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Amber's Fancy Feathers Aviary, Minneola, KS (2024)

12/22/2023

An update on emus...I will not have chicks or eggs available this year due to mob dispersal. I'm not sure if I'll try again in the future or not.

And an update on birds I still have left from this year to get rid of... please message here or at my personal profile Amber Hardesty Harder for details. Shipping is available if needed.

2 pairs adult Mountain quail
1 adult Mountain quail hen
3 unsexed Mountain quail juveniles

1 pair of Opal BS peafowl
1 extra Opal BS hen

1 pair Midnight BS peafowl
1 extra Midnight BS hen
(Hens are both split to Midnight)

1 Violetta peafowl hen

1 Peach golden pheasant male

3 Mearns quail males

10/01/2023

I have not updated through most of the summer, I apologize for that, there has been a lot going on and I haven't had a much time as usual to focus on birds.
That being said, right not at the end of season all I really have left are:

- Mearns quail MALES
- Black swan yearlings
- Gambels quail PAIRS (and 1 trio)
- India blue, Black shoulder and dark pied peachicks

Upcoming:
- Grey barred bobwhite
- Mountain quail
- Emu hatching eggs

I live over by Dodge City, very occasional travel to Wichita and Salina but shipping is available. If you are in the Wichita area they can get there overnight with Priority at half the usual cost.
MESSAGE ME here or at my personal page Amber Hardesty Harder for details, I don't watch this page much.

05/27/2023

Three of my little emus went to this zoo this year and now they've made the papers!

05/25/2023

My new babies!
2 pairs of young Australian black swans.
Taking suggestions on names :)

05/04/2023

I already knew better than this but there's nothing like learning your lesson firsthand to reinforce it. My hand raised Spalding peacock (formerly my favorite) attacked me today and scratched my face.

For those who didn't know, it is NOT a good idea to try to tame or hand raise a male peafowl...when their hormones are up they will have no fear of you and consider you competition instead of a friend.

Peacock... it's what's for dinner! 🤣

04/10/2023

I'm in love with my new additions!
Mearns/ Montezuma quail

These will not be available this year but maybe next year.

03/28/2023

Very irritated this morning. I believe one of my cats got underneath my barred quail cage last night and managed to kill a male and wound a hen.

This is MY fault, the cat is a young one just learning to hunt and I did not account for the sizable gap between the tray and the wire. The older cats ignore my birds and I got complacent.

Today will be spent transferring all of them to a larger ground colony pen, which they likely enjoy more than wire anyways.

03/10/2023

Making progress!

03/09/2023

WAIT LIST
I am old fashioned and write things on paper instead of making spreadsheets like I should. My notebook of info for those on my waitlists is missing. I'll be trying to go back through my texts, messages and emails but between the 3 of those I have over a 2000 messages and it will be confusing and time consuming because there's no good way to filter FB messages. Please get in touch with what you are looking for so I can try to verify you. Email would actually be best, they are easiest to filter and sort.

[email protected]

02/24/2023

Looks like it will be a busy weekend, happy Friday everyone!

02/17/2023

I've got something to say about incubating. You should really NEVER just trust the readings on your incubator, even if it's brand new, even if it was perfectly accurate last year or the last time you used it. Even the best incubators can lose calibration over time.

My Brinsea incubator on the right in the photos was over $2000 and brand new out of the box it was inaccurate. (All of my GQFs are off at least a little bit as well) Many of the eggs I incubate are rare or expensive and I can't afford to lose many or all of them because of a mistake like thinking I can do without extra, ACCURATE thermometers working backup for me. I'm lucky that my husband has a multimeter for his work that is sent in 2x a year for professional calibration... every few months I'll have him bring it home so I can test my readings.

A wise person will buy a good extra thermometer/ hygrometer (or several, I use Govees), CALIBRATE them with a reliable mercury laboratory thermometer or a multimeter and keep them in the incubator at all times to verify your readings. And every 6 months or so, calibrate then again. It also doesn't hurt to move them around in the incubator to check for hot/cold spots. You can google how to calibrate using different methods.

Keep in mind that incubators can run different depending how full they are and do work best at full capacity.

Asking on a FB group what temp and humidity you should set your machine at...what you need to keep in mind is most of the people offering advice probably don't live in your area.

The temp and humidity where you live are going to affect your results.
Elevation can affect it too. So does where you place the incubator in your house. So does your air conditioning. And your central heat. And drafts. And windows. And how close you place the incubator to the floor or walls.

