Amber's Fancy Feathers Aviary

Amber's Fancy Feathers Aviary This is not a spam profile page, I've been under the name of Amber Hardesty Harder for many years.

Hey bird friends!I have decided to downsize considerably on birds and equipment and am currently working on getting a pr...
07/23/2024

Hey bird friends!

I have decided to downsize considerably on birds and equipment and am currently working on getting a proper inventory (I keep being surprised at just how much stuff I have lol) going so I can let everyone interested what is available.
There should at least be various large and small brooders, cabinet incubators, a small bird tractor, cages, carriers, feeders, waterers, adult/young peafowl & ornamental pheasants, white mandarins and black swans.

Some things are available for shipping at buyers expense but for pick ups I am located in SW KS near Dodge City. I occasionally travel to Salina, Wichita, and NW OK but have no specific travel plans coming up.

I will update as soon as I can.
Pic for attention, I no longer breed D'uccles.

And they say broody chickens are vicious. This little lady wants to sit (kicked her off to collect eggs for 3 days in a ...
05/17/2024

And they say broody chickens are vicious. This little lady wants to sit (kicked her off to collect eggs for 3 days in a row then said to heck with it) and if I reach in there she grabs skin and twists like she wants to tear a chunk off 😆

Bird life! I caught, inspected, wormed and moved 29 adult peafowl to different pens today. If we tally the damage it loo...
01/31/2024

Bird life!

I caught, inspected, wormed and moved 29 adult peafowl to different pens today.
If we tally the damage it looks like this...

Peafowl: 3 trains damaged, 2 blood feathers lost and lots of stress

Me: a gallon of sweat, 1 spur wound, 3 scratches, 1 peck, a bad blister, a tear in my shirt, a tear in my pants, 1 fingernail torn into the quick and p**p in hair, on face, hands, arms, clothes and a full direct hit on my foot (in flip flops). Oh and I tipped the wheelbarrow over on my foot when I was cleaning pens.

All in all, I'd say it went pretty well 😆

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 ag...
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

Three of my little emus went to this zoo this year and now they've made the papers!
05/27/2023

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

My new babies! 2 pairs of young Australian black swans. Taking suggestions on names :)
05/25/2023

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

I already knew better than this but there's nothing like learning your lesson firsthand to reinforce it. My hand raised ...
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! 🤣

I'm in love with my new additions! Mearns/ Montezuma quailThese will not be available this year but maybe next year.
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!

WAIT LISTI am old fashioned and write things on paper instead of making spreadsheets like I should. My notebook of info ...
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!

I've got something to say about incubating. You should really NEVER just trust the readings on your incubator, even if i...
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!

Someone wanted really bad to make friends 😆
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!

I have not been very good at updating recently but did want everyone to see my new lovelies, I've been waiting a few yea...
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!

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

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Minneola, KS
67865

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Videos

Making progress!

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

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!

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 agains

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 😆

This little lady was so NOT happy when I tossed her out of the duck box to check on the eggs she's been sitting. I only caught a little of it here but she screeched so much her man was running around absolutely flipped out too. #LadyAmherstpheasant #MadMama

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