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This page shows what's going on in my birdroom throughout the year. Click on the months below to see what's been happening or click here to take you to 2008. |
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May
1st The other four eggs are fertile so, all being well, they should hatch out over the next couple of days. I've been checking the nests of the 3 pairs of Silver's that were put down last just over a week ago. One pair have built a nest and the other 2 pairs have done nothing. I think I may have got my timing wrong as the hens may be showing early signs of moult. I have 3 families of Silvers and some of their siblings are starting to moult. I say the hens may be starting to moult as the plumage doesn't look as immaculate as it did a week ago. I have also never heard the 2 Silver cocks sing (but then again, I spend 23hours of the day not being in the shed). Visually they are 100% cocks but I spoke to a Java pal and he said it's not unusual for a cock bird to not sing for 12 months. I think this may be a confidence issue. I presumed that taking the cock birds from the stock cage and introducing them to the hens would get their hormones racing.......but nothing....I would usually expect some nest building in the first seven days.
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May
2nd I have also seen the mite again over the last couple of days. A Java pal has kindly given me some "Prozap Insect Guard" (see right). This is the only thing that WILL effectively work against mite. They were available in the UK some 15 years ago, known as Vapona's. They were banned here and in Europe as one of the chemicals used is believed to be carcinogenic. However, another version of the old Vapona's are widely available in the U.S.A so I have asked a friend of mine in Wisconsin to send me a few over for myself and some Java buddies. These are really simple...just hang them up in your birdroom and your mite problem will diminish to virtual extinction in a few weeks.....or so I'm told! They look like an air freshener (see photo below). |
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My birdroom is approximately 350cu feet so this really won't be effective throughout the whole shed. I have hung this next to the nest box that has the infestation of mite. The theory being that it will be most effective in it's immediate vicinity. I should hopefully be receive a consignment of 80g units in 7 to 10 days time so I'm hoping this will help in the interim. The 80g Insect Guard treats 900 to 1200cu feet so, when I get some, I will have to cut them down accordingly to treat my birdroom. I've been told that I can hang up the 80g with no problems in my small birdroom, but I don't want to "overdose" the shed unnecessarily.
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This photo is of 5 young Java's (with an adult Silver). All the young are within 2 days of hatching out together but you can see how the young cock bird (third from left) is going to achieve his adult plumage quicker than his siblings. |
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May
5th I was glad to see that the nest of seven Normal eggs has hatched out 100%. This is great news for the first time parents who are doing an excellent job so far. |
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The three pairs of Silvers have done nothing over the last two weeks so I will be separating them over the weekend. Only one pair looked like they may have bred as the cock built a cracking nest (see left). As I have mentioned a few days ago, the birds have lost condition very slightly and I think they maybe about to moult...I'll see what the following weeks bring.
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May
6th
Fingers crossed....the first of a full
clutch!!!! |
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Also today, I have seen the first of 8 young chicks in the cage. Here it is, somehow clinging to the ceiling of the cage!!! |
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May
7th I've never bred Silver's before so I hope all goes well with this pair.
All of my other Silver's are related in 3
families and are all beginning to moult and have lost condition. The
pair that have eggs are totally unrelated to my other
Silvers...hence..possible success!!! I had a visitor to my birdroom this morning, John Pope from Nottingham. He came to pick up a spare fawn hen that I was looking to sell.....Good Luck with your breeding programme John!!!!
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Anyone have a tip for....??? Does anyone have any tips for cleaning drinkers??? Cleaning out the main drinker bottle is easy, but I find it difficult to clean the trough of the base. I've tried forcing a scourers into it but I still cannot get them clean. I tend to pour boiling water into them to ensure any nasty stuff does not survive. Click here and let me know if you use anything special (and simple) to clean your drinkers. |
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May 8th
And here are the proud parents!! |
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This evening I've checked up on my website statistics.....they give me all the information about my website like how many hits the site's had, which pages are most popular (it's this one by the way) and many more "technical" stats. I'm very interested in the states that tell me where in the world the hits are coming from. Generally, since my website was published, the U.S.A are the most frequent visitors followed very closely by the U.K.
Recently (this month) the country that
comes in third is
I didn't realise that bird keeping was a big hobby over there...but it obviously is!!! If you are viewing my site from Bangladesh click here and drop me a line and let me know a little about you and your birds.....maybe send some photos too....I'd love to hear from you.
