (or wings) cant hurt.
It is a a good thing to see and you can take heart that you must be doing something right that will allow the trigger to kick in, in other words they are very well looked after and comfortable in the environment they are in.
All i could see in that link was Painted x Redbrow of which i have seen, dead ringers for Beautiful Firetails.