It is not always just a simple thing to figure out the optimal conditions for YOU to be able to successfully hatch eggs. Different eggs require different settings as well.

Not everyone can dry hatch. I can't, the ambient humidity in my house just isn't right for it.

Asking questions doesn't hurt but he very best thing you can do is research and experiment to find what works best for you.

02/04/2023

Looks like today is the day! I set 2 eggs in this batch because they looked like they might be cracked so I couldn't sell them. One was cracked and I had to toss it but this little fella was apparently good to go. Happy hatch day!

01/21/2023

Someone wanted really bad to make friends 😆

12/06/2022

LONG POST, BUT GOOD FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN EGGS

Of all the birds I hatch throughout the year I would have to say that emu are my hands down favorite to hatch!

That being said, due to a lot going on in my life right now I won't be hatching as many as I usually do this season, mostly just for orders a bit later on in the season. Sooo... that means this is your chance to get eggs and check out the excitement for yourself 🤩 Even if you aren't up to actually raising the chicks to adult, there are many people who hatch for the experience of it and then sell the chicks afterwards.

Keep reading and I'll go over a few interesting, helpful things you may or may not know about breeding and hatching emu. They are based on my experiences and what works for me so it may or may not be a bit different from what you've read or experienced.

As I mentioned in the little video clip, they don't require a hands-off lockdown period such as poultry do. In fact very little about emu (which are considered Ratites and not poultry for those who don't know) hatching is similar to the everyday hatching experience. Even the breeding is different... the breeding season is in winter (in the USA, where I am) and the females choose and fight over the males, so it is wiser to have an equal female/ male ratio than to try the traditional 1 male, 2 or more females grouping of domestic poultry, which would often lead to extra stress from females fighting or even death. An even better scenario is to have EXTRA males for the ladies to choose from.

The males are the caretakers in nature. They brood the eggs and care for the chicks. There may be exceptions out there but in general the females do not do either and can even kill chicks if not separated. Totally against what we USUALLY see in animal behavior!

Moving on to if you are interested in getting some eggs to try hatching... my eggs come from 6 different bloodlines so I try my best to get you unrelated eggs for hatching. It also helps against leg defects developing due to overbreeding of siblings. Too many people are out there doing that already.

I live in SW Kansas and do a bit of travel within the state (not much though) so if pickup or meeting is not possible I am also an experienced shipper. Eggs will be individually wrapped and packed in styrofoam medical coolers to help stabilize and protect them from extreme temperature and postal handling. Unless you choose otherwise I request a Hold for Pickup at your local post office so they won't go for an unnecessary ride with your postal carrier and possibly be left out in the elements on your porch, etc.

When you receive your eggs keep in mind they do best when incubated on their side, NOT upright. They will need to settle for at least a day or 2 and come to a stable room temperature. Please keep in mind that emu only lay every 2-3 days on average and it can take 3-4 weeks to build a full clutch before they sit so they won't be 'too old' for viability if you let them settle as they should, no need to rush. Speaking of viability, I wouldn't send eggs that I wouldn't put in my own incubator and they will be no older than 14 days at most. There is never a guarantee of fertilization with ANY egg but successful breeding activity WILL be observed for a period of time before eggs are offered as available.

Make certain your incubator is in good, stable working condition BEFORE your eggs arrive. Also that it will be large enough for your egg(s), they are very large compared even to goose eggs and require an absolute ton of circulating air for oxygen exchange to develop properly. Not to mention there is an LOT of chick crammed into each egg and once they start hatching they will need room. Get your incubator running steady between 96.5 to 97.5° F and humidity at 20-30%. Yes, this is lower than typical eggs, keep in mind that they are not poultry or gamebirds. Too much heat or humidity is bad for these eggs, they will develop too fast and too large, then be unable to manuever to break out at hatch time. It is horrible to see a fully developed emu chick dead in the shell after waiting 50-65 days to meet them. A strong reminder...DO NOT just trust the gauges on your incubator to be correct, always have separate, calibrated thermometer/ hygrometer available to double check your readings. Even if the machine was accurate last year, they can always slip a bit as time goes on. It's a lot of time and money wasted if you blindly trust and then find out its off, no one wants that kind of disappointment!

