August 2012

8 August

How the time flies!, so far so good with the 5 all are away and now feeding themselves. Feels like most of the time in the birdroom is spent sweeping up feathers, spraying and moving birds around. Have been away for a few days so always interesting to see how the birds have changed on my return.

Final cage moves planned for the weekend, i've got close on 55 birds in the first draft of the show team based on their shape, size poise before the moult and as they start to come through they still look pretty tidy. Still a long way to go for a number of them but some of the early bred birds are filling out nicely whilst retaining that good "nip" in the neck i'm looking for. Ideally, as time is always a bit of a challenge, I'd want to get the show team down to a more manageable number of 32/34, that way i can spend what time i have ensuring that those birds are spot on for the show bench.

Through focusing on it during my breeding programme my birds are, in the main at least, pretty steady in the show cages, but will still need to be handled and moved around the shed if they're to perform on the show bench. This is one of the best times of the year for me, seeing how the birds develop through the moult is the real acid tests of the breeding programme, not every pair put together is going to produce show winners, the development of the stud is two-fold, sure breeding birds for the show bench plays it's part, but developing the features and consistancy of the stud overall is the main prize for me. I have a clear picture already for the type of birds i want to retain, some will be from the show team, others will be for their pedigree qualities, and others will be for certain visual aspects they and their nest mates posses.

30 August

A few weeks since my last update, for no other reason than a family holiday - thoroughly enjoyed the time away with all of the kids but back to work and to the birdroom and reality!. All of the 5 are still going strong and pleased to report no casualties in my absence (thank goodness for mums!).

With almost 2 weeks away from the birds it's really interesting to see how they've come on, later bred birds are now weel into the moult with the first round coming to a nice conclusion. Busy weekend planned, baths first, then spraying then a deep clean of all of the cages and a first sort out of the 2012 youngsters. I have a fair idea what are cocks and what are hens but need to commit those thoughts to paper and then start the process of whittling down the 55 plus i have in the potential show team to a more manageable number of around 30.

The process of selection for next year will also start, and the selection of matched pairs to leave the shed will also begin, I'm trying to pair off as many birds as possible to make the process as easy as possible. I have some clear ideas on what i need for next year and what flighted birds i will retain, by putting "pairs together" it allows me an early look at potential partners for next year and will help influence my decisions on what to keep and what to let go, i can see what each bird needs and if i've got what it needs in the shed or if i need to bring something particular in (which at this stage i don't plan too).

I'm pleased to have bred 4 or 5 quality clear yellow cocks this year, although at first look i don't seem to have bred many lightly marked buff cocks (which could prove a problem as i've bred some lovely light yellow hens!!) as the clear birds have stepped up a level this year. I know there are going to be some tricky decisions to make this year, the A-Line (of lighter birds) is going to cause me some problems as there are 8 or 9 quality yellow related cocks competing for 4 places in the breeding team, the B-Line (of darker birds) is giving me a similar challenge with Green yellow and buff hens. Still i figure its a nice problem to have and i don't have the time or space to keep them all.

Couple of quick updates, shed move is delayed for the time being at least, nothing major but suspect the project will start late September now and see the birds maybe moved after the show season. Not an ideal situation but not the end of the world by any stretch.

DVD is touch and go, I've mocked up a page to go live on the site and looked up putting a PAYPAL on-line ordering facility (so you could order and pay on-line with a PAYPAL account or a credit/Debit Card), I'm really pleased with some of the footage I've got and the rough cuts i've put together look good, I've got one or two issues i need to resolve around format and file conversion to take them into a publishing format that will allow me to output them with searchable menus and a format that will play on all modern DVD players. Feel confident i can work it out but need some time to set aside and with a whole host of things coming up (not least our own club show) not sure where I'm going to find it!!