Breeding the Henny Mutation Gallus gallus

Henny mutation in Red Jungle Fowl (RJF) is not uncommon. It is characterised by female coloured feathering in the male. What is uncommon is probably breeding the original (untainted) henny feathered RJF.

This is a good specimen of a very original looking female RJF (so I have been told). Notice the orderly fan like tail feathers and almost non-existent comb on the head:


She came from a brood of eggs found in the jungle and was artificially hatched. Funny things was, my friends and I expected her to disappear into the jungle when kept as a free roaming chicken. She did disappear for an entire day initially, flying over my neighbour's two storey house and disappear from sight. She came back and now behaves like a normal village chicken, weary of humans but not frightened. When friends drop by, she rarely wanders near. But when I am alone, she can come right to my feet.

Her favourite night roosting spot is right on top of my main door (shucks!)



They are getting too bold for my liking hehehe! climbing all over and recently breaking my mortar grinder I left on the garden table.





And finally a brood of 4 chicks as a result. Do not know how the chicks will turn out, but there is high chance of getting henny feathered cocks as the cock that I have also comes from a sire with henny feathering. It appears to be a passable genetic mutation.



[Apart from the hen-like feathers, males with this trait have a substantially reduced reproductive ability, probably because the increased levels of plasma oestrogen inhibit spermatogenesis (George et al., 1990)]
The above in italics is taken from an article. Just so lucky that my male is did not lose his reproductive ability. A first clutch for cock and hen that has been successfully hatched. Although the initial eggs laid are 7, I can only find 4 live chickens. Maybe I can blame the neighbourhood cats :(

Note: It is illegal to keep the RJF in Malaysia (although it is quite difficult to prove which is the RJF and which has been cross bred with the local chicken). However, if they are not tied or caged, then it is perfectly alright ;)

Breeding Jambuls Pt1

Finally decided to utilise the empty aviary for my pair of Jambul (Red-whiskered Bulbul). Would introduce a pair of quail later to act as a cleaner for the aviary floor.
Its interesting to note the difference between keeping aviary and cage birds.
Firstly, there is much more space for them to fly and initially they are clumsy fliers. But after much practice, they become quite good but still not strong - maybe the side effect of years in a small cage ;)
Then there is allopreening (preening of the feathers of one bird by another), an endearing trait observed just a day after introducing the pair.
The method I chose to introduce the pair to the aviary is the lazy man's method of "dump & pray". As described, its a very easy method. Dump both of them in and pray they do not tear each other apart ;D
Male is an old bird from Layang-layang in Johor. Very old bird, probably above 10 years of age. Female is from Tasik Gelugor in Penang, a very tame bird firstly thought to be a male until she laid a couple of eggs.
Disadvantage of aviary birds is that there is much less control. Especially on the dry food and supplements that I can feed them. Too much fruits is made available that they eat very little of dry food, so my solution at the moment is to smear the fruits with dry pellets and control the quantity of mealworms given.

Other concern is whether the male is too old for breeding. Honestly, I am not really that concerned about it. I have not kept Jambuls in aviary before, so the chance to observe them in aviary settings is good enough. If they did breed, then it would be a bonus. There is an additional challenge of keeping the pests like squirrels, rats, mice, snakes, ants etc etc away. And keeping the aviary clean.

Today is day 4 for the pair in the aviary.

Zosterops Palpebrosa Pt.2

Follow up to the escaped Puteh event - around 7pm, saw a tiny bird flew out of the car porch when I went outside. That fella has to be the escaped bird. So, since he came back after all, I rig up the trap and just left it at that.

Woke up around 1am today and saw the little fella was safely in the trap:



A quick clean up of an old cage, top up of food and water and hope he is happy. Anyway this bird is destined for an aviary life (booked by a friend already), together with the female. Hope he does well in his new home later on ;)



Since I am touching on the topic of giving away Putehs, this is one fella up for adoption (also booked already). Thought I might as well document him on film and write a little about him.
He was bought from a bird shop in K.L., randomly picked by a friend and "buka" a little at home 2 weeks later. Can't remember how long I had him, but it must have been only months. He does not appear to have a very long "buka" (some folks call "petik") but he made it up by being quite steady - meaning he is willing and eager to sing at most places. So much different from the old Puteh I had before (singing in the background) that is only stabilising now (> 2 years), maybe due to my lack of experience in keeping Putehs.
I believe this fella can still improve. But I am going to be more selective now. As I believe a good competition bird needs time to become mature and reliabe. So, tentatively I am looking at a couple years of investment at least :( Now, when will Thor's time be? :D



Note: video taken around 1 am, after I woke up and switch on the light. They must have thought it was morning already :D

Zosterops Palpebrosa Pt.1

After much debate about Oriental White-eye (OWE) and Everett's White-eye EWE), finally I decided to get a pair of OWE. Cannot really say though, but looks like OWE, the owner swears its a OWE and sound like OWE. So, it must be an OWE hahaha!





Unfortunately the male (shown in picture) decided to leave my house today (escaped from a gap in the bathing cage), I am just too tired to trap him back. Already kept all my Putehs, lazy to hang them out again. If I do, I think he will not go too far & comes back. Especially so since there is a female in the house :)
Well, I have always been firm about escaped birds. If they want to leave, by all means (especially when they escaped on their own) they can hehehe!
Unless they are the type that cannot fend for themselves (baby birds & handicapped birds), I am not too bothered.

Anyway, as a consolation, I just got one OWE that has a thunderous voice. I will call him Thor for the moment. Offered to me out of the blue by a trader. Deal is, I have to give him half of the proceed if I sell the bird. I reminded him that I do not sell birds and it could be a long wait for him hehehe!
Will think of something to give him later ;)