Emu eggs can not be candled conventionally, the shell is very dark and thick and there are several layers to it. Some people try to track possible development via weighing the egg, I myself just watch and wait so if you're interested in that you are welcome to look it up online. The eggs take an average of 48-65 days (depending on your settings) and they will need turned in some manner as often as possible. Recommended is 180° degrees from one side then back to the other side next time for an ODD (5+ if possible) number of times daily, they are large eggs and need a good amount of movement to stir up the nutrients inside for the developing chick.

At around 35 days you can start checking for movement in the egg by placing on a flat surface and talking to or whistling. It may take longer to notice movement and some chicks don't move as much as others, don't be discouraged. A few days before hatch you may start to hear the egg whistling back at you 🤩. This means you can stop turning (and some breeders don't stop until the egg cracks so don't sweat it) and get ready for hatch. Do NOT increase humidity. It can take a few days after that for actual hatch, just keep checking that the chick doesn't sound like it's weakening and all should be well. I'll make a post about making an air hole if necessary later on.

You can handle the eggs daily for small periods after 35 days. It does help to let in fresh air when you open the incubator, once again these guys need a LOT of oxygen exchange.

I'll post about things I may have forgotten or not covered yet later on... the mind and fingers and are tired right now and there's birds to be looked after (as always lol) please feel free to message with questions or interest and keep an eye out for further posts!

11/26/2022

I have not been very good at updating recently but did want everyone to see my new lovelies, I've been waiting a few years for these and finally added this fall...hoping to have some available in 2023.... grey barred bobwhite quail!

11/26/2022

It's that time of year again!
Eggs and chicks (standard color only this year) will be available soon. Please message for info.

09/20/2022

Finally! The auction is back... these are some of the types of birds I'll be bringing (mostly young ones but should be a few adults). For those of you who like chickens, turkeys, geese, etc there always seems to be plenty of those there as well.

09/04/2022

Moving birds around today... I'm not sure everyone was too happy with their new neighbors!

You can hear some of pheasants in the background making sure to get their 2 cents in 😆

09/04/2022

Another morning of activity... this fine young fellow and 8 or so of his cohorts managed to get out through a hole that they dug out along the fence (seriously guys... digging birds?) and I had to track them (minus dogs or gun) down like a bounty hunter.

Luckily they are young, have always been fenced in and were basically just wanting back with the others so they stayed along the sides of the pens. A few did flew off out into the weeds but I think they just worked their way back so that by the time I caught the others they were ready for their turn. Still a pain in the *ss, thanks guys!

I took the opportunity for a few close ups of the lovely color he's getting in. He didn't really appreciate the photo session if you can tell by the stink-eye pic. He kept hissing at me too.

09/02/2022

A very FUN start to the day...DNA blood testing on the high % spalding peafowl! Here's a rundown of how it goes:

- Let 'helpers' (2 tame peachicks that follow me around everywhere) out to oversee things...
- Collect supplies and paperwork...
- Sanitize clippers...
- Resanitize clippers after helpers knock them off table while investigating...
- Go in the pen of 27 peafowl and make lots of friends (this is heavy sarcasm) trying to net the exact bird to be tested, while dodging all the other peas that are flying at my head and landing on my back with claws out like it's a freaking launch pad.
- Remove caught bird from net, get wing flapped across face a time or 3 for good measure.
- Stand up with bird, get crapped on.
- Take bird to testing station, find that helper has helpfully tried to Sanitize the paperwork by knocking over a bottle of alcohol on it.
- Put bird in holding cage while running in to run off more copies of paperwork.
- Come back to find out you didn't latch the cage securely and that specimen bird is now on the garage roof.
- Look in garage for one of the several ladders we own. No ladders to be found.
- Drag out rickety pool ladder from attic of storage house next door and prop it near the garage, find that specimen birds has hopped over to the house roof.
- Move ladder to house, climb up on roof like an acrobat (a 40ish year old acrobat that is about 30 years out of practice) and try to grab specimen. Specimen flies over on top of nearby pen of pheasants, who are certainly enjoying the show.
- Curse specimen bird and all other feathered beings and go to get back down.
- Realize that climbing down is even harder than climbing up when you're scared of heights and the damn ladder is about 3 feet short of the ledge.
- Call husband at work because you're a wuss and can't make yourself dangle from the roof to reach the ladder. Helper flies up gracefully for moral support. Flies back down just as gracefully chasing after the twig thrown at him in frustration.
- Husband pulls up with other guy from his work and sits there laughing and taking pics while receiving a special 'bird' of his own. 🖕
- Get down from roof, take a 10 minute break and come back refreshed and ready to begin again... or so I think.
- Catch a new specimen and wash their nasty p**py foot. (Previous specimen can get caught by a hawk and burn in hell for all I care)
- Sanitize and dry the foot.
- Repeat previous 2 steps after specimen p**ps down it's leg onto clean foot (and my hands).
- Clip toe to quick and wait for blood drop to form.
- Clip shorter, still no blood. And again.
- Massage leg and toes trying to get blood flowing.
- Get p**ped on AGAIN!... but no blood...
- Head inside house with bird tucked under arm to get a lancet.
- Walk back out to testing station and feel wetness down leg and in flip-flop... this would be the errant blood drops.
- Get drops on paper circles as directed. Curse loudly as helper comes over to peck the shiny red drops and messes up the integrity of the test.
- Sn**ch another test and finally get it done without incident.
- Toss specimen back in pen (after clipping a wing and getting more p**p and blood flung on me as it flaps away to safety).
- Walk around corner so birds don't see, cry and hyperventilate thinking that there are 9 more specimens to do today. Feel pecking on my toes, helper has came to make me feel better.
- Give helper some treats (see pic), pull up big girl panties and soldier on!

