Breeding for Beginners - Part 1

Hobbists who become interested in breeding shamas can be expected to have many questions in the course of their attempts at breeding. It helps to learn from the experience of others. I am therefore setting out my correspondence with XXX (he has requested that his identity be kept confidential) on his attempts at breeding the shama since the beginning of this year which has ended in him successfully breeding a number of shama chicks.

There are many emails and I will edit and post them as time permits.

12 Jan 2008
Dear Uncle David,

First of all, I want to thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience in MBF forum. It has been very beneficial to me. I salute the perfect shama you have bred.

I'm about to make a decision to select 1 (or 2) out of the 4 females (A,B,C,D) for my breeding program. Highly appreciate your expert advice and your recommendation.

4 females as below:
A - 1st molt, about 3+ inch tail
B - 2nd molt, about 4+ inch tail
C - Taimong female, 2 inch tail
D - 2nd molt (I guest), wild caught bird (4+ inch)

A and B and C is from Taimong & D is wild bird (1month old)

Which one do you recommend in terms of best features for my breeding program. If I would select 2, which is your 1st & 2nd pick. I'm planning to start my breeding program in 1 month's time.

Appreciate your recommendation. Thanks and looking forward for your reply.

Best Regards,

XXX


14 Jan 2008
Hi XXX,

There are so many factors involved in selecting a female that it is not feasible to comment without seeing the male and the female. These factors include structure, temperament, display etc. For a beginner, the most important thing in selecting the pair is that they must be reasonably tame. This especially applies to the female. If she is nervy, she will not lay or brood the eggs. I would therefore suggest that you choose the tamest female.

Best regards,

David


6 March 2008

Dear Uncle David,

How are you?

I have recently paired my birds, and let both in the aviary 3 days ago.

Male is ready. He has been inspecting the nest-box for the last 2 days
& singing gently to the hen. Occasionally he calls the hen to nest-box but he is not successful.

The hen seems to be not quite ready. Occasionally I notice that they seem to be fighting. There is not much singing but there are displays. The pair do not appear to be interested in nest building but they sometimes inspect the nest material on the floor. So far, both of them are living together without major problem (ie, they are not fighting aggressively).

What do you think? Are they ready to breed and its just a matter of time ( 1-2 weeks?) or should I separate them.

As for nest-box material, I'm using broom fiber. I offer about 50
crickets at one 1 time. The weather is gloomy.

Best Regards,

XXX

7 March 2008

Hi,

All is well. If the pair are not disturbed and they have plenty of live food, they should be starting to build the nest within 1 or 2 weeks. Crickets alone are not enough. They should also have mealworms, frogs and fish. The fish can be small guppies and/or catfish.

David

7th March 2008

Dear Uncle David,

Great, thanks, but both of them prefer cricket than small fish but I have fed plenty of guppies to the hen 3 weeks prior to letting her into aviary. Do you think she has had sufficient calcium?

XXX


19th March 2008


Hi XXX,

As much variety of live food as possible should be fed to the pair. At a minimum, I feed crickets, mealworms, frogs and fish buffet style. Plentiful live food encourages them to breed. Vertebrates are especially important and should be fed when the birds are paired and at least until all the eggs are laid.

If you have further queries, please phone as I would rather talk than
type. My phone number is ######.

Best regards,

David

19th March 2008

Dear Uncle David,

Morning, how are you?

I want to give you some update on the progress last week.

As you predicted, nest building finished last Thursday. According to your forum, if everything goes well, 1st egg will lay 2nd day after nest completion
(not sure did I understand it correctly).

I did not check the nest box (as advised by you, better not disturb the pair) but I noticed that the male frequently sits on the nest for long periods (20/30min) since 2-3 days ago. Does it mean an egg has been laid? However, I hardly notice the hen sitting in the nest box even at night time.

What is the indicator should I look for if egg is laid?

(Sorry for emailing you instead of calling you, I would prefer to get your permission before calling you.) Do you mind if I call you from time to time?

Best regards,

XXX