Japanese Waxwings.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

I have held back on posting so far, but there is one pair (or rather the hen) of Japanese Waxwings incubating four eggs at the moment, my fingers are crossed I will not need to intervene this time as the nesting site is quite shaded.

Paul H.:grin:

[kenny]

hi paul ,
lets hope you have some luck with them

ken

[Waxbillman]

good luck Paul,

have you bred from them successfully before?

matthew

[chris]

Hi paul,

good luck with em mate

Chris:wink:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

Matthew I have only managed to breed two Japanese Waxwings to independence a couple of years ago, but to be honest it was a bit of a cheat as I had to handrear them from a pretty well grown on stage due to the hen deserting them.

I still have the cock I handreared, to me this Bird is worth more than ten times his weight in Gold, and then some, sadly the hen died after a breeding loan to a good friend.

The pair incubating right now are a relatively new pair of Birds, by that I mean they haven't bred for us before, so I'm dreading things going wrong later on.:?

Over the years we have lost quite a few chicks at around five or six days old, which is something I do not wish to experience ever again, so fingers crossed!!

Paul.;)

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

I should have known not to speak so soon, two clear eggs & two dead chicks at only two and three days old.:sad: :mad:

I can only hope they will have a very late second round, if not I hope for better luck next year.

Paul.:-|

[kenny]

what a shame paul as i was saying to some one on the cnai it happens to all of us but doesnt get any easier .


ken

[laurab]

Sorry Paul, I know how upset you are by this set back. Are there any clues as to why this keeps happening?

[Waxbillman]

sorry to hear that Paul, these things happen in aviculture
but as Winston Churchill once said 'Keep buggering on'

matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

Thank you everyone for the replies.

Laura, at the moment I am stumped for an exact reason for the death of these two chicks as they died before the 5-6 day old period which seems to have been the norm with the broods I've had with previous pairs.
I'm hoping the reason this time is just down to inexperience of the parents (rather than their keeper:? ).

The problem of the chicks dying at a set age of 5-6 days with the other chicks may indicate a change in the diet they would receive in the wild, but what doesn't make any sense is that while some breeders who have managed to rear Japanese Waxwings full term on Mealworms only, ours have always had a variety of Livefood available as well as the standard mixed Fruit and Insectivorous food.:?

Ken, I hope it gets easier at some point mate or else Japanese Waxwings may become a faded memory as far as UK Aviculture is concerned.:?

Matthew, I know these things happen mate and it makes us all the more determined to get it right next time, but I'm sorry to say I'm not familiar with old Winnies quote you mentioned.:grin:

Paul.

[laurab]

Hi Paul


what are you feeding them?

Ignore that I have just read what you have been feeding them on, do you give them fresh fruit/berries? I have noticed that the Rowan Trees are laden with fruit at the moment and Elderberries should be almost there now....just a thought :wink:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura,

The diet given to the Waxwings is as follows.
The standard diet includes the Fruit mix which is Fresh Apple, Pear, Banana, Black and Green Grapes, with Tinned Fruit Cocktail, Bogena Insectivorous Food and a few Regular Mealworms.

When breeding all of the above and the new recipe Gold Patte Eggfood, Madiera Cake and Livefood including Regular and Mini Mealworms, Waxworms, Fruit Flies and Brown or Silent Crickets ad lib.
All Livefood when feeding chicks is dusted with Vionate, and I have fed both pairs of Waxwings Rowan Berries today as well as the Birds in the main mixed aviary.

Paul.:wink:

[kenny]

keep trying with them paul,as we need all the difficult to breed birds and the non importables as i pointed out to matt last week spice birds on one website £45 a bird appalling!


ken

[Waxbillman]

hello Paul, can't believe you've never heard of that quote, he said K.B.O for short apparently.
how old are the waxwings, and where did they come from?
matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Wooohooo, I'm in the mood for dancing (but I think I'm too fat).


