Aussie Finch Forum

Silvers are blues,garyh

Im not trying to blue bash but the only guys I know that keep them alive is by the use of doxy or hospital cage conditions or a combo of these.

Ive trued and failed three seasons with them iver 30 blues bred and not one still on the perch. Excluding my poor year this year I can't figure it out. There is nothing wring with raising birds as above so long as the person who buys them is told. some breeders have tild me they raised there birds under bengos and medicated.

I got good stock from good breeders and can only narrow my failure down to the fact thst blues are weaker as a result of their poor development in the early days. I refuse to medicate or wrap in cotton wool.

They are still my favourite mutation and would pay 1000 a bird if they were as reliable as a euro yellow or recessive dilute.

If you want them take the punt.

elferoz777 wrote:Im not trying to blue bash but the only guys I know that keep them alive is by the use of doxy or hospital cage conditions or a combo of these.

Ive trued and failed three seasons with them iver 30 blues bred and not one still on the perch. Excluding my poor year this year I can't figure it out. There is nothing wring with raising birds as above so long as the person who buys them is told. some breeders have tild me they raised there birds under bengos and medicated.

I got good stock from good breeders and can only narrow my failure down to the fact thst blues are weaker as a result of their poor development in the early days. I refuse to medicate or wrap in cotton wool.

They are still my favourite mutation and would pay 1000 a bird if they were as reliable as a euro yellow or recessive dilute.

If you want them take the punt.

Hi Steve

Sorry to hear about your disappointing season, but keep trying. I had a good seasons in 2014 & 2013 but this year has been very slow for most gouldian breeders

As for medicating and putting birds in cotton wool I think you are barking up the wrong tree.

Personally I only do the basic medication after each season ends and before new season begins.

If we were all breeding 100+ blues every season it would be boring.... . The key is to keep outcrossing, patients by the truck load and good record keeping.

Like many on this forum I've been working with blues for years and continue to balance my stock between the good bloodlines that produce good results with the ongoing need to outcross

I've been working on a theory that the AY may be the key to improving the blues. Last year my best breeder was an AYB hen who gave me 16 young. So this year I've taken the punt to mate her with an unrelated blue split AY. I would never put blue to blue but think if 1 has AY mixed in the results would be worth while

So far my blue/AY X AYB is on their 2nd round with 4 on perch from first round and another 4 about to fledge.

Not sure if these results are due to my AYB hen being my best breeder or if the AY will actually help improve the blues.

Next year I will breed some of these young with splits and others with blue/AY to compare results

It will probably take 3+ years to have enough proof to prove my theory right or wrong but isn't that part of the fun in keep trying different things with your birds.... What makes blues any different

Cheers
Paul

garyh wrote:Silvers are blues,garyh

New to goulds, I got no idea when it comes to gouldian genetics

The yellows came from orange head female and male is single factor

The silvers came from a black headed male and his female has an orange head thats got black running through it

I just let them pick their own mates

They went to nest before my zebras did

Colony set up in with 30 zebras

elferoz777 wrote:Im not trying to blue bash but the only guys I know that keep them alive is by the use of doxy or hospital cage conditions or a combo of these.

Ive trued and failed three seasons with them iver 30 blues bred and not one still on the perch. Excluding my poor year this year I can't figure it out. There is nothing wring with raising birds as above so long as the person who buys them is told. some breeders have tild me they raised there birds under bengos and medicated.

I got good stock from good breeders and can only narrow my failure down to the fact thst blues are weaker as a result of their poor development in the early days. I refuse to medicate or wrap in cotton wool.

They are still my favourite mutation and would pay 1000 a bird if they were as reliable as a euro yellow or recessive dilute.

If you want them take the punt.

What type of breeding setup are you using?

werty wrote:

elferoz777 wrote:Im not trying to blue bash but the only guys I know that keep them alive is by the use of doxy or hospital cage conditions or a combo of these.

