Dolly and Banjo (pair of vosmaeri Eclectus) have laid again, they are quite persistent even in this very cold weather. Unfortunately their last attempt in late November was unsuccessful and no chicks hatched out. I had this breeding pair for 3 years and so far they have laid consistency but usually only have one fertile egg and one clear egg per clutch. I don't know why this is ?
When I bought them I had only intended to buy one of their offspring, but when I went to visit the breeder I found that the owner had only this pair alongside pairs of large Macaws. Dolly (the hen) was really tatty with hardly any feathers on her front at all, so I made an offer to buy the parents and daughter all together. Whilst we were getting them out the flight I found that the nest box was completely empty of any bedding, and it was likely that poor Dolly had pulled out all her feathers in order to make a nestbox bedding for her eggs.
Since she has been with me she has slowly improved her feather condition but still far from perfect. Even Banjo was a little tatty when I bought him but he now looks quite splendid. Unusually he has some individual bright yellow feathers around front of the neck. I had other Eclectus cocks with these occasional yellow feathers and not sure if this is just natural or if it signifies some kind of defficiency (perhaps vitamin) ? However Banjo is always looking fit and active and produces youngsters so I guess he is OK.
No comments:
Post a Comment