The hen Waxwing is sitting again!!:D

I was quite worried that the cock was driving her too hard to the point I was thinking of removing the cock from the aviary to give her a rest, but hey the little guy knew he would win her over despite how late in the year it is now.

But to make sure things go well this time I have Bill Oddy, Simon King, David Attenborough and Chris Packham watching over them, a Bren Gun set up on auto for when that £+^$%"! ginger and white fur ball comes anywhere near the garden and I've taken my team of Chinese Illegals off of Cockle collecting duties to catch as many Crane Flies and Mosquitoes as possible.:lol:

Anyway on a serious note I hope and pray everything goes well this time, I just hope the failed round was a practice run, and this one is the real deal, if not I will be on hand for another nightmare job of handrearing if needed.:shock:

Hi Matthew,

I apologise for my poor education on History in particular (K.B.O.), the Waxwings are of an unknown age as they are imports, but they came from Japan:lol:.
They were bought from a Birdkeeper a couple of miles from where I live who F.O.T.S. (emigrated to Spain).
The other Waxwings include the 2003 handreared cock, his Father who is getting on but is still capable of breeding and a hen who is past her sell by date as far as breeding goes.

Paul.

[chris]

Hi paul,

just an idea for livefoods for ya. when i was breeding and releasing frogs, i used a small tub with a round hole cut out in the top of it. inside this i put 1/4 a pint of maggots from the fishing tackle shop ( i think it's about £1) replaced the lid and left it inside the tank. in a few weeks the maggots start hatching out into flies which the frogs would eat as they came out of the hole in the lid. the flies are sterile as they haven't been on any $*** yet, so were quite safe as a live food.

also if your crazy enough to try it, wasp larvae are an excelent livefood, but very hard to get hold of for obvious reasons! i just so happen to have a wasp nest in the garden and it wouldn't be the first time i've raided one for larvae, but moreso to get the darn things out of my garden:twisted: i would try it now, but my dad has chucked a load of wasp nest killer over it (which doesn't seem to work, but that's my livefood contaminated now) gone are the days where we used to run in with a hosepipe, matches, petrol and a garden fork to get rid of the things.........

this might provide a good source of livefoods for your birds, and now i've remembered the idea i'll be off to try it out if the weavers ever breed.

Good luck with your waxwings mate,


Chris:wink:

[Waxbillman]

thats great new Paul,

good luck, i hope they go all the way this time and get the chicks to fledge.

matthew

[kenny]

hi paul

i second that mate best of luck with them,hope everything goes right for you

ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the good wishes!!:grin:

Chris, I have tried the white pinkie Maggot method, but my Old's and my next door neighbours were not too chuffed with the Fly invasion as a result.:roll:

As for the Wasp Grub/Larvae option, I have yet to find a good source of these.:?

Later Paul.:wink:

[laurab]

Paul, did you mention Chris Packham?!! I'm on my way round!!!

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Lauwar,

Should you not have said you are on your way wound?

As I believe Chwis Packham has a pwoblem with pwonouncing his awrs.

Paul H.:grin:

[laurab]

Did I say I was coming round to hear him talk?:razz: :wink:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

It is game over for breeding Waxwings this year, the eggs that were laid have been found broken on the floor of the Conifer tub.

Paul.

[Waxbillman]

oh no, what a shame, sorry to hear that Paul

i hope they succeed next year.

matthew

[kenny]

hi paul,

what a shame mate,like matt says there is always next year but i suppose that wont help much.


sorry mate:sad: ken

[laurab]

Hi Paul


I am really sorry :(

[chris]

Hi paul,


sorry to hear the eggs have been smashed, maybe there is still time for one last round so don't give up yet mate

Chris

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies, next year it is then.:roll:
Chris thanks mate but it really is game over for this year, I was lucky for the very late failed attempt of a second round.:-|

To be honest I'm at fault for the late attempt at breeding with all of the Birds this year, for various reasons that I won't go into here.

Later, Paul.

