Mauve- to buy or not to buy?

[McmillanBirds]

Hi everyone
Someone I know sent me a message asking if I was interested in a mauve ringneck. Its their friends bird apparently a 2012 bird, hen and for R1200. Is that a reasonable price and is it worth buying? If I did get it what would be the best thing to pair with it? I asked for photos but they didn't have any but I may be going to view the bird tomorrow. I would like to know whether it is worth my while though so any advice would be great.
Thanks
Carmen

[Johan S]

Carmen, that is a good price for a mauve. Just make absolutely sure that you trust the origin of the bird, as it is very easy to incorrectly identify a grey bird as a mauve if you haven't seen them before. My personal opinion is that they aren't that good to look at, but with a worst case scenario of 100% cobalt offspring, they sure are good breeding birds. If you don't have them, you should own at least one. After that, you should set your sights on violet. At the rate dominant mutations breed, I'll bet they will be affordable in the next 3-5 years. Other than that, make sure you follow the advice given by Molossus and make sure that you are dealing with a healthy, strong bird. Don't worry about availability too much. Between my dad and myself, we bred about 10 this season, and more mauves that cobalts!

[Ring0Neck]

If i lived near Johan i'd buy his Mauve since it can also have DeepBlue in it or perhaps Violet Strain 1? could be a handy bonus.
Would i be right Johan?
I always like to have a twist in the tail in anything.
Ben

[Johan S]

Ben, if you are into that stuff, I'd rather get the cobalt birds or wait until we have successfully 'reversed' the mutations. Unless you like the 'lucky packet' approach.

[willowisp71]

Hi guys and gals,

Can I ask a really novice question, please - what mutation would the parents be to produce mauve offspring? If I ever come across a mauve for sale here in WA, I'd like to know what to look for in it's genetic background etc. Cheers

[Ring0Neck]

You'll need both birds to carry the Dark Gene : ie: dark green, olive, cobalt, mauve
both parents has to be any one of the 4 birds above, and be split blue if olive & dark green birds are used.

[McmillanBirds]

Hi Molossus

I took your advice and have decided to wait- other that that the tel number and address was never sent to me even though I had asked so it makes me a little worried.

I would appreciate some pics from you Johan so I can see the quality of what I am meant to be looking for. I wish you guys would come in pocket size versions so that when I do go to look at birds you were along to tell me yay or nay

I think I should save my money and wait for THE right bird to come a knocking and when my gut instinct says yes.

Thanks for the input from everyone, I do appreciate it

[Johan S]

Hi Carmen, one can never go wrong by being patient and listening to your gut. Ultimately, YOU have to be the one happy with the bird. It becomes much harder to do when you are after mutations where you know you will be lucky if two birds will become available the entire season, but that isn't the case here.

Molossus made very good point. Although you started the discussion on mauves, it is actually in the cobalts that we see the variation better. Variation in mauve is very little, although it IS there. However, if you take two such mauves and put them in different aviaries so that one has to rely on "memory" even the most experienced breeders will have difficulty.

Remember, it's hard to compare birds with one another in pictures. But enough about that. Let's have a look!

Cobalt cock (standard variety found in SA)


Indigo cobalt hen. Notice the 'silvery' shine and how much she differs from her mate above. This is because she is a parblue.


The two together to get a better idea of the difference.


Mauve in turquoiseblue.


Cobalt hen, but combined with something else (deep or violet). This is the 'strange' stuff Ben was referring to. When looking at the tail it still seems rather blue, but the upper body has a slight violet sheen.


Some of her offspring with a normal cobalt cock. Notice now that we can pick a difference in the mauves. But it will be very hard to tell which is which if you don't have them all together.


Another mauve cock not quite fitting the description. Notice the forehead (thanks Madas!).

[McmillanBirds]

I see what you mean. It does become tricky distinguishing between the grey and mauve and how it only becomes more apparent when the 2 are together. I do like the mauve in turquoiseblue though- that caught my eye.
Thank you for the pictures(and madas)

[ellieelectrons]

Sorry to interrupt this thread... but those birds are breathtaking... you obviously take extremely good care of them Johan. How many chicks would you have in a season?

Ellie.

[Johan S]

Carmen, that mauve turquoiseblue cock is probably my best cock (in terms of doing his duties as a cock, not genetically). He is paired to a cobalt turquoiseblue opaline hen. Here is one of their offspring. Notice how the little green this bird has. They become much more green when they get older. If this is a hen (which I suspect it is), then she is going to Pietermartizburg. Small world, hey. I'll try and organise a photo of a grey bird for comparison late this afternoon.


Here is a reference blue and grey bird.


And a mauve hen in the aviary next to the grey in the same light conditions. She is the daughter of the mauve cock that Madas marked with red. Picture is a bit dull/foggy though. Don't know what happened.

Sorry to interrupt this thread... but those birds are breathtaking... you obviously take extremely good care of them Johan. How many chicks would you have in a season?

Ellie.

That's a wonderful compliment, thank you Ellie! These are fairly recent pics taking during the breeding season, you should see them at their peak after their summer moult. Some of the birds are with me, some with my farther. We've had a poor season this year, with about 50-60 chicks between us. Our weather has been very strange. Still, some other breeders did very well.

[Johan S]

Johan, one of the reasons why I maintain that the OZ deep is different from the bird some in SA refer to as deep is that your pic is SINGLE factor . The Oz deep DOUBLE factor is the resemblance of this bird. the Oz deep SINGLE factor is an altered blue not approaching violet. In my opinion this blue is between normal blue and cobalt blue.
Willy and RingO please give us your opinion. Some pics of the deep in single and dbl factor will highlight similarities / differences to Johans SA deep single factor.

In terms of the color ... Johan if you have some cobalt stock to pass my way ... I am a willing taker...lol.

Molossus, I agree with your assessment. Fully! But keep in mind, I have not posted a single picture of a SF deep. That is, 100% for sure, a lighter phenotype than any picture posted. The mystery bird is a combination of SA dark and possibly deep via European imports, i.e. although not a DF in any of the two mutations, it is still TWO structural mutations acting together. And the darker of the mauve offspring is 3x structural "changes". So I still think the idea of cobalt ?deep is possible.

Having said that, it wouldn't be the first time we see the same type of mutation having different levels of expression. We see it in parblues, pied, edged, opaline. All these mutations showing different levels of expressiveness. Actually, we can add misty to that as well.

I know how fussy you are about the quality of your birds, so you will have to come and pick your own cobalts...

[McmillanBirds]

Johan

I can see how little green there is in the bird. I can understand how the green can progress as time goes on. I had bought what I thought was a blue ringneck baby, 6 months down the line it started to develop green splodges on the wings. He is getting slightly more green every year. I am hoping he will develop his neckring after this moult. People dont believe me when I say he is the father to the chicks they have just bought

I have a df grey male and I have youngster from him(not sure on sex), so I am familiar with grey birds. He is really stunning though.

Would you be able to PM/email me a price for a mauve turqblue. Not necessarily for this year, but perhaps next year/season. I have really taken a fancy to it and I atleast know you are a reputable breeder.

Thanks
Carmen