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Breeders of Ornamental Pheasants | ||||||
| in Southwest Scotland |
| Proprietors: Alan Downie & Zoe A. Hunter |
This page is for any bird related articles, stories, tips, jokes or pictures you would like to send to us. These must be family friendly.
If you would like us to include your name, phone number, address, e-mail address or link to a website on our page please let us know.
It is always nice to hear from others with an interest in birds.
We shall look forward to hearing from you. Please e-mail us at the above address.
John is a waterfowl breeder from Northumberland and is looking for a female Argentine ruddy duck ( oxyurra vittata) for this years
breeding season. He has a website: http://www.freewebs.com/waterfowlgarden/
Can anyone help? If so then please get in touch soon as time is running out. You can e-mail John at: darswed@tiscali.co.uk
I thought I would show everyone the lovely gift we received in March from Ryan Houston. We sometimes have some feathers to spare after the birds have moulted and Ryan kindly sent us this example of a fly he made with feathers from our birds.
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Brandon at Cedar Draw Aviary breeds many birds including some great pheasants and has kindly allowed us to show a few of his pheasants which we do not have at Allandoo.
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Blue Eared Pheasant |
Reeves Pheasant |
Blyth's Tragopan Pheasant |
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Chinese painted quail are little characters…Usually the male will pick up the mealworms but will not eat them. He will chirp away until the female takes it out of his beak. He’s also a master of the funny walk. When he is courting the female, he will walk around her, one foot in front of the other, with his body at an angle of 45 degrees sideways, head cocked, chirping away at her saying, ‘Look at me. Aren’t I a handsome fellow?’
Even more amusing is the first time they see a piece of cucumber or a millet spray. Standing on tiptoe only the very brave venture towards it to determine if it’s safe, before they all tuck in and flick it around the cage.
Mark Walters has been keeping and breeding CPQ since 2003 – see his website at www.chinesepaintedquail.co.uk. This year he has bred some new bloodline red-breasted CPQ to go with the Harlequin, Californian and Mexican Speckled Bobwhites which he also keeps. He has recently acquired his second pair of Gambels and also has a lonely Blue Scale cock bird that has been looking for a mate for almost a year…
Here are some fantastic looking birds belonging to LPH Poultry:
LPH Poultry was founded 5 years ago and has been successfully growing ever since. We are based in rural West Sussex and specialize in Rare and Traditional Breeds of Poultry. All birds are traditionally grass reared in big spacious outdoor pens. Most of are stock is exhibition quality and we have achieved some good results at the big winter shows in 2007 with Orpingtons and Sultans.
Below Lisa McFarlane tells us how she got started in the admirable business of animal rescue also included are photos of a few of her rescue animals:
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Catherine Cochrane has kindly sent us photos of a ringneck pheasant which is a regular visitor to her garden.
Jenny and Richard Starkey have sent us a photo of their resident ringneck pheasant with their dog "Paddy" the Irish Wolfhound who has unfortunately died since the picture was taken last year.
   These budgies belong to Sally O'DwyerThe links are to her personal website: Blue Budgie Aviary and her club website:www.marylandbudgie.org
Included below are photos of Ringneck pheasants from Steven Bekeleski at Timber Ridge Game Birds, Inc.
Ringneck pheasant eggs take 23 days to hatch. |
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Here are some truly gorgeous poultry pictures given to us by Teal in Central Point, Oregon, USA. She raises a variety of beautiful Bantams which you can find out more about by e-mailing her at: bluetundrafox@gmail.com or visiting the website: Silver Moon Chickens
A cock Golden Pheasant belonging to Mark and Valerie Rosen. Lots of information can be found at their site: High Plains Pheasantry and Corvidry
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Topisaw Creek Quail Farm Information from Donna about Jumbo Coturnix Quail
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These remarkable birds are known for their fine meat quality & egg production. Incubation is 17 days compared to the Bobwhite of 22 days. Once hatched they should be placed in a brooder and require a feed with a protein level of 28 - 30 %. Once matured by the age of 6 weeks (slaughter age) they weigh an average of 5-6 oz. The Jumbo Coturnix Quail will begin laying eggs by 7-8 weeks of age and require 17 hours of light for max egg production. Coturnix Quail are a calmer bird than the Bobwhite and are easier to raise. |
LADY GOULDIAN FACT SHEET sent in by GORDON LLOYD
1. WHEN MOVING BIRDS, SUCH AS PURCHASING A PAIR AND TAKING THEM TO A NEW LOCATION, I RECOMMEND ADDING AN ANTI-STRESS ADDITIVE TO THE WATER. ORNALYTE IS A PRODUCT I’VE FOUND TO BE USEFUL. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS
ON THE LABEL. WATCH FOR SIGNS OF STRESS IN YOUR BIRDS (EYES CLOSED AND FLUFFED FEATHERS).
