Curve

My shama breeding last year was the best ever.  Many chicks were bred from the few pairs that I had carefully selected. The results have been gratifying as the overall quality of their chicks has been extremely high and met expectations.

I breed shamas only as a hobby and since I do not need to produce shamas for financial reasons, my aim is always to produce quality and not quantity.  My birds are never randomly paired merely because they are capable of reproducing. Instead, they are selected for breeding because they have proven their worth as breeders of quality offspring or because they have the potential to advance the quality of song, structure, display, character and courage of their offspring.

The full extent of the quality of my chicks from last year will only be known over the next 6 months as this is the time required for the many chicks that were hatched late last year to complete their development and molt.

Of the few young males that have molted, my favourite is Ballet Dancer's son, Curve.  He is not yet 7 months of age but his structure, song and display are already eye-catching.  He reminds me of Long Bow, a favourite of mine some years ago who has passed away.

I posted Curve's photo on this blog on 31 December. Since then, his primary tails have lengthened significantly and I am not sure if they have stopped growing. I will wait another 1 or 2 weeks before I start his training.

Below are photos of Curve as of yesterday.

Crop of above photo: