Advance notice for Shama Taimong coming up for sale.

For year 2013 I intend to let go a number of chicks only keeping the minimum for myself.

I breed Shama for two reasons, one is to pass down the line of my favorite birds just in case anything bad happen. Second is of course being greedy hoping to get something even better than what I already have!

So right now most of the chicks is still under seven weeks old therefore I can't really tell much about tail length, structure and character. My intention here is to put up early notice so that keen Shama friends can start planning if they intend to add another Shama to their collections. They should be ready in two-three weeks.

I believe most friends who know my birds won't be too concern about the structure, character and songs, can't be too bad lah !!! Haha...! Anyway I guess what matters most is the potential tail length before you guys consider the rest of the credentials right?!

Ok, first of all I would like to briefly share how do I judge or guess the potential tail length from an captive bred long genes Shama taimong. Here I am going to use a very conservative approach to gauge tail length. For example: if I were to look at a Captive bred taimong and his tail has stop at 5" I will say most probably his first molt tail will be between 9"-10" conservatively 9" I would say. Therefore by second molt possibly 9.7" and third molt will be around 10.5". (Calculation guide= taimong tail -0.5" x 2 = est first molt tail length) whereas if the taimong first molt exceed 10" the subsequent increment will be around 1" to 1.5" depending on individual bird.

Like I said conservative approach and calculation. Quite often I see birds that grow tail longer than what I estimated. But of course you do have some below but very little. Special case if the bird landed in the inexperience owner who don't really know how to take care, the shortage can be as much as 3" ! I ever see before 14" after molt left 11" only.

Long genes Shama is some how different compared to the normal tail Shama, they need much more goodies during molt unlike normal tail type which can molt nicely even purely on dry pellets. So if you want to keep the graceful long long tail Shama you got to deal with longer bills too!

Taimong price will be between Sgd 4000 - 6000.



I understand that some might be worried what if the 1st molt tail length is way too short? I have yet to come across my taimong any shorter than 9" and I will be providing replacement should the taimong tail molted nicely but way below expectations(2" or more).


Keen parties please kindly leave a message here or you may also call me at 93827850 no SMS please...

Thanks for reading!

Alan Pang

Incubating and Handfeeding

For those who is facing egg throwing or chick killing issue.

As Breeder we often have precious eggs or chicks wasted due to unstable pairs. The more precious it is the more it haapen right???

Now to cut my story short i will go straight to the point. Please bare in mind that different country might it some adjustment, i am sharing what i do in Singapore which is more humid.

Incubation.

Incubating period 10-12 days.
Tempreture best at 37.4 celcius.
Humidity 80-90% all the way.
Turn the egg 5 times per day for appox 8 days, do not turn 2-3 days before hatch.
(if you can't remember date, just stop turning when it is total darkness inside when candled)

Troubleshoot.

Due to Temp or Humidity or for some reason you have chick crack through but did not emerge and died in shell?

Normal case once they crack the shell they should be out within 4 hours in my case. Although some might take a longer time you really won't know if they are the special ones who will still emerge without help.

What i normally do is:

I will observe the progress up till six hours at max.
Should you see healthy progress ( crack line extend) leave it.
But if it is still that tiny hole without further extending the crack line since four hours ago, i will then asisst to crack along and slightly above the air sac membrane.
so that i still can keep the chick alive inside the membrane just incase misjudgement.

Speculation of Breeders breeding with my female.

Hi to Everyone,

Yesterday i was told that someone "bought" a Shama Taimong at value of  S$1.2k
The breeder claimed that his male is 13" and female is from me. He also claimed that he and me is very close... selling his female bird at S$5k for 5" bird if i am not wrong.

I want to make it clear that there is only three very close friend of mine have my Long genes bloodline female(those that capable of producing 13" bird) and two others with first generation long genes females. Before that i did clear some normal tail wild bloodline to a breeder. Those are the birds i first tried breeding in my first year.

