My first Diamonds

[Curly]

Got my first Diamonds today & they look fantastic,6 young ones
Looks like a definite for 2 pairs
Just want to know where the best place is for DNA testing, tried to go by the new sexing method
I found this difficult as the birds i believe are cocks have the slight curve Of black feathering on the breast
Birds are in holding cages with electrolytes & are settled
Thanks to Daniel for these birds really happy
Cheers Brice

[matcho]

Curly,

There are a few posts here on the forum about sexing Diamonds, they all make interesting reading, eye color, eye band, eye rings, ultraviolet, chest bands, etc , etc. Good luck with your quest. They are my next "thing to do". Have to look at the live food thingy and get that fully established before I have a lash. Even went so far as to get the appropriate license here in NSW. Went to a bird sale a couple of years ago and tried to buy a couple of pairs, I saw definite differences which could have meant different sex but the seller scoffed at me and told me the ones with the blue rings are cocks, hens pink rings. Lost me.

Anyhow, I hope you do well

Ken.

[Curly]

Cheers Ken
I have been reading the posts re sexing, will definitely review these again
Thought to be sure of pairs I would get dNA sexed
Thanks Brice

[mr.fox]

Glad you're happy with them Curly. I have never been able to sex them with any certainty. All my breeders were Dna'd to be sure. Diamonds that i thought looked like hens turned out to be cocks. Mind you, if you see one putting on a full display with a length of grass you can be sure it is a cock. Regarding live food, I don't feed any great amounts of livefood or sprouted seed, but I do feed a LOT of seeding grass, other greenfeed and some softfood depending on the weather. All my finches are housed in a 10x10m planted aviary, so probably get some access to natural livefood amongst the plants etc. Sprouted seed may be a way of compensating for a lack of greens and livefood. cheers, good luck with them. Dan.

[COUNTRY CAPITAL]

well done curly, good luck with them.
mine rely on seeding grasses, Lebanese cucumber and sprouted seed....only a vinegar fly culture available as live food source.
mr fox....sounds like we need pics of your impressive 10 x 10 m aviary .
cheers cc.

[Tiaris]

I vaguely recollect at a recent convention seeing slides showing a different shape an the end of white vent feathers between the sexes which the speaker claimed was very reliable. One sex was a well-defined pointy "V" shape & the other more rounded/flatter at the end - don't recall which was which though.

[Curly]

DNA results in, 2 cocks & 4 hens
Daniel the 2 birds you were unsure of were due to being young & are the extra 2 hens
Will have to give you a call when the weather cools down for a couple of cocks
All are looking very happy & settled in nicely
Cocks have been displaying
Cheers

[finchbreeder]

That was lucky.
LML

[mr.fox]

We weren't sure about those 2 were we? Did well. Still have a dozen or more here to pick from if you would like some males. I bet they look great in the aviary with the males displaying.