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May 11th Take a look at these photos....I think it could be a Wren because of it's size...and the short stubby tail. Having said that, my wife looked in the tree nearby when the cat was attacking the bird and she said she saw a Sparrow "going berserk" so I suppose it could be a Sparrow.....by the way, my wife couldn't tell the difference between a Blackbird and a Robin...lol. Any British keepers out there recognise this bird??? Click here and let me know your thoughts. I know what it is really...it's a young Greenfinch...I should know...I used to breed them....I just wondered if anyone would try and catch me out!! LOL |
I've put the bird in an old Budgie cage to
try to help it recoup. |
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Take a look from the front...does this help identify the bird???/
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From this angle it looks like a Sparrow. As I'm not sure on what the diet is for this bird I have put seed and egg food on the cage floor with a small water dish. I have also mixed up some Farley's Rusk with milk and fed it to the bird through a syringe. The chick has definitely "perked up" since this morning. |
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Obviously, I am no substitute to it's natural mother so, now that the bird seems more alert, I have hung the cage next to a hanging basket on the back wall of the house. I have opened the cage door in the hope that if the mother hears it call it will come to it's rescue.
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I have fed it again this evening at around 8:30pm and I'll be leaving it outside for the night. If it survives the night, hopefully it's parents will hear it call at sunrise. I'll keep you updated tomorrow on the chick's progress. |
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May 12th The young chick had completely recovered when I went out to it this morning.
I fed it with some more Rusk and the took
it out of the cage and placed him on the roof of my birdroom which is
right next to the tree where my wife heard the parent bird calling from
yesterday. Back to my Java's!!!! I have candled the 5 eggs from the pair of Silvers and they are showing early signs of fertility.....fingers crossed!!!
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5 eggs in the Silver's nest. |
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May 14th At the moment not one Java has been brave enough to explore the new bath as they all seem a little nervous of it. I'm sure when I go into the birdroom to check up on them in the morning there will be signs to show they have used it....i.e...water everywhere!!! |
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The nest with 7 Normal chicks is coming along nice!! I finished ringing the last of this nest yesterday (No23 was the last bird rung...you can see it in this pic). In fact, the chick in this photo, with Ring No23, plays the starring role in the short video clip I have made to show how to fit closed rings to Java Sparrows. Click here and follow the link!!! Please Note: The video clip is 18.2mb so it is advised only for broadband users. (When I find out how I can compress this file then I will publish a smaller file as another option...by the way, if anyone knows how I can compress the "Quicktime" file click here and let me know.....thanks folks!!!) |
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May 16th I have 2 cocks and 8 hens....not a very good balance. I'd be willing to swap 2 hens for 2 QUALITY silver cock birds. I'm having difficulty sexing the 2 silvers in this photo....the one with the orange split ring is visually 60% cock bird (although it has never sung). And the one with the pink split ring....well.....I change my mind almost every day with this little bugger!!!! Anyway, I have 2 hens as a straight swap for 2 Silver cocks (must be good quality). Click here if you're interested in a swap. |
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May 18th Two of the pairs will now be rested as they have now both reared two successful clutches. Both of these pairs have already laid another clutch that show signs of fertility. The photo on the right shows one of the nests.
I think this photo shows a good example of
how eggs vary in size. I don't know why this is but I have found that this occurs mainly to the second or third round of eggs. I have candled these eggs and know that there are two definite fertile eggs. I have candled the eggs from the pair of Silver's again this evening and I now know that only three eggs are fertile. So, I have taken two of the Normal's eggs and have put them under the first round of the Silver's (replacing two infertile Silver eggs). There may be a few days between due hatch dates but you never know, things may work out fine!!