[chris]

Hi paul,

i hope you have better luck next year mate on both counts. if there's one thing i'm learning about birds it's that they're totally unpredictable so who knows, they might yet suprise you and i hope they do,

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

hi paul,

i was once told when i first started in this bird breeding lark as a young man,that breeding birds whatever they where was a heart breaking hobby to be in great when everything is going ok but heartbreaking when stuff like losing chicks etc and as i have said before i have been breeding birds since i was 24 and i am 55 now and when i find a dead chick i still feel the same my wife cant understand why it affects me so much but thats the way i am built and it will be the same next time as i am not kidding myself it will happen so you just have to put up with it i wont say get over it as i dont but those are the sad things about this hobby but the good stuff outweighs all that crap i am glad to say.

ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Thanks again for the replies,

Ken I know what you mean mate, I'm in my 22nd year of Birdkeeping and it is still hard when I lose a chick or even adult Birds.
I've been trying to breed the Waxwings for a few years now and it is gutting evertime I lose a chick or even eggs, they are the second of only two Softbill Species I have bred in all of my years of breeding Birds.
The other Species was the Black Breasted Thrush and I bred both Species in the same year:grin:, but the Waxwings will always be special to me, just look at my Avatar.:grin:

The photo was taken by Laura and if I remember correctly the Bird in my Avatar is the Father of the young cock Bird I have.

If I ask nicely maybe Laura will post a full photo for the other members to appreciate why I love the Japanese Waxwing so much.

Pretty please Laura could you post a full size shot of the Waxwing in the photos you have?

Paul.:wink:

[kenny]

hi paul from what i can see of it,looks like a nice bird very typical of a waxwing standard mate


ken

[laurab]

Hi Paul

here it is...:)

[kenny]

hi laura ,

that really is a lovely bird and a good photo as i said to paul just like the standard of a wawing should be

ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura,

Thanks for posting the full photo:wink: , Ken I'm pleased you like what you see.

Paul.:grin:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello Chris,

You may well turn out to be my lucky charm mate:grin:, I never thought I would be posting these words that this evening on the 12th of August, the hen Waxwing is sitting on the nest AGAIN!!:lol:

But obviously I'm not excited about this as I may jinx this round also.:???:

Paul.

[kenny]

hi paul,

ssssshhh we wont say anything yet mate
ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Cheers Ken,

Paul.:grin:

[Waxbillman]

finger's crossed Paul, maybe its third time lucky.

matthew

[chris]

Hi Paul,

good luck with them mate! i've never thought that i could be someone's lucky charm, i tend to bring doom and gloom:neutral: :lol: . i hope the hen can rear these successfully this time round for you. i would keep a close eye on how often they are being fed and take them out if you suspect they are not being fed enough. but i would also only use this as a last resort, trying top-up feeds first if you suspect problems with feeding.

when the greensinger hybrids were being reared earlier on in the year, for the first day or so they were not being fed enough by the mother so i would go in on a morning and before sunset to give them a top up feed using crushed eggfood, ready brek (or ground oats) and water. i think this was enough to keep them going before the hen finally started feeding more often at which point i had no need to carry on.

Good luck, i hope to read of your success in a few weeks matey:grin:

Chris:wink:

[laurab]

Hi Paul

good luck with whatever it is we are not talking about!!

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies and advice, I realise if it does go wrong again I stand a pretty good chance of breeding from this pair next year.
I just hope and pray they are settled in their breeding quarters way before their usual start to breeding in June next year.:grin:

Paul.:wink:

[kenny]

hi paul

i willl say one for you and lets hope they are mate
ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

Game over, the third round went T,U. also:sad:, but hey there is always next year:grin:.

I just hope I have better results next year.

Paul.

[Waxbillman]

sorry to hear that Paul,

like you said there always next year.

matthew

[chris]

Hi paul,

sorry to hear about that mate. i don't want to be the eternal optimist but you never know if they'll suprise you yet again in a week or two! hopefully you'll have better luck next year

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

hi paul

what a p****r mate lets hope that you have better luck next year whoever we were praying to wasn`t listening

ken