I do not or have not sell any of my thorough bred long genes to anyone yet. Maybe i will not after this issue arise...

If anyone come across such claim please feel free to clarify with me (alanpang75@yahoo.com.sg)before commiting to any deals. I hope no more innocents buyer get themself into something like that from now on.

Regards!
Alan Pang

What i am looking for in Shama breeding program

This is Howitzer.
He is born in early 2012,  he has a brother "Gunner" and a Sister. They are the only three bird from one of my breeding pair...since about three months old i know i got myself something good as to how good i can't be sure at that time. Now i know they are indeed pretty good!

In to the main topic, both Howitzer and Gunner has or comes near to the first crucial requirement of what i am looking for in Shama. The Character.

Character is very important when it comes to birds like Shama, Magpie, China thrush etc...
Only with strong character, the rest of the requirements will then fall into place.

For example Singing,
Many of us will know the birds sing much lesser or don't sing when there is no form. Some birds with with softer character won't put in their best effort to sing even when their form is there.  Whereas birds with strong character gain their form faster after moult and they will sing the whole day even more aggressive singing if being challenged by another bird.

Display,
With that kind of character in them, ofcourse they will be swift, bright and active. the highly driven testosterone bird will want to win the battle by displaying more action.

Structure,
Although structure depends on genes but even if the bird's structure is not tip top with their activeness their muscle will all be tone up. It make the bird look slim and fit and coupled with the action of display, proud pose and behaviour it will cover most of his flaws..

So to me the Character should be the main important factor when it comes to choice of breeding stud. In years to come i hope i improve my bird quality a little bit each year starting from Howitzer and Gunner! hee hee....!

Breeding Trouble shooting

Year 2012 is pretty great for me in some ways.

The good part is that i got a few outstanding new fellow added to my Shama platoon.
Great display, Character fierce, structure, some has nice curvey tail and mostly 10 -11" for 1st molt too!

The bad is..... some others has either stress marks or tail jammed thre quater way through molt or refused to molt! Not good to have too many singing adult at home ya!

My new breeding season just started, the 1st egg of this new season has been thrown out by the female. The pair i put them in a room without other birds and yet due to the disturbance from other room it still happens. Today i manage to stop her from throwing and remove the egg for incubation early in the morning. It is the second egg so i expect there will be two or three more to go...

Addition to that i would like to highlight how to prevent Psychology side effect to the breeding pair should there is a need to remove eggs DUE to throwing.

If possible one should not disturb the birds but Captive breeding some time it is not as easy. Not that Captive breeding cause the egg throwing, just that in the wild they throw eggs or abandon nest we don't see thats all...

For me, until i see that pair throw eggs or kill chicks then i will interfere with minimun Psychology side effect to the pair. What i do is i will set up Cam and observe in another room ( not squating next to their avairy). Once i see the female emerge from the nest, i will walk (do not rush in as our body language might send fear signal to them) into the room with insects which they like most and lure the pair into another cage therefore i am able to bring the pair into another empty room(without other birds) to prevent them watching while i retrieve the egg while they enjoy their goodies! Hopefully without seeing me "snatching" away their eggs they might stop this instinct"bad habit" on the next clutch.

If anyone remove nest or eggs right infront of the pair i am afraid the Psychology damage will be a permanent one.

White Rumped Shama pairing brief write up

Firstly, the video is shaky and i know that... haha! And that is due to hasty deployment for camera man! But it is still my effort to video and share with people who is keen to find out how it is while Shama pair up so please don't be fussy ya!~ : P

Next, all my close friends know that i am a very lazy and lousy writer. I seriously do not know how to write in proper manner as my lines will be jumping up to down left to right! So figure it out yourself ya! Well, at least i try to use full and proper letters than "SMS" lingo :p

My way of pairing: (I wouldn't say the right way but it work for me)

- choose the right pair. This is up to the owner which they think the best to pair up or at least choose birds that is already singing out loud everyday. ( that is a tell tale sign that they are ready especially the female)

- Male into House/avairy for two days or so.. remove him after that. Reason is for him to "know" the place. ( i find it helpful if my birds already Know their house so that they know exactly where to perch once they go in rather than being disorientated which will frigthen the female.