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May 19th They are around 16 to 19 days old. They are all of equal size thanks to the excellent parenting skills of the first time mother and father. |
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I was looking a pair of Normals that I will be splitting up this weekend as they have reared 2 successful clutches and have already laid another clutch. I just happened to glance down at the cage floor and saw, what I can only describe as, something that resembled a small apricot. Then the penny dropped, one of the parents has threw one of the eggs from the nest and it looks like they have eaten the shell (as I can find no evidence of it). Here is a photo of the yolk!!! Not very interesting news I know........but I try to show as much as I can of what happens in my birdroom. |
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May 21st Two of the pairs will now be rested as they have successfully raised two clutches each. So, the two cages that these birds were using have been scrubbed and disinfected and this afternoon I have paired up another two pairs. On the right, the photo shows the pair of Normals I have paired up today. The cock bird is, in my opinion, visually my best Normal. He is the very first Java Sparrow that I got from Steve Nesbitt. In fact this pair are the very first pair I got from Steve. I have tried this cock with two other hens but with no success. He builds good nests but as of yet, he's had no result with "the ladies"....third time lucky....hey!!!! |
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As you are aware by now of my on-going saga of sexing my Silvers, I have paired up a cock?? and hen today. I have mentioned earlier this month that I have a Silver which I think is a cock bird (as it's visually 60% male......if you know what I mean) but I have yet to hear him sing. I spoke to Steve about this and he told me that he's had cock birds that have never sung in twelve months. This "cock??" bird appears to be in breeding condition, however, I can't help but think that as he's not singing he may not be up for the job. After all, a cock bird that sings and is in condition is usually raring to go!!!
But, like Steve said, all I can do is wait
and see. I should know in two weeks whether or not he's ready.....or if
he's a she!!! |
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I also mentioned to Steve about the loss of feathers to a pair that I split up today. Pictured right is the cock bird...you can see the loss of feathers around the thigh. This is actually one of Steve's birds that I purchased from him when he left the hobby in December last year. You can't see all of the feather loss in this photo due to the position of the bird on the perch. Feathers are missing from the lower abdomen and both thighs. Both the cock and hen have lost feathers, but the cock bird has lost more. As I am still gaining knowledge and experience with these birds I thought I'd seek advice as none of my Java's have suffered this before. Steve indicated that this could be due to the extensive sitting on the eggs.....this pair have laid a total of four clutches, with two rounds being "dead in shell". I suppose that could be a factor as to the feather loss but I also think that the recent mite problem may have contributed to it also. By that I mean, the irritation to the birds skin could have resulted in them pulling out feathers in the affected area. |
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I have also "sneaked" another fertile egg taken from the Normals I've split up today and put it under the Silvers. That makes six eggs in total, three Silver and three Normals. These should start hatching on Thursday/Friday of this week.....if all is well. |
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"WELCOME BACK STEVE"
Steve Nesbitt called me over the weekend to
let me know that he has decided to return to the hobby!!! All the best Steve.
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May 22nd I wrote yesterday about cock birds singing when in condition. The cock that built this nest has been singing his head off for weeks now and has nearly completed his nest within 24 hours of being paired up. I mentioned that I have never seen the Silver cock?? (that was paired up yesterday) singing. I can't help but think that the more they sing, the more eager they are to want to breed. What do you think??? Click Here and let me know. |
Not a bad day's work!!! |
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This is the nest of one of my pairs of Normals that reared only two chicks in their first round. They did lay a total of 6 eggs in the first round.....4 fertile and 2 clear. Four hatched in total but they lost two chicks early on. I have to give them credit though, as they have done a great job in rearing the other two (which I separated yesterday). Well......here are six eggs from round two.....with three eggs showing early signs of fertility. Watch this space!!!!! |
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May 24th On a lighter note, the "Cat Litter Tray", that I filled with 1" of water and put in the flight cage, has now been accepted by the Java's that are currently housed there. When I first put the tray in, it terrified them, but as you can see they are now enjoying the benefits of having their own "pool". |
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Just thought I'd show you a few of the young I've bred so far this year. (They are housed with a few adult Fawn's and Silver's) |
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May 25th This is the nest with three "Fostered Normal eggs". I know this is a Silver because the Normal eggs are covered in droppings. All being well, I may possibly see the other two Silver's hatch tomorrow. |
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Take a look at this photo of the egg shown (lower left) in the above photo. It has two shells!!! It's one of the fostered eggs from the separated Normals. Has anyone out there ever experienced this?? Click Here and let me know. One possibility I've thought of is that the upper part of the shell may be part of the egg that the young Silver has hatched from today....maybe the half shell slipped over the egg somehow as the chick hatched???? I say this as the upper half of the egg is cleaner......free from droppings....but then again, it could have been naturally polished by the hen's damp belly after bathing. I have tried to remove this outer shell but it won't budge....maybe the fluid in the shell has created some kind of suction that will not allow me to remove the shell. In fact, as I sit here typing this, the more and more I think that this is what has happened......the upper half of the shell is actually part of the egg that the silver chick has hatched from. Do you agree???? Click Here and let me know you thoughts.
