Australian blue goulds

[ColouredFeathers]

In my opinion, its a nice bird. If you see it live on a perch, its a stunning bird. The photos dont do its justice to its colours. it does not look anything like a silver, to me the name AYB is spot on.
With all new mutations, people have their problems, when the blues came they did not like them and they said they were weak. When the AY came onto the scene people thought they were ugly and did not like them, now everybody likes them.
To say it looks like a 10 dollar white canary, its a joke. I think some people need glasses.

cheers flavio .

[gouldianpaul]

In my opinion, its a nice bird. If you see it live on a perch, its a stunning bird. The photos dont do its justice to its colours. it does not look anything like a silver, to me the name AYB is spot on.
With all new mutations, people have their problems, when the blues came they did not like them and they said they wethem.
To say it looks like a 10 dollar white canary, its a joke. I think some people need glasses.

re weak. When the AY came onto the scene people thought they were ugly and did not like them, now everybody likes You are spot on Flavio....the photos don't do these birds justice. It is unique, but the comparison to a white canary is way off. There will always be room for new mutations and the natural normal gouldians in their own right.

Nice to hear from someone who has actually breed the bird, rather than hear from those who have read about it in a book

Cheers
Paul

[Bgould]

I also agree with Flavio these birds are stunning in real life

[MCA01]

Hi Finchy They Are Two Different Birds In The Picture And As They Are Still Moulting They Tend To Look Alittle Scruffy However My Photos Dont Do It Justice. They Bird Is Very Atractive In Real Life. Maybe You Should Try And Bread Different Mutations To See If You Can, (A) Get One & (B) Get It Through Its Moult Before You Critisize Other Peoples Birds.

Cheers MCA01

[Finchy]

"Criticise"? Various positive and neutral things followed by the word "scruffy" constitutes "criticism" worthy of that response? And after several others have made very direct and quite harsh actual criticisms? Why me? What's that all about?! (Please don't answer...) Quite irritating.

FYI, (why, oh why am I taking this bait?! ) I do breed lots of mutations successfully and certainly never with any difficulty 'getting through the moult'; AYs have just never been on my list.

But now that we are here, does anyone have, or can someone please take, good photos which do do justice to these birds? Normal and other mutation Gouldians seem to be stunning in real life and stunning in photos, so if this mutation is stunning in real life what it is about the photographic process that gets in the way? Hopefully someone can take some nice shots out in the sunshine so we can see them clearly, because most people will have never seen one up close. Thanks.

[Craig52]

Ok,the bird might appeal to some and others not,the real gripe is the price,$800 each and $600 for a double split. The recessive blue birds are around $300 each and comming down in price due to their availability,Australian recessive yellows are around $100 each so paired up together thats $400 dollars a pr to start breeding with.
The resulting young will all be split Australian yellow and also split blue,price imo,half blue and half AY $200 for double split,pr these birds up (unrelated) and the resulting majority of the young will be AYBs,price $ 400 each.
Who sets these prices of $800 each for a coloured bird and $600 for a double split,how hard can it be to breed two recessive mutations together,i do realise that there was a hard start to get the young out of the nest in the earlier days(dieing not long after hatching etc)but that can happen with any mutations and yes there's always that feeling that i bred these and i can ask anything i like for them.
Dare i say that if anyone is going to buy and breed these birds,they would have to buy a double split and AYB at a total cost of $1400 or $1600 for a pr of AYBs,which imo would not be the way to go but you can bet some breeders will give it ago and i reckon they will be heart broken with the results.
The above is all in my opinion only and is not intended to stir or upset anyone but your opinions would be great to read. Cheers Craig

[TomDeGraaff]

The title of this thread does not reflect the bird being discussed.

[SamDavis]

I've been lurking behind the scenes and thought I'd throw in my twenty cents. With regards the AYB pictures above I can't help but agree with Finchy's comments - I too think the AYB looks scruffy and has lost all the definition between colour areas which to me is the most attractive feature of the gouldian. I have no problem with others breeding them and I am very aware of the challenge of producing a strong strain however if that image is a typical example then they're not my thing. Nevertheless some better pictures may well show the bird in a more favourable way.

The title of this thread does not reflect the bird being discussed.

What about "Aussie Scruff" or AS for short????

[TomDeGraaff]

" A rose by any other name...." "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

It's great to have a debate about the correct name for these birds.

Their merits or otherwise is another topic to be approached with good will and a bit of good-natured stirring!

I am constantly amazed at the knowledge and talents of our group.

To selectively breed these birds is a great skill which can be equally applied to the breeding of endangered birds of limited gene pool. So, there is merit in these birds and they represent the end product of a skilled breeding effort. This is one of the many facets of our gemstone of a hobby. After all, these mutation genes are mainly (not totally) found as splits in the wild population. They are part of the genepool and therefore part of the species' capacity to evolve as needed.

Another facet is breeding pure normal stock and maintaining natural behaviours.
So too is breeding to a standard and so on.

I think this thread started with a comparison of prices which was (?) based on the confusion of the names. I think I'm "all thunk out" on this topic!

[Brooksy]

I am seriously considering moving over to a mostly normals flock though before they disappear from aviculture forever. Just got to work out who goes to make room .[/quote]

I've heard of this beautiful and very colourful new mutation, very cheap too.
I've also heard its fairly rare, rarer still trying to get one without a mutant gene.
Sorry couldn't help myself