Ive trued and failed three seasons with them iver 30 blues bred and not one still on the perch. Excluding my poor year this year I can't figure it out. There is nothing wring with raising birds as above so long as the person who buys them is told. some breeders have tild me they raised there birds under bengos and medicated.

I got good stock from good breeders and can only narrow my failure down to the fact thst blues are weaker as a result of their poor development in the early days. I refuse to medicate or wrap in cotton wool.

They are still my favourite mutation and would pay 1000 a bird if they were as reliable as a euro yellow or recessive dilute.

If you want them take the punt.

What type of breeding setup are you using?

I use open aviaries. Blues are housed in 2 x 1 x 1.8 flights with open wire in the last third of the aviary. There is no opportunity for drafts.

I keep 1 - 2 pairs in these set ups and 3 pairs in the larger flights.

They are given greens every second day and avigrain blue seen mix. They are not house with or near canaries.

I give eggs shell weekly and egg and biscuit when there are young.

In a last attempt I have recently removed the eggs from a blue x blue split pair and put them under some reliable normals. The purpose of this was to test another theory re the passing on of their genetic weakness/immunity issues. So far I have one young blue in this nest and it is being fed ok.

elferoz777 wrote:

werty wrote:

elferoz777 wrote:Im not trying to blue bash but the only guys I know that keep them alive is by the use of doxy or hospital cage conditions or a combo of these.

Ive trued and failed three seasons with them iver 30 blues bred and not one still on the perch. Excluding my poor year this year I can't figure it out. There is nothing wring with raising birds as above so long as the person who buys them is told. some breeders have tild me they raised there birds under bengos and medicated.

I got good stock from good breeders and can only narrow my failure down to the fact thst blues are weaker as a result of their poor development in the early days. I refuse to medicate or wrap in cotton wool.

They are still my favourite mutation and would pay 1000 a bird if they were as reliable as a euro yellow or recessive dilute.

If you want them take the punt.

What type of breeding setup are you using?

I use open aviaries. Blues are housed in 2 x 1 x 1.8 flights with open wire in the last third of the aviary. There is no opportunity for drafts.

I keep 1 - 2 pairs in these set ups and 3 pairs in the larger flights.

They are given greens every second day and avigrain blue seen mix. They are not house with or near canaries.

I give eggs shell weekly and egg and biscuit when there are young.

In a last attempt I have recently removed the eggs from a blue x blue split pair and put them under some reliable normals. The purpose of this was to test another theory re the passing on of their genetic weakness/immunity issues. So far I have one young blue in this nest and it is being fed ok.

I expose my Goulds to drafts all day in the front part of the aviary, its all open wire

I close it all up at night

Greens everday twice a day morning and afternoon

Boiled egg everday, when breeding and non breeding

Wild grasses everday and buffalo grass everyday

Finch mix and finch crumble everday

Oyster shell charcoal egg shell everyday

Soluvite d breeder in water 4 days a week

Apple cider vinegar in water 2 days a week

Water is changed twice a day everyday

Since I joined this forum back in 2011 I know a lot of people were just starting off with blues and having a few issues, not everyone of course, and that they were still a weak bird. I got my first pastel blue in 2012 and I lost him to sickness a few months later.
Have the prices of this mutation dropped in years? If not does that mean they're still not as hardy as other mutations such as the yellow for example. Answers much appreciated.
Cheers, Brayden.

TheFinchMan101 wrote:Since I joined this forum back in 2011 I know a lot of people were just starting off with blues and having a few issues, not everyone of course, and that they were still a weak bird. I got my first pastel blue in 2012 and I lost him to sickness a few months later.
Have the prices of this mutation dropped in years? If not does that mean they're still not as hardy as other mutations such as the yellow for example. Answers much appreciated.
Cheers, Brayden.

Here in sydney when I was selling my first gouldian clutch, just normal greens people were surprised they were thriving

Apparently in sydney just the normal green gouldian is a weak bird

So far for me the greens yellows and silver chicks are just as good as my zebras

Wearty,just wondering what you bred together to breed the silvers,sorry a bit off topic i know,garyh