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Also......here is the progress of the two pairs I put down to nest four days ago. |
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This is the Silvers nest that has not been
touched since I started the nest for them. |
In complete contrast...here is the Normal's nest.....complete!!! |
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May 26th Before I went to work this morning I checked this egg again and gently peeled away the half shell. So it's pretty safe to say that this was a "freak incident" which I may never see again.
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And my 2nd Silver has hatched out too!!!! |
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May 28th So, I've cleaned out the cage and paired up some Fawns (see photo right). |
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I've also sold a pair of birds today....a
Fawn Cock and a Silver Hen.
I am also trying out a different brand of Pickstone (see right). I currently pay 80p for a 350g pot of Versele Lagas' Pick Bloc and I'm now trying "Pickstone Red" by Colombine (Belgium). It's sold as a Pigeon product but the ingredients are almost identical as Pick Bloc. The cost for this is £1.00 for 650g and, like Versele Lagas' Pick Bloc, comes with a useful clay pot. So, for an extra 20p I'm getting almost double the amount of Pickstone.......not bad....I just hope my Java's like it.
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May 29th These are totally unproven, the cock is a Phil Thompson 05 bird and the hen is from Tony Gladwin 05. |
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May 30th You can see the difference five days makes between hatching. The two Silver's appear enormous next to the new hatchlings. I think it's safe to say that the third Silver egg (on the right) is not going to hatch....it appears to be "dead in shell". All being well, the remaining Normal egg should hatch tomorrow. One other thing to mention, the pair of Normal's I put down to nest on May 21st should hopefully lay the first egg later today or tomorrow. The hen is looking rather swollen and her wings are down which usually means an egg is immanent...I was going to take a photo but I didn't think it right to "stress her out" at this stage. |
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May 31st The third Silver egg I mentioned yesterday that I presumed was "dead in shell" has been confirmed (see photo right). |
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My on-going Silver sexing continues, take a look at the Silver in this photo. It's been in with my cock birds for a few weeks now and has shown no signs of that it's a cock. Visually, when it was in with the cock birds, I was unsure so this evening I have put the two Silver cocks???? in with the hens an watched them for half an hour.............still nothing!!! But like I say, take a look at this photo....to me it looks like a cock bird. What do you think?? Click Here and let me know. |
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June 1st |
Take a look at these two Silvers.
I think that the underside of the beak on
the orange ring bird may prove it to be a hen....see what you think. Click here and let me know your thoughts. |
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June
2nd |
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I was just inspecting the nest as usual and as the hen left the nest I watched the baby Java enter the world. Sadly I never had my camera handy as I would have like to have captured the event with several photos....it would have been great to put "the birth" on this page. This photo shows the two chicks that have hatched today from the second round of a pair of Normals. This pair were first put down to nest on March 1st...their first round produced four chicks, but one was "lost in the nest" and another was mutilated by the parents. They did successfully rear two chicks though......let's hope they've got the hang of being parents now and have more success from this round.
The nest has six fertile eggs, however,
this morning one egg was positioned away from the others so I picked it
up and put it back with the rest of the clutch. I'm not going to hold my
breath on this egg as it didn't feel warm to touch so it may not
hatch....but you never know!!! |
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I also checked the nest of the Fawns that I paired up on May 28th and they now have one egg!!!!! |
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This morning I cleaned out the birdroom and
fed the birds, as I do on most Sunday mornings. I'm not sure about this one now. When you purchase these pickstones the pots are shrink wrapped so you can't feel the stones in your hand. The "Pick Bloc" by Versele Laga was fairly soft and would break down when rubbed between your fingers. The new pickstone seems very coarse with many large stones the I think are too big for Java's. I know that this type is usually offered to pigeons but my seed supplier said this stuff was as good as the Pick Bloc I previously used. I'm not going to write it off yet as I will see if my birds take it , but I have a feeling I will be switching back to Pick Bloc very soon.
Take a look at the two photos to compare
the stones. |
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June 5th I have rung the two Silver chicks this morning before I went to work, they are around 10/11 days old. You can see the difference in size....the three Normal chicks are around five days younger than the Silvers.....what a difference five days makes eh!!!
Notice the silver quills in the wings!! |
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June 6th
I have purchased three cases of these and
they will be shared by my Java pals. Also today, my website has accumulated 2000 hits since I published it on March 11th of this year.
