Houston Winners Lipochrome

Best Lipochrome and Second Best Colorbred in Show, Yellow Ground Intensive Exhibited by Jesus Martinez. What a bird!! Jesus is a Novice!

He was so happy with the win and thankful that Ricardo Sanchez got him started with excellent stock!



Second Best Lipochrome Red Ground Intensive Exhibited by Jesus Martinez (red ground stock also from Ricardo).



Third Best Lipochrome White Ground Recessive Exhibited by Helen Jones



Fourth Best Lipochrome Yellow Ground Frost Exhibited by Julio Valella and Brenda Varholla

Be sure and click on these photos for a better look!

Melanin Colorbred Winners Houston Show

Best Melanin Colorbred and Best Colorbred in Show Brown White Exhibited by Julio Vallella and Brenda Varholla. Beautiful!!!



Second Best Melanin Black Red Intensive Exhibited by Gibson/St. Clair



Third Best Melanin Agate Red Mosaic Exhibited by Henry Vela



Fourth Best Melanin Isabel Yellow Intensive Exhibited by Julio Valella and Brenda Varholla

New Color Winners Houston Show

Best New Color and Third Best Colorbred in Show Yellow Ground Satinet Exhibited by Alicia Baker Gorgeous Bird!



Second Best New Color Brown Yellow Ivory Pastel Exhibited by Ricardo Sanchez



Third Best New Color White Ground Ino Exhibited by Ricardo Sanchez



Fourth Best New Color White Ground Satinet Exhibited by Alicia Baker

Sexing Canaries Made Easy - Francisco A Salas

One of the highlights of the Houston Bird Show was meeting Francisco! I ask him to e-mail this sexing canaries trick for posting.

Francisco writes "Hi Linda, I need to tell you about an article a read in may local news paper last year, a way so easy to sex canaries, they called it a “dummy proof way to sex canaries”; according to the article this can be done when the babies are still in the nest (about 10 – 12 days old) all you have to do is approach the nest, any baby that digs his head into the nest is a male, baby hens will slightly lower them self but keep eye contact with you. I put this method to the test with some sex link birds this past year, and it work every time, the only time I had problems was with some of the babies I had to hand feed frequently, they were so used to being handle that they did not shy away from me. Give it a try, I hope it works for you.

My Face Book account is ; ( Born to sing canaries ). Remember it's in Spanish I posted several pictures from the Houston Show. Take care and hope to see you soon again, maybe we can get you to come to San Antonio and judge our show

Our clubs Face Book page is (Alamo Exhibition Bird Club) you can see some picture of our Bird Show

Sincerely

Francisco A Salas

Francisco is also an accomplished dog handler and when I told him of my troubles getting Lucca to walk on the leash instead of jumping on me and grabbing the leather strap, he said first play and totally wear him out and then put the leash on him and walk him. This worked amazingly well and now my family is also walking him and they can't believe how good he is on the leash! Thanks so much Francisco!

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?