2. CAGE REQUIREMENTS: GOULDIANS REQUIRE ROOM. TWO BIRDS REQUIRE 3’ X 2’ X 2’.
3. WHEN BREEDING GOULDIANS MAKE SURE YOU PROVIDE A CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT TO AID IN EGG SHELL PRODUCTION. I’VE USED NEKTON MSA AND AM CURRENTLY USING CALCIVET IN THE BIRDS WATER, (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT).
4. WATER: UNCLEAN WATER TUBES AND DISHES ARE ONE CAUSE OF SICKNESS PROBLEMS WITH GOULDS. IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE WATER AND CLEAN THE DISHES EVERY DAY.
5. SEED AND FEED: BUY A GOOD QUALITY FINCH MIX. DO NOT BUY SEEDS COATED WITH OIL OR VITAMINIZED, ETC. TO THE FINCH MIX ADD ¼ TO 1/3 MORE, PLAIN CANARY SEED. (VERY HIGH IN PROTEIN). PETAMINE IS A GOOD SUPPLEMENT AND CONTAINS GRIT. CUTTLEFISH BONE IS NECESSARY. ALSO
HANG A TRACE MINERALIZED NORTON SALT SPOOL IN THE CAGE. SPRAY MILLET IS A TREAT. FEED EGG SHELLS TO BREEDING PAIRS. SHELLS HAVE TO BE FROM EGGS HARD BOILED (20 MINUTES) OR OVEN BAKED AT 250 DEGREES; SMALL PIECES OR CRUSHED, ARE BEST. GREENS AND RAW CORN, FRESH AND
CLEAN, ARE GOOD ADDITIONS.
6. HEAT: GOULDIANS CANNOT TAKE EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES. DURING WINTER, IT IS NECESSARY TO KEEP THEM AT APPROXIMATELY 68-70 DEGREES, IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL, BREEDING. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE
KEEPING BIRDS IN OUTSIDE AVIARIES, BUT BREEDING SUCCESS IS MINIMAL.
7. GENERAL: FULL SPECTRUM LIGHTS ARE BETTER FOR THE BIRDS THAN OTHER TYPES OF LIGHTS. RUN THE LIGHTS A MAXIMUM OF FOURTEEN HOURS A DAY, WHEN BREEDING. DO NOT HAVE THE LIGHTS GO OUT AND PLUNGE THE BIRDS INTO DARKNESS. THEY WILL PANIC. RUN A NIGHT LIGHT AND LET THE
BIRDS SLEEP PEACEFULLY. DO NOT DISTURB THEM DURING THE NIGHT. DO NOT SUBJECT THEM TO DRAFTS, SMOKE, FUMES, OR EXCESSIVE HEAT.
| Information from Tom Nemerovsky's site www.quakerman.com Tom and Karen, his wife, have spent a lifetime breeding birds, mostly Quakers. They started out breeding the regular green Monk Parakeets and progressed to breed blue Quakers, Cinnamon Quaker Parrots then dark eyed Yellow Quakers. This is Tweetie. a cute, lovable, yellow Quaker. Tweetie. doesn't know that he is only the second one of his kind on planet earth. He thinks he is just a baby Quaker.