Thanks to Steve Nesbitt and Rob Salem for
thier help in getting my website known. |
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June 8th
Thanks Tony for some great birds!!! I checked a nest this evening and I have spotted a few mite crawling over eggs. I'm obviously concerned as the Prozap is up and should now be working. I have decided that I will use the full dose (80g) of Prozap until I see no more mite. I can only assume that the Prozap should see off any small insect within a few days of hanging it up. .....I'll just wait and see what happens. I've tried to take a few pics of the mite with my macro lens. Take a look......any "mite experts" out there???
Are these Red or Northern Mite.......(I
know Red Mite are only red after feeding)???????
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June 16th Thanks to my Dad for feeding and watering the birds whilst I've been away and thanks to my mate Graham Pope for calling round on Wednesday to close ring a nest of four Normals.
Well, this afternoon
I've checked the Fawn nest (put down to nest on
May 28th) as they have been sitting on eight
eggs for about a week. Sadly all eight eggs are clear....I will take the
eggs away over the weekend and let them try again.... you never know!!!
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Also take a look at the progress of the Silvers nest (that has three fostered Normals) the last photo I took was on June 5th...compare it to this photo....what a difference eleven days makes eh!! |
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I mentioned on June 8th that I still had a few and that I said the Prozap should see off any mite within a few days......well, it looks like I was right!! I saw a few mites running over the eggs in one of my nests so I placed a Prozap Jnr directly on top of the lid (where it hinges)...theory being that the vapours would get directly into the box. Well this afternoon when I looked I have noticed that the mite have congregated around the Prozap Jnr on the lid....and died!!!
I even squished a few under
my thumb......look close and you can see the blood!
Please Note: Prozap
Insect Guard contains Dichlorvos which was banned in the UK and Europe
as it is believed to be carcinogenic. It is still available in the U.S.A
(except California) and it is not illegal to use in this
country.......however, selling them is. |
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June 18th These are from a pair of Tony Gladwin Normals that I put down to nest on March 1st.
These chicks are from the
second round.
Below is a photo of some of
the young I have bred so far this year. If anyone out there is interested in buying some of this years Normals, Click Here and let me know. As you can see in this photo the birds are young and in various stages of their moult. I will not sell any birds until they are in adult plumage.
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My aim with this
website is to update as often as I possibly can. I am planning on setting up pages dedicated to Java Sparrow keepers and breeders around the world.
If you keep these wonderful
birds and would like a "Free Mini Web Page" click the button below to
What have you got to lose??? Click below to submit your details.
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These chicks are from the very first pair of Java's I got from Steve Nesbitt last year. There were a total of seven eggs in this nest, two of which were clear, so all being well the other three should hatch over the next couple of days. |
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The pair of Normals put to nest on May 29th laid a total of four eggs but one ended up smashed on the cage floor. The hen is now sitting on the three eggs pictured here. |
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I desperately need to install a safety door to my birdroom as this evening I almost lost a young Java to the big wide world. As I opened the shed door this evening this youngster head straight towards me. I was amazed only one had got out because one of the doors to the flight cage had somehow opened slightly (maybe that was down to me being a little "half soaked").
Always check you doors are
properly closed!!! |
"The Great Escape" was not to be!!!! |
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June 21st
Hopefully the cock bird
will be as prolific as he was in his first round and fill all the eggs
again......I'll wait and see!!! I've also discovered this evening that the Normals on three eggs, as mentioned on June 19th, have only one fertile egg. In this situation some breeders may take away the eggs to encourage them to lay again as raising only one chick to ties up a cage for too long. Personaly, I don't mind, I haven't set myself a target number of birds to breed so this pair can rear as little or as many chicks as they want...(I only let them have two rounds though!!). |
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June 22nd
This chick should fledge
any day now so I'm hoping to see it in the cage tomorrow morning before
I go to work. Changing the subject!!!!....If you look through my website you will see that I have been using newspaper on the cage floors to help keep the cages clean. About three months ago I stopped using newspaper as I got "fed up" with tidying the cages every time I went into the birdroom. I'm sure if you use newspaper for your Java's then you'll know what I mean. As soon as you put fresh paper in...you turn your back on your birds then this happens (see photos below). |
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The problem | |||
Bangladesh!!!! A total surprise!!!