Hope you enjoyed this 🤣 and got some laughs, some of it really happened and some of it didn't (I'm not telling which parts).

08/31/2022

Available, shipping starting soon...MESSAGE ME for details, please do NOT ask pryce (yes, I'm aware that it's mis-spelled) on the post.

MANDARIN DUCKS
White pair

RED GOLDEN PHEASANT
Male (juvenile)
Male (adult)

GHIGI (yellow) GOLDEN PHEASANT
Pair (juvenile)

LADY AMHERST PHEASANT
Pair (juvenile)
Pair (adult)

SWINHOE'S PHEASANT
Pair (juvenile)

ABYSSINIAN BLUE PHEASANT
Pair

RING NECK PHEASANT
Pair
Male

SNOWFLAKE BOBWHITE QUAIL
1-2 weeks (on heat)
3-4 weeks
4-6 weeks
Pairs

CALIFORNIA VALLEY QUAIL
Juvenile pair
Juvenile male
Adult pair
Adult male

PEAFOWL - YOUNG
Purple black shoulder
Opal black shoulder
Spalding (medium%)
Spalding (high%)
Spalding White
Spalding Pied

PEAFOWL - ADULT
Spalding white male (low%)
Spalding white hen (low%)
India blue hen

08/31/2022

Last peachick of the year (Thank goodness!) a little opal black shoulder.

08/16/2022

It's sad to see the end of a season... and yet a bit of relief too! The last 11 pea eggs are in the incubator and the males have dropped their tails to make way for new ones. The hens haven't quite gotten the message and are still laying some eggs but they do make a delicious breakfast!

I've got a LOT of young birds outside ready to fly to a new home... and shipping will start as soon as there is a break in this 100° degree heat wave, possibly even as soon as next week.

07/11/2022

Spunky Comadina says good morning from his favorite perch!

06/09/2022

My basket 'o peaches & cinnamon (peach golden and cinnamon golden pheasant). Excited about these little ones, hoping to expand my collection.

The last few are adult peach photos.

06/08/2022

Somebody really loves me! An early birthday present...

06/07/2022

Nothing like a bowl of cuteness to start the morning!

It's been awhile since I've updated but I've been pulling out babies from the Hatcher every day now. Here's some turkey, snowflake bobwhites, Abyssinian Blue pheasant, peach golden pheasant and peachicks.

Still in the incubator... MORE of all of these plus red golden, silver golden, yellow golden, Lady Amherst, Melanistic ringnecks, Swinhoe's, California Valleys, call duck and mandarins.

Amber's Fancy Feathers Aviary

12/22/2023

10/01/2023

05/27/2023

05/25/2023

05/04/2023

04/10/2023

03/28/2023

03/10/2023

03/09/2023

02/24/2023

02/17/2023

02/04/2023

01/21/2023

12/06/2022

11/26/2022

11/26/2022

09/20/2022

09/04/2022

09/04/2022

09/02/2022

08/31/2022

08/31/2022

08/16/2022

07/11/2022

06/09/2022

06/08/2022

06/07/2022

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