Is it just me or are my browns and goldens more calm than the others?

[rachel]

It seems like when I go by the quail cages the A&Ms, tuxedos etc freak out, while the pen with the goldens and the browns stays relatively calm. Am I just imagining things here?

Have any of you been successful with crossing jumbos with other strains (a&m for example) to get larger birds? I was thinking about trying that, but I think I'd rather try and breed for heat tolerance.

 

[Bettacreek]

I can't be completely sure, but I do believe that Niki did say something about the "ornamental" colors being more skittish than the browns and goldens.

I have an A&M roo over jumbo brown hens. They're hatching out as tuxes, and, to be honest, they don't seem to be nearly as hardy as the regular jumbo browns. I noticed that with the regular A&M's that I hatched, I had like 7 of them, and now only have three. The "true" A&M is tiny, the two with brown feathers are only slightly smaller than the jumbo browns that were hatched with them.

 

[ugly ducky]

I have to agree. I have Jumbo Browns and A & M's, and the Browns are downright friendly and very calm, whereas the A&M's are flighty, and hard to catch. The browns, I have to practically scrape off my hand when I get in their cage, and there is no catching...just pick them up. The A&M's are constantly bonking their heads, and the Browns never do.

 

[monarc23]

Here is my oppinon on this matter....and it may be wrong but bare with me.


I believe that the smaller birds (which most of the ornamental colors as betta called them hehe) take after their wild ancestors more (the pharoah) and in doing so are more skiddish. I say this because I noticed that if the bird is bred to be bigger (i dont have any jumbo size YET but they are getting close) that the bigger they get the more casual they get. I have my FIRST ever pen of tibetans (i call them red tibetans they are very dark but when hatched they have a red down over a tibetan pattern) will eat right out of my hand and call for me just like the jumbos do.

My tuxedos are all normal size, so all of them are still a bit skiddish.. however some of my more nicely marked tuxedos are actually pick-up-able.

Also, betta, brown doesn't normally produce tuxedo when bred to an A & M, that means your brown carries A & M, and your A & M carries tibetan (or vise versa). They have to carry both genes to produce the tux pattern.

I had had golden over tuxedo and wasn't having any sucessful hatches until my buddy Mark hatched out one of their eggs sucessfully it's a tuxedo (not a nicely marked one but atlesat it's chest is white) this means that my golden boy carries A & M.

You can cross A & M with any color, and then that bird if bred to a tuxedo or a tibetan CAN give you tuxedo.

A & M is a crutial bird to keep around if you're wanting the tux gene.

However like say you have a golden (like in my case) that is carrying A & M, when bred to a tibetan or a tux, it is NOT going to produce a Golden tuxedo... to produce a golden tuxedo takes a whole laundry list of breedings to produce, and it's not perfected yet in those that are producing it.

This was totally off the topic but sounded kinda appropriate here lol!

For tamer *other colors* you'll want to breed for bigger birds, and also incorporate jumbo brown or jumbo golden or jumbo A & M into the mix. IF you have big A & Ms those would be PERFECCT to breed into theo other colors as it's recessive... so say you breed it to tibtan, you'll get tuxedos, and tibetans... and over selective generations you can produce a bigger tux, with a calmer disposition... IF you are lucky enough to actually have the true sized A & Ms. Even my A & Ms arent the true size.. they are around 6-8 oz nothing worthy of what the Texas Uni was producing t hem for which is sad....but here, th ey are only here for genetic use not anything else. I have an A & M roo in with my browns now, also in with my reds (which is a tibetan with a red shade), and in with my tuxedos. I was told by a very valuable breeder that A & Ms will keep any color around you're needing tokeep around...

IF you're breeding for color.

 

[rachel]

Thanks Monarc, that was really informative. So do you think that the jumbos have just been non-wild birds for so many generations that they just aren't that skittish anymore?
I'm glad other people have noticed it too.
I get frustrated with how flighty they are. I'm afraid they're so scared of me opening the cage to feed them every morning that they won't begin laying on time. I think I'll keep a few of the fancy colors around to mix with my jumbos but I don't think I'll intentionally breed them as they are.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
That's basically my plans, to breed away from the skiddishness. Just need some dedicated breeders to do it along with breeding for colors and we'll get what we're working on. THeir generations go so fast it shouldn't take too too long.

As for my theory on that...I don't know if it's so much that they were bred away from it longer than the "wilds" but I just think that possibly it's just an instinct that the smallers carry that the biggies don't

I guess basically it's like how really big dogs are lumbering (for the most part) and toy breeds are normally all over the place

 

[AK_Button_Mama]

I have noticed the tibetians and goldens in my barn are psycho.. they pace the back side of the cage and stay outta the light so I cant see them... I open the cage and they flush..... My A&Ms and my pharohs dont do this...they come to the edge of the cage and visit with me when I open the door to feed them.... the worst thing they do is they hop out into the feed bucket every day! I think that allot of thier temperment has to do with how often they are handled when babies.....but that is just my oppinion!