2 Turqs fledged

Two of the turq chicks left the box today; the normal (hen I think) and the opaline normal which maybe a cock.  Unfortunately both the sexes have under-wing bars when opaline is present.  Also the red wing shoulder patch can show up on hens and not always on cocks.
The opaline already has a full red front and although it has smashed it's head flying into the mesh, that's not blood but red feathers on its forehead.

Update on bourkes: The two fertile eggs from Pinky and Perky were dead in shell.  Also, Rosie never even started sitting on her eggs.  That's it now, they'll have to wait till next year. Once the turqs all leave the nest I'll be removing the nest boxes for winter

25 days old

Both yellows are opaline.  The one on the left is brighter and does not have the usual shade of green, I suspect it may be a cinnamon yellow opaline.

A box full of colours

It looks like Neversink was right..I have opaline chicks, but I also have a cinnamon.

Top left - cinnamon
Top right -opaline yellow (golden yellow)
Mid right -normal
Bot left - opaline
Bot right - yellow (may also be opaline)
All should be red-fronted and I now know Rudolph is split for yellow, opaline and cinnamon...brilliant! Other combinations are also possible, I'll have to work them all out.

Opaline reduces the distribution of melanins (dark pigments) and increases the distribution of psittacins (yellows and reds).

Black - feather full of melanin, no psittacin and no structural effects
Blue - melanin in feather modified by structure, no psittacin
Yellow - yellow psittacin in feather, no melanin
Green - melanin in feather modified by structure (i.e. blue) combined with psittacin (i.e. yellow)
Red - red psittacin in feather, no melanin
White - no melanin or psittacin

In the turquosine parakeet patches of green are turned to yellow, giving a pied appearance.  The red shoulder patch is changed and can appear on both cocks and hens, sometimes it can be missing on the cock.

Turqs that have red fronts are effectively having the normally coloured yellow feathers turned red, so when added with opaline the red can appear in patches all over. Opaline added to yellow gives the so called golden yellow. Also hens can have full red fronts like the cocks.  Opaline can produce some crazy and amazing coloured birds.  It is a sex linked mutation and therefore must show in the plumage of hens but can be carried (split) in cocks.

As Rudolph and Goldie have very dense red colouring, I'm expecting a lot of red on these chicks.

Cinnamon is also a sex-linked mutation that reduces melanin to a degree turning all black pigment to brown.  As Goldie does not have the cinnamon mutation, the chick must be a hen according to the rules of sex-linked inheritance (see my website).

 
I was going to keep the red fronted normal cock from the first round, but now I may change my mind....wish I had more space!

16 days old

Tuquoisines - 4 normals and 2 yellows....the one on the right has quite a bit of red (looks good!).

Bourkes - Pinky and Perky have 2 fertile eggs out of the five (better than none!).   Not sure what's happening with Rosies eggs, she has 5 but she's not sitting.

12 days old

5 Turq chicks

The chicks are different sizes, hopefully the little one will catch up.

Its all going on!

The days are getting shorter, weather's not great and it'll soon be the start of frosty nights....yet all my birds are breeding.  I suppose it is coming up to their natural breeding season in Australia.
Rudolph and Goldie have a full clutch of 5 chicks.
Rocky and Rosie have 3 fledged chicks and Rosie's started laying again.
And it looks like Pinky may have finally sowed his oats - at least partially.  Perky is sitting on 5 eggs and two look fertile!
Normally I would never consider letting my birds breed this late, but then I thought why not if they are willing, provided I stick to the rule of only allowing them to raise two clutches of chicks per year.  Provided they get the eggs laid before it gets to cold they should be OK, also I have lights in the aviary that come on in the morning to extend the day.  I find that there is no point having them on in the evenings as the birds roost at dusk anyway.

Full clutch

I think all 5 eggs have hatched.  If so and they all survive it'll be the first full clutch I've had in a long time.

4 Chicks??

Turqs have chicks again

Rudolph and Goldie have 3 chicks and the other two eggs look good!

Newly fledged bourkes photos