Monday, April 21, 2014

Shamas for sale - Taimong tail length

I have inbred my shamas for so many years that I know, from past experience that I am not likely to get male shamas with tails below 10" after the first molt even if their taimong tails are very short.  I would classify taimong tails of my shamas as very short if they are 5" or less, measured tip to tip.

At the other end, my taimongs with tail length exceeding 6" have invariably had first molt tails of 11.5 to 13.5".

I am often surprised at the length of the first molt tails from taimongs with short tails.  The tails have almost invariably exceeded 10" after the first molt.  Of course, this does not mean that I will be able to predict with certainty the length of the first molt tails. Sometimes, taimongs with tails exceeding 5" have also had first molt tails of about 10".

To a large extent, buying a taimong is a gamble as to how it will turn out.  Its just like buying a puppy.  The breeder grades the puppy according to its parentage and his early assessment of its conformation, temperament etc but even the experienced breeder can make mistakes.

Below are 2 shamas that had taimong tails of 5".

JL54
This is a photo of Apache's grandson, JL54, with Flame's daughter. He was bred by Jeffrey out of Funkie. Flame's daughter was bred by me and she is now owned by Jeffrey.





JL54 had taimong tails of only 5".  His brother, JL57 had longer taimong tails of 5.5" but, after the first molt, JL54's tails were 11.5" and JL57's tails were about 10".

Jl 54 had a small problem with feather mites which Jeffrey has treated.  Feather mites affect not only the beauty of the tails but if they are present during the molt, may also affect the length. I expect that he will look really wonderful after his next molt under Jeffrey's care.

Boy Wonder
Another of my captive-bred shamas that had 5" taimong tails is Boy Wonder.  He is a direct son of Ballet Dancer. He was hatched on 21 October 2013 and he is 6 months old today. The photo below was taken over the weekend and shows him towards the end of his first molt. I estimate his tails to be now about 10" but I think that they are still be growing and I hope they will reach or exceed 11".

Boy Wonder is turning out fabulously. He is above medium size, with a good conformation and strong temperament.  He tends to hold out his wings a little just like Falcon, a characteristic that I would like in all my shamas.  I will only be able to confirm this after he has been transferred to a cage and he comes into good form. He will likely be added to my stud birds in due course, probably after the 2nd molt.


Shama videos

Over the weekend, I recorded some videos of shamas.  The video below is of Darren Yeo's Chilli with a 7" female in the breeding aviary.



The video below is of Sunny Lim's top competition grade shama.  It has a wonderful variety of songs and the strong character necessary to compete.




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