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These gorgeous peafowl belong to Amy Miller
In seventh grade I caught the "peacock bug," and I've
spent the past seven years raising these beautiful, magnificent birds. For more photos, a chronicle of my peafowl adventures, or to find out about the 180+ types of peafowl or how to raise your own, please visit Amy's Peacock Paradise --
http://www.amyspeacockparadise.com .
The following information is from Debbie Maneke's website if you would like to learn more about her canaries please click on the link below. Her birds are bred for their beautiful song and no colourants are used to enhance the plumage just good nutrition, breeding, and hygiene.
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The American Singer Canary The American Singer canary was first bred in the early thirties by eight Boston women. In 1942, the American Singer club was formed and formally adopted the standard for the American Singer. Todays American Singers are based on that standard. This standard is based on a heritage of two-thirds roller bloodline and one-third border fancy. The American Singer is the only other song bird other than its ancestor, the roller, bred for song. It is also the only breed to evolve in the USA. The American Singer is noted for its freedom of song and willingness to sing.
Marc King has kindly gave us permission to show an extract from his website "www.longtail-fowl.com" along with some fantastic pictures of Longtail fowl. It is important to understand that the tail feathers of the longtails need a long season of growth and that many birds hatched out in the winter are usually not finished until the spring. To be able to evaluate one's birds' genetic makeup, one must wait until the feathers are dry, i.e. no longer in blood feathers. Depending on the ancestry of your particular breed (Phoenix of resent Onagadori descent, Phoenix of distant Onagadori descent, and from which lines your Minohiki, Shokoku, Totenko or Ohiki) one may have birds that moult once a year, every two years or even every three years. |
 One of Debbie's Canaries
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The information below is from Alan Birkbeck you can find out more from his website Wildfowl at Home
Most species of Swans can be quite aggressive, particularly during the breeding season, so in captivity they are usually found on large ponds and lakes where other resident wildfowl are able "to keep their distance". However, the Black-necked Swan (Cygnus melanocoryphus), a native of South America is relatively docile and generally mixes quite well with other species of wildfowl. A pair is depicted on the photo, along with Ringed Teal, Carolinas and Mandarin drakes. The swans are much more interested in each other than in the other species and they are in fact about to commence a courtship display. Black-necked Swans are somewhat awkward on land because of their very short legs and long bodies but they fly rapidly, producing a loud rustling sound with their short wings.
| The pictures opposite are some adorable cockatiels from Chippewa Falls, WI. Jamie & Lexi raise all their cockatiels at home and hand feed them. They guarantee that all the birds they sell will be well mannered, gentle and great birds for first time owners. Please take a look at their website "Colorful Cockatiels" for contact details.
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Bailey the Perlin (Peregrine falcon x Merlin) |
Schweppes the Bengal eagle owl |
Trigger the Harris Hawk |
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Gentleshaw wildlife centre was set up by my late father. Gentleshaw has been at its base in Eccleshall, Staffordshire for 14 years. We are a permanent home to unwanted exotic animals that have either been kept as pets or are no longer wanted by their zoos. Birds of prey are really why Gentleshaw started up and they continue to play a large role at the sanctuary. The late Rob Smith became interested in birds of prey after treating an injured wild Tawny owl and returning it to the wild. Rob then started Gentleshaw bird of prey hospital, a hospital set up especially to care and rehabilitate injured wild birds of prey and release them back into the wild. The hospital still runs today and is now a registered charity. Every year dozens of wild injured raptors are bought into the hospital for treatment. Gentleshaw is also home to many unwanted or miss treated captive bred birds of prey. A popular bird species these birds need special training to allow them to be exercised properly and they take up a lot of time. As with other birds, they eat, get sick and poo…a lot! Sadly many new owners take on a bird of prey without doing any research. As a consequence, Gentleshaw, along with hundreds of other centres, is full to the brim of birds of prey which people have either got bored with, mistreated or simply no longer want. We keep a many as we can, those that can be trained join our flying squad and those who are too old or bad tempered are paired up. As we are short on space we also help to find loving homes for any birds of prey we cannot house at the centre. Rob died suddenly in 2003. Gentleshaw is now run by me, Rob’s eldest daughter along with my Mom and Twin Sister and an army of wonderful volunteers. We run the centre in Dad’s memory. Always needing funds, people can help us with our work by visiting the centre, which charges a small admission fee, or by making a donation. 07/08 sees us trying to fund a new enclosure for our Puma, Kira and a new aviary block for our owls. We have many fabulous characters at Gentleshaw. Trigger was unwanted by his owner as he can be noisy, something which can be very common in Harris hawks. Trigger is a young man who tries his best but doesn’t always quite get things right. He stars in our flying displays. Schweppes’ owners couldn’t keep him due to their poor health. He has moved in with our female Bengal eagle owl, Tango. Schweppes has fallen desperately in love with Tango but at present the love is not mutual. Bailey is a Perlin (Peregrine falcon x Merlin). She was kept in a shed and not flown. Due to this she sometimes pulls her feathers out. Now she is flown regularly .She is a beautiful bird and flies incredibly fast, despite her tatty looks. She does sometime struggle to turn left and right though!
