Donald's Borders

Donald Saunders of South Africa sent in some fabulous pictures of his Borders. Aren't they lovely!!!



Border Hens






In South Africa, they are conditioning and beginning the breeding season.


His Cats love the birds too!

Donald says "Here are a few pics of my Borders. The hens in the flight cage areenjoying the sun and greens. They share the sun with my 2 shorn Chinchilla longhair cats.They are not interested in the birds. In the morning when I prepare the border veggies, they scream for some grated boiled egg. Once they have had their titbit they move off. I begin pairing up 1 week before the full moon in September."

Twittering to Fine Tours

My young German rollers are twittering while I dream of fine tours! It is only a matter of time now, till I hear that beautiful sound that will take my breath away.

To encourage singing, I have added multiple perches, giving privacy even in the flight cage. Soon, I will move these perches even higher in the cage to encourage the bird to bend down when he sings thus reaching lower notes. The multiple holed swinging perch will be lowered just enough so that they can perch on the top edge, also encouraging them to bend down to sing.






These German rollers have been separated out as hens but they still enjoy their privacy perches.

Meals In Minutes

Typically by mid to late September, I quit making my regular egg food and focus on extras that can be prepared in minutes.

This morning, I prepared the above soft food mix. It is cous cous prepared with olive oil and poppy seeds and covered with boiling water, fluffed and let cool. (Sometimes, I feed this straight and keep a bowl made up in the aviary refrigerator.) To this I added Orlux Golden Patee, and Raff Universal Extras (insect blend) and some Orlux vitamins.

I served this first thing in the morning accompanied by simple fresh greens consisting of radish tops and baby bok choy. Even the finicky Borders were quick to try it!

My approach to feeding new things to my birds is the same as I learned from my husband Pat. Pat cooked all the meals while our children were growing up, often serving something new and definitely different. When the kids picked at it, he offered them a choice: Eat It or Wear It!!

Later today and tomorrow, I will note the bird's condition. Is the feathering tight? Are the tails narrow? Are any favoring a foot, like they do when the protein is too high?

My First 2011 Show

Show Season Is Here!

My first show is The Canary and Finch Society, Sheraton North Houston at Bush Intercontinental Airport, 15700 John F. Kennedy Boulevard Houston, TX 77032 Hope to see you there!

Attention: You must Call Brendon at extension 1267 for an in house reservation!
Guest Room Rates: $69,Check out is at 2:00 pm. Reservations must be made by Friday September 15, 2011
Phone: (281) 442-5100

REGISTRATION 7 am - 8:30 am JUDGING 9 am - 3 pm

SHOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

JUDGES:

Clarence Culwell-Finch,

Bob Wild-Type

Linda Hogan-Color

In conjunction with CFS Show, Gulf Coast American Singers American Singer Division
Check in Friday 7PM-9PM Judging Saturday 9AM-3PM
Judge: Tricia Hartnett
Contact: Alicia Baker: baker-alicia@hotmail.com 281-320-9936

Spanish Timbrado Society of America
Judge: Alberto Berrios
Contact: Dorothy Eggers - deggers@comcast.net 281-487-1321

Auction featuring top notch Pairs.
Show Chairman Debbie Eaton oscar23@aol.com

Visit our website for additional info:
http://canaryfinchsociety.tripod.com

Promoting Peak Condition

Recently, I started using Raff's Universal Extra which I purchased from Connie Gahman (gahmanzoo@verizon.net 215 536-1599). It is an insect product but also contains a number of other ingredients such as bakery products, cereals, minerals, and yeast. The formula is designed so that it can be feed straight from the box without danger of protein overload (favoring a foot). My birds accepted it straight but I thought this would be a great base for one of my marvelous new conditioning dishes!!


So I started mixing, first I added hemp hearts from the health food store. Since these are hulled and will not sprout, they are not treated or aged. Birds love them, even more than the shelled hemp but the cost prohibits feeding too often.


Then I added Peggy's Bee Pollen and a number of other Raff products that I had on hand including Verdurello (vegetables), Delicate (Rearing food), FruttOvo (fruits and eggs), and other products including Sidekick Treat Seed (Wings), and Song Food (Bird of Paradise, Wichita, Ks).

My birds loved it!! And better than that, the condition immediately improved as evidenced by the narrowing of the tails and tightness of feathering. On the borders, in addition to the improved feathering and width of tail, the backs raised and heads rounded greatly improving their confirmation. I am feeding this mix now twice a week!

Some of the Raff products may be hard to locate. In that case, I would use the Universal Extra with hemp, bee pollen, sidekick, song food and orlux pate or eggfood.


Another great conditioner is this Vitamin available from Bird Supply of New Hampshire. A measured amount is added to Orlux eggfood and feed twice a week. This also immediately improves the birds condition.

This Years Hatch Puffing-Up In The Flight Cage

If you have some chicks not thriving in a cage of youngsters, it is not necessarily a sign of illness. The most common reason is that the young females are being caged with young males and are not getting enough to eat.

It is important to separate the sexes as soon as possible. Watching their behavior can be a clue but a faster method is to just take a few minutes and catch the birds and check their weight.

Move the thin ones away from the others into groups with like thin ones. Add lots of perches to limit their need to fly. Feed the thin ones some fattening foods such as bread and sunflower chips/pieces.

Too fat birds get less oily seeds, more greens, exercise (reduce number of perches and move perches so they have to fly more), and in extreme cases petamine breeding formula, greens, and water.

I also use the KD (ladygouldianfinch.com) in the water on two consecutive days each week to keep them healthy.

Last Chick Of The Season Update

Finally, the late July German Roller chick has left the nest! It is quite a pet as we, Pat and I, have been hand feeding every couple of hours through the day since it was born. I was out of town giving some technical lectures for three days and Pat had full duty. He also feeds when I work. He thinks this chick is the easiest to feed ever!


Here I am trying to encourage it to nibble in hopes it will soon get the idea of feeding itself!


When I approach the cage, even on the first day out of the nest, he is busy in his swing.


But as soon as I approach he begins begging!


Full, it happily flies back to its swing.


Kansas Thunderstorm seen off my deck that blessed us with a couple of inches of rain and some relief from the unseasonably hot days!