Dud stud??

[Redwing]

Took the opportunity today to put fresh brush in my aviary while I knew none of my birds had active nests. Found about 8 nests with 3-4 eggs in each with no signs of embryos in any eggs that I checked. 99% sure they are all from my pair of Stars who so far have not produced any young but are often busy building. Do I put this down to inexperience on their part? Know the female is about 12 months old but don't know about the male as I bought him from a big bird store so don't know his history, or do I have fertility problems with one of them.

[dano_68]

Ok, could be two issue Red.

1. Young hens under 2 will no doubt produce clear eggs on their first couple of tries. This is very common, especially with Waxbills.
2. The Cockbird – usually full coloured birds from a petshop are old birds a breeder has gotten rid of. So just like men, the older a cockbird gets, the lower his sperm count.

I would wait and see what they do in the next 6 months. If the eggs are still clear I would be looking for a new, younger (from a breeder!!!!) cockbird.

[flap]

Funny you should post about this Redwing, I have been thinking the same thing about our stars, which we got from a dealer. Lots of nest building,a couple of lots of clear eggs (they have been sitting for a while and two days ago stopped - we know there are 4 eggs in nest).

[Redwing]

That's interesting Flab that you've got a similar problem. Wouldn't buy now from a bird shop, but at the time weren't to know things like that and didn't have the contacts that the forum has given us to buy young healthy birds. Can't stop my Painteds now I've got this young girl from Spanna and he gave me some really good advice when he saw my aviary, not to mention learning more when I saw his setup. What are you going to do?

[gomer]

sounds like a dud to me.Alot of people will sell their old birds to shops.If you think hes old and a dud,And you have had him a while.And they are your only pr.I would sell him cheap to someone.telling them all the info you know.Like he is likely to be a dud,They may get a batch from him.Dont waste to much of a short breeding life of your hen.A new cock is a dime a dozen.

[flap]

Wouldn't buy now from a bird shop, but at the time weren't to know things like that and didn't have the contacts that the forum has given us to buy young healthy birds.

Ditto
Was talking to hubby re this (the stars are "his" birds). He says he isn't too worried if they don't breed, he enjoys watching their antics anyway (BTW they are now building a new nest so the clearly have abandoned the one with the eggs, so we'll remove it and see if the eggs were fertile or not). He seems more interested in the gouldians and breeding those.
As far as I am concerned, my babies are the OBs, and also interested in the gouldians now. Also having seen Spanna's cinnamon quail and having a ?cinnamon cock bird, might look at trying to breed the cinnamons in the future when Spanna has more hens.

[Redwing]

It's hard when you've only got a few birds to be as 'ruthless' as you should in terms of breeding. He's just such a "nice' bird, would feel bad about selling him off at this stage. Also because my Painteds and Gouldians are now breeding and have a new OB hen from Alvin guess the pressure is off the stars a bit.... just so pleased to be getting any babies, but have learnt a lot about choosing where to get birds from in the future. But do people ever temporarily swap birds ???? wonder how your husband would feel about doing a 'stud swap' for a couple of months Flab... neither of us are having any luck with our existing pairs and know it's not going to increase their sperm count but they may try harder with a new girl and would perhaps even make it clearer to tell if that's what the problem is. Just a thought anyway and would totally understand if your husband didn't want to.

[flap]

Are you stars red or yellow? ours are yellow. If yours are too, I could talk to hubby about that option...

[Redwing]

Mine are yellow too!

[natamambo]

Sounds like a match made in heaven , all ya gotta do now is get flab's hubby to agree on a bit of the side for his stars .

While we're on the topic of studs, why not add a heading under for sale section that says "Studs" with sub topics "available" and "wanted", I may need a WB hen for a second cross to see if my blue bibbed cock is a fluke or if we have a new colour which is dominant to white but recessive to purple. Easier than buying a WB hen mid season.

We've had many successful breeders from shops (and some real duds) so don't avoid them all the time. Sometimes they are the only way to get access to new species or varities, we've known plenty of breeders who won't sell outside their own little fraternity but if you have some already they'll quite happily sell to you.