Foster Blue's

[POLAR GOULDIANS]

I had 3 pairs of Blue X Split Blue which had laid eggs but didn't go to plan.

One pair laid and were sitting tight but all eggs were clear.

The other 2 hens laid and were trying to sit but the cockbirds weren't interested in sitting.

So I took the eggs from the 2 hens and put them under the pair who were sitting tight, just on the chance of being lucky( They were Blues!).

The results were:
From pair 1: 3 eggs of which 2 hatched giving 1 Blue and 1 split.
From pair 2: 5 eggs of which 3 hatched giving 3 Blues.

The only problem was the 3 days between the hatching of the first 2 and the second 3.
For the first 2 days it looked like the 3 Blues weren't going to make it, having only a little food in their crops at night, but once they got past day 2 they seemed to get big enough to fight for their food rights and are now having full crops before nightfall.
I think the main reason for the success of this trial is the warm nights and days that we have up here.

The parents doing the fostering are a first year Blue hen and a seasoned split Blue cockbird, so I guess it helps to destroy the idea some people have that Blues don't make good parents.

I treat my Blues exactly like normals, raised in outside aviaries with no heat or blinds in winter, soaked seed and fresh Green Panic heads daily, nest inspections twice daily if not more.
I have never had birds abandon their young in the nest.

[finchbreeder]

Glad to hear that the swapping round worked for you, and sounds like the pair are good parents even if they did not have fertile eggs themselves. Maybe just cause she is a 1st timer. Out of curiosity what mix, age type were the biological parents?
LML

[POLAR GOULDIANS]

Hi FB,
The donor pairs were a first year Blue hen with an older cockbird, and a first year Blue cockbird with an older hen.

I wasn't worried about the unfertile eggs as they were only first round eggs and as you probably know they quite often they will have clears in them.
The thing that has pleased me most from this is that the younger birds have been able to compete to get fed, I was worried that they might miss out and die.

[$bill]

I'd put the success here down to the seasoned split blue with the young hen so a good move. as for heat and covers -you really don't need it unless your reside in a cold area where you get cold westerly winds directly into your aviary from a nearby mountain......then you cover up or pick-up or if the winter temp drops to -4 at night and the daytime jumps to 4 or 6 degrees. I don't think a cold zero night hurts them at all its the next days low temp plus another zero night and on and on.
I think when a big mutation breeder see a problem like dead birds on the floor. he may look at it two ways. there goes another $$$$$$ or I will rectify the problem or do both. but never under estimate the blues-over the years I've had perfectly good birds sitting on the perch one day and flat on their back the next day. appeared in good health and no sign of sickness either.
most of the blue mutations are so untrustworthy... they are either falling off the perch or I'd say within 12 months -they will take a fall in price. I think their luck $$$ has run out.

[POLAR GOULDIANS]

Hi Bill,
I agree with you that you shouldn't need heat or blinds in a climate like where I live.
But a guy I know who lives about 10 km from me who has purchased about 12 Blues from various places around Australia recently and has lost birds at the slightest sign of a cold windy day.
I think this says a lot for the quality of birds he has bought, although probably not all of them, it doesn't take long for the weak ones to drag the others down.
These same birds would not have lasted 1 week in your climate.

This is why I am happy with the Blues and Silvers I bred last year, all have gone through their moult healthy and are now starting to breed.

On a different note I had my first Blue of the season fledge yesterday.

[garyh]

Congrat's on your first blue youngster,one thing i would say on the birds your friend has purchased is that this season price was the critical thing in buying birds,so many people rang for birds but didn't bother asking about quality ,climate,aviary set up,ect ect,only price,i think a lot of these buyers will come undone this season,garyh

[POLAR GOULDIANS]

Hi Gary,
I agree regarding price over quality.
People can get away with buying poor quality normal gouldians and have them survive, but the same doesn't apply for Blues.