- followed by female till the day i introduce the male to her in about a week time. Meanwhile condition her up a little more just in case.

- once you notice female is use to the "house" you may place the Male beside the her and you read their body language. ( you will see the male pose the best he can which you seldom see normally, followed by very soft songs any some dashing around the cage with "snake head" pose immediately after that)

- Female tend to have milder reaction towards male ( in my case) Unless mature female otherwise most of them will be very weary of the male's intention. If i feel that the female might freak out if i were to introduce the male at that time. I will NOT let the male in to the house on that day. I will repeat the the facing thingy a few more time till i see the female respond confidently. (she will tek tek and stand up right as you see in my video)Then i let the male bird in.... but ofcourse do it on a day that you have time observe ya! There is one thing i must highlight, should you see the female squad down flap wings that means the female is either super ready or over ready ( she might build nest and lay egg within a time so short that the male has yet to mate her)

- next thing you might see is what happen in my video. That is courtship, i admit my young GUN a bit too on the ball as i can see he try to mate her on their "first date" ! Hmmmm.... i wonder where he learn that from....

- when you see that the pair doing the the fighter jet dog fight action don't panic yet. Observe their body language. As you can see the female in the video is flirting ( playing hard to get) rather than running for her life! she is also not panting heavily as compared to if she is trying to escape ( they tend to hyper ventilate if their are freak out) that can also serve as your secondary tale sign. Thirdly, she often loss grip/loss balance/disorientated if it is unfriendly chase because she has no chance to plan where she want to fly to and where she is landing or at times you see the female cling on to the side netting but body dangling downwards. I believe that is a very clear sign the female drain out!

- As for the male, if it is a courtship he normally will stop the chase within a short time and he will perch again with a nice pose but this time round with mouth wide open panting! haha..! Another thing to take note is that for courtship the male seldom pin the female down. He will normally "dance around the female unlike the "attack" type. The attack type you will see every move he try to pin her down on the floor PLUS you can actually hear his beak snap at her which ever chance he gets near her even in mid air. Once pinned down, you will hear the cry from the female and the male actually attack her on the head. You see that happen no need to think or hesitate, get either one out of there! I will always grab the male and leave the female in the house so that she won't be traumatise by the male and by my hand again.

This is what i can offer for now. I hope it is helpful but not confusing to any of you ya !

Happy Pairing!

White Rumped Shama "Gunner"

Gunner always seems very quiet from taimong... he has a older brother that is very naughty. He is only going to finish his molt soon maybe in a months time. But my curiousity make me go against whats right to do, which is to bring him out from Ladong to chai.... All of us know that it is best to leave the molting bird alone till they finish molt. Well, i am really just too bored and curious to know what kind of bird he will turn out to be.. walah! He surprise me quiet a bit...! haha! He is not frighten at all and started singing the minute i put him on the floor...

Actually i prefer Shama that has more display while singing. Some prefer birds to have slightly lesser display so that they can last longer for competitions. I am more for own enjoyment kind of bird keeper, i also seldom go for competition as i am too lazy to bring my birds out. So, a burst of display and great songs from my birds is good enough for me ! : p

Gunner, being such a young bird he is not afraid changes in surrounding. Strong Character is shown very clearly for his very first Chai session with matured birds. Display is good for such young age and bare in mind he has yet to finish his 1st molt. As for the vocal, i just love it! So soothing to my ears : )

I believe he still has another 1-2 inch of tail to grow, if that happens, to me i found the type of bird i am looking for for now. And i know there is much more from him as he grow up with more challenging skill!

Thanks for reading guys!