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Dan told us: I started keeping quail six years ago when I was ten years old and it has been my main interest ever since. I keep them with a variety of other aviary birds including finches and chickens, now however I have purchased two large incubators and am planning to keep and sell only quail which I have hatched myself. I have had great success so far and would gladly give advise if anyone would like to contact me through my e-mail. Peter Bugge sent us the following information about sexing Gouldian finches. His website is: http://www.peters-finches.netfirms.com/ Male: The breast and belly colours are usually used to determine sex. Males will have a brighter and darker colour of purple on the chest and the yellow of the belly will be
darker and more intense than the female. The green back colour and the light blue around the face mask is also darker. Female: The female has more subdued colours on her chest, belly and back. The female's beak will turn from a pearly white to black when she is in breeding condition. David Jones from: www.touracos.co.uk sent us some information regarding his newest Turaco arrivals: 12th November 2006 The chicks love jumping in their water bowl and getting really wet, but they get the whole pen soaked at the same time!David is also chairman of the International Turaco Society The most important thing about training your bird is that they trust you and love you and then they will let you do anything. It takes time. You have to find a trick they are comfortable with. Never get mad or yell at them. It will scare them and make it harder to train. Always tell them they are a good bird, no matter what. When they do the trick you clap and say good bird. It works!! I have a video of my show and lots of photos of my macaws on my website: www.trickswithouttreats.com
Dan Bradbury from Crawley, West Sussex has bred the quail in the pictures below and can supply Japanese and Bobwhite Quail at various ages all year round. He also breeds Chinese Quail on request and has Bobwhite and Japanese eggs available seasonally. For more details he can be contacted by phone or e-mail.
phone: 07758819761
email: chelkezman@hotmail.co.uk
Often the face mask in males are larger and clearer than the females, but is not always the case as their are some strains of birds that have equal colour in both sex's face mask. The males will also sing a nearly inaudible song while stretching and hopping on the
perch. They will usually begin this song long before they have completed their moult into adult colours.
Due to the lower temperatures, with frosts at night, and the reduced daylight hours, the last 14 turaco chicks that have hatched have been brought indoors. They would have been unlikely to have survived under parents or
foster-parents. We had a cold snap last week with frost each night. Three pairs of turacos had been adding fresh greenery to their nest so were probably going to lay, but were put off by the cold. However, two of the pairs have gone back to it this week and have
laid again. I would prefer they stop laying through the winter and had a rest, so we could have a rest too!
From Left to Right are: Hartlaub's, Black-billed and White-cheeked 
(Left -Right) White-cheeked, Hartlaub's, Hartlaub's and Black-billed.
Hi, My name is STEVE REVERDITTO. I have a parrot show. I trained my birds on positive reinforcement not treats. They only get a hug and a kiss. The name of my show is "TRICKS WITHOUT TREATS PARROT SHOW" I have trained my six macaws this way. I live in California and have been training parrots since 1995. I also train other people's birds. I go to birthday parties, hospitals, schools, senior citizens centres and fundraisers to do my bird show. My macaws are great with kids and don't bite at all. They are funny to watch.
