java sparrows

[smoggy7]

hi all, i have a pair of silvers in a breeding cage and they are male and female she has laid 11 eggs all unfertile , so i have taken them away is this ok? we first thought they were 2 females but after close inspection they are male and female any thought on this plz thanks smoggy7

[Waxbillman]

hello Smoggy

i take it you let them incubate the eggs, otherwise you cannot tell whether they are fertile or not,


Matthew

[smoggy7]

hi yes have got a picture but not a good one of them thanks smoggy

[Waxbillman]

oh yeh theres is a difference

Matthew

[smoggy7]

hi, so is this a male and female then and should i let them breed again thanks smoggy7

[Waxbillman]

i have never kept this species, but it most certainly looks like a pair, Kenny with be able to inform you better.

its not unheard of for them to lay that many, my mates pair did, there were fertile an all

[kenny]

hi smoggy
they look like a pair to me how long did you leave the eggs for before you ditched them as javas take a little longer to hatch than most finches ,also i would put them back together again if you want any young this year as mine have bred in really cold weather...the latest i have had javas breed is just before xmas

ken

[smoggy7]

hi kenny , there were 11 eggs in the box and they were all clear , 15 days they were there i know it takes 18 days for the javas so there should have been some sign if they were fertile i would have thought i breed other birds and i check the eggs about 10 days in and shows signs of fertillity so should i try them again and put them back in the breeding cage thanks kenny jason

[kenny]

hi jason
as i said if you want to breed them again this year it will be ok to put them together again,they have laid eggs so the nest is ok and as matt says that amount of eggs is not unusual as sometimes they lay a few infertile eggs before the full ones come along...i have had case where other javas have laid eggs in the same nest resulting in extra eggs but if this is the only pair you have and all the eggs are infertile you can discount that...i would take some of the nesting material out and give them some fresh to play with to build a new nest...i have had them in budgie boxes and they have filled them to the brim with anything they can get their beaks on ...also while they are making a new nest it will give them a chance to mate ..as they dont always do it and just sit inside the nest without doing anything but sit on clear eggs...make sure their diet is beefed up a bit also if the hen has laid that many eggs she will need a bit extra to put bck what she has lost ..plenty of calcium based stuff


ken

[smoggy7]

hi all just noticed my breeding rcord dates and the dates and eggs dont add up so i think i got 2 females as they started laying on the 5th but by the 10th there were 11 eggs which dont add up it looks like 2 females but the colour of the beaks tell a different story but i managed to get closer after working with my new camera here they are anyone agree with the pics thanks smoggy

[Waxbillman]

hello Jason

by the looks of the picture i would of thought there was a true pair, due to the different colour and the broadness

Matthew

[smoggy7]

yes we thought this too but i have now sperated them in sight of each other to see if the one we think is male do his singing will let you know all is quiet at the moment thanks smoggy

[dave85]

yeah i agree 2 hens, always go by the shape and size of bills rather than colour as good coloured hens can be as bright as cock biirds.

Thanks
Dave

[kenny]

hi guys
i was looking more at the thickness of the eye ring .the one in the first picture on the left has a thicker eye ring which usually denotes a cock bird

http://www.javafinch.co.uk/sex/cock2a.jpg

[kenny]

hi jason
this is the difference


http://www.javafinch.com/sex/hena.jpg

ken

[dave85]

hi kenny,

from keep javas i find the eye ring varies from bird to bird and it it hard to tell most of the time.

So i use the beak as a easier way of seeing the sexe of them.

Thanks
Dave

[kenny]

hi dave
yep i do normally but in this case as i said the one on the lefts eye ring was larger as was the beak shape so we have 2 points to it being a cock bird
ken




http://www.feathered-friends.co.uk/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=560&stc=1&d=1160834224http://www.feathered-friends.co.uk/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=561&stc=1&d=11608342http://www.feathered-friends.co.uk/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=562&stc=1&d=116083422424


the first photo shows a cock bird on the right it has the larger beak at the rear also the swollen eye ring