THE WONDERFUL WORLD of MUTATION QUAKERS by Joy Kelly
I am not a gambler at heart, but I have discovered I have two weaknesses, which can be considered a gamble. The first is my fascination with geodes-- those really ugly round rocks that sometimes have beautiful crystals inside. The second is my fascination with breeding mutation quakers.
The pet quality of the quaker parakeet has already been well documented in many publications. This little green and grey bird has charmed it's way into hundreds of people's hearts, and with good reason. The quaker parakeet, also known as the monk's parrot, is a busy, playful little bird that is readily available during the late spring and summer months. These very charming birds have an excellent talking ability, which, combined with their playful and loving natures, makes them a great favorite with their owners.
The quaker is an excellent bird for beginning breeders to invest in, as they are very prolific, and the babies are generally very easy to hand feed. We were not beginners when we obtained our first pair of normal quakers, but we enjoyed the easy success of working with this species.
I first saw a picture of a blue quaker in a Bird Talk magazine several years ago. I had long admired the blue mutation of the indian ringneck, but I had decided for various reasons not to obtain this particular species. When I saw the picture of the blue quaker, I said "I want that!". It was two or three more years before I found out where I could obtain blue quakers, and I was somewhat hesitant because of the price. After talking with a breeder friend of mine that had invested in a visual blue and split/blue pair, I decided to take the plunge and invest in a pair also. My husband said"You're crazy!" However, I had the money, so I put my money down to obtain a position on the waitlist.
I received my young pair in October of 1963. On June 2, 1964, my first blue quaker baby hatched. Three more babies also hatched in the clutch. I became very excited, as all four babies had white down--not yellow. I didn't believe it possible for the first four babies to be all blue, but it was! When I brought those four blue babies in from the nest, my husband became very enthusiastic about breeding mutation quakers! My pair gave me three clutches their first season--eight blue, and three split/blue.
I now had something that everyone wanted! I traded with another breeder in Arizona to obtain a completely new blood line, and started my own waitlist. In three breeding seasons, plus the first clutch of the fourth season, my original pair has produced 37 babies, for a total value of $32,400. That is not a bad return on the original investment of $1,650 for the pair. They are now on their second clutch of their fourth season. Things are looking good!
Since quakers are colony breeders, we arranged six walk-in flights in a 12' x 12' area so that they could have the feeling of being in a colony, but each pair is in their own flight. This way we can be sure who the parents are, and combine the blood lines the way we want to. We converted box stalls into flight areas, as we already had the barn for the horses we used to keep. We put a floor in each stall, and built flight cages, with double wire, so that the birds cannot reach each other through the wire. There is a central isle, and the flights open off of this isle. If a bird escapes during feeding, it is still contained inside the isle. We have a sink and water in each area to make providing clean water easy. There are visual barriers at the back of each flight where we place the nest boxes. Daylight is provided naturally, as the front and back of the barn face east and west, and the top half of the wall is wire. We have storn windows we can lower in the winter, which are made of heavy clear vinyl. During the hot summer months, we have shades on the west side to protect the birds from the hot afternoon sun.
We have found, however, that not all quakers are comfortable in a group setting. We have one pair that had not bred yet, and were going to be three years old. There had been a half-hearted attempt their second year, with one or two eggs laid. They weren't setting, so I pulled and incubated the eggs to see if they were fertile, which they weren't. (If things don't appear to be going right, I give the pair a ceramic egg, and place their egg under cockatiels. Once they are setting well, I replace the ceramic eggs with their real eggs and let them hatch and feed until the oldest chick is 14 days old.)
I noticed during the following winter that they spent most of their time screaming at their neighbors on either side, so we moved them to another set of flights by themselves. The whole quaker flight area became much quieter, which showed me they had been the instigators of the arguments. This pair was the first pair to go to nest the following spring. They are a very good pair. The first year they produced, they gave us 11 babies, 7 splits and 4 blues. Their first clutch of their second producing year, they have produced 4 blues, 1 split. It looks like they are well on their way to making up for the blues they didn't produce the first year.
Since the blue mutation is a simple recessive, there are three different combinations available which will result in visual blue babies, as well as splits. The first is a pairing of two split/blue birds. This is the least expensive way to go, and can have very good results. I sold a pair of splits to a gentleman that called the following years and said they had produced 10 babies--six of which were blue! That was a better percentage than I had gotten with my blue and split pairs the same year. However, I believe the law of averages normally dictates that with a pair of splits, out of 100 birds produced, the normal percentage of blue babies is approximately 25%. There will be 50% splits, and 25% normal quakers. The only disadvantage to this setup is there is no way to determine who is split and who is normal without test breeding. Many people are choosing this option, however, as they are able to get into the blues at a much lower cost than the other two options.
The second option, which is generally considered to be the preferred option, is the pairing of a visual blue with a split/blue. This combination gives the odds of 50% blue babies and 50% split/blue babies. This is the option I chose until I could get some totally unrelated blue blood added to my flock. It makes no difference which sex is the blue and which is the split, as this is not a sex related mutation.
The third option is the pairing of two blue birds. This results in 100% blue birds, but the breeder needs to be very selective in this instance. The mutation is new enough that the gene pool is not that large. There are at least 4 different blood lines that I have found here in the states, and possibly a few more, but that is a very small gene pool. Fortunately, the recent pioneers were conscientious, and outcrossed to good strong normal blood to build up the stamina and vigor of their flocks.
The blue mutation tends to be generally smaller than the normal greens, which is one reason it is a good idea to outcross to normals occasionally. This is also the reason that the blue and split combination is the preferred pairing, as it is a good idea to keep some of that vigorous green blood in the birds. However, if a breeder has been able to obtain unrelated stock, and has a couple of large, vigorous blues to pair up it should be okay. Be selective, however, when doing this so that the birds will remain healthy and strong and make prolific breeders.
I hope I have encouraged you to take the step of moving into mutation quakers. There are some very exciting mutations becoming available here in the states. I hope to be moving into cinnamon blues this year, and before very long into lutinos. The price of these mutations is very high at this time, but my husband did not blink an eye when I told him I had sent in my order for a $15,000 pair of recessive lutinos, consisting of one visual and one split bird. Though investing in these birds can still be considered a gamble, he no longer considers me to be crazy!
