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Raising zebra finches, canaries, as well as various poultry breeds has been an interest of Joanie and Ed since they arrived at Bent Mountain, Virginia in the 1980's.

20/02/2023

We finally got a decent photo of this friendly zebra finch. The mutation he is showing is known as Dominant Silver. This silver gene dilutes the black pigments of the head, back, tail, throat stripes, and breast bar, resulting in a silvery appearance of those feathers. The orange in the cheek patches and spotted flank feathers is also diluted to a very faint orange or white. We find this fellow to be a strikingly beautiful bird.

18/02/2023

Seems as if Miss Guinea has something to say.

14/02/2023

At Enchanted Hill, we specialize in some of the more unusual mutations of Zebra Finches, and we’ll have a few extra pairs available for pickup at Hickory Bird Fair this Saturday, 2/18. Varieties include Black Cheek (some split to Fawn), Black-cheeked Fawn, and Normal and Black-cheeked Chestnut Flanked Whites. Also may be picked up at Enchanted Hill, Bent Mountain, VA. PM for information.

16/01/2023

Spring breeding season is approaching so we're looking through the flock to pick our possible breeding pairs. Looks as if we'll have some extras ready to find new homes--black cheeks, dominant silvers, Eumos, orange-breasts, chestnut-flanked whites, fawn, and more.

03/09/2022

Each year, in front of the aviary, we plant nectar- and pollen-producing flowers for hummingbirds and butterflies. This year it was lion's mane and Mexican sunflowers. We're not certain, but we think the finches and canaries inside enjoy the flowers and activities just outside their windows.

09/08/2022

This male zebra finch is showing two mutations with which we enjoy working--black face and black breast. He is presently awaiting the arrival of his mail-order bride from Lousiana, who will hopefully be her in just a few days.

19/07/2022

Little guiineas love bugs and will run after any small moving object that they see. When spaghetti noodles drop from the sky, they seem to think they are flying worms and delight in grabbing and running off with a noodle to keep their flock mates from sharing their captured prey.

02/07/2022

Our last guinea hatch of the season produced four more Pintos, our favorite pattern. Now we have to wait several weeks to see what their colors will be.

27/06/2022

We've just had another hatch of guineas and are pleased that about half of them show the Pinto pattern. This pattern is a base color that shows in the feathers of the neck, back, and tail while the rest of the feathers are white. An adult Pinto is a colored bird but the large white wings along with the white breast make it look almost white. We're crossing Pintos with other colors and think we're getting a variety of colors with the Pinto pattern. Only time will tell.

09/06/2022

We've had another good hatch of guineas, thanks to two broody chicken hens. The keets are showing lots of different shades and colors so our breeding plan of getting different mutations that have the Pinto and Pied white-spotting patterns may be working. We plan to keep the Pintos around until they feather out and we can see what their adult colors are going to be.

24/05/2022

Our first keets of the season are hatching. Just don't think I've seen a baby bird that's any cuter than a keet.

13/05/2022

Our broody Marans hen is incubating a clutch of guinea eggs. She prefers not to be disturbed.

01/05/2022

Our 13 Blue Copper Marans are being well cared for by their foster mom, an Old English bantam.

23/02/2022

This little blue golden duckwing hen is hard to photograph to capture the lacing on her back feathers. She will be paired with the splash silver duckwing rooster. They should hopefully produce some sharp-looking chicks.

15/02/2022

One of our exciting and fun projects with Old English Bantams is the experiment to create a little "sub-flock" of Blue Golden Duckwings and Splash Golden Duckwings. The breeding involves the addition of genes for blue, splash, and gold into our Silver Duckwings. The chicks can usually be identified as Duckwings as soon as they hatch, but we have to wait several weeks for the adult feathers before we can be sure of the outcome.

13/02/2022

We have been fans of the Old English Bantams for over 25 years. Our first pair of this adorable breed came from Christiansburg. They were of the splash variety and named Colonel and Mrs. Sanders. We probably still have some of their great-great-grandchildren. However, more recently we added some new birds and have three "projects" on which to work. There are new blue and splash individuals. When crossing these, we'll expect some chicks to be blue, some will be splash, while others will be black.

05/02/2022

At Enchanted Hill, we've been developing our new flock of zebra finches for about a year, and we're getting more and more excited about some of the youngsters that are coloring up and showing their adult plumage. Even though these birds (natives to Australia and Indonesia), have been raised in captivity for over 200 years, new varieties continue to show up. When we had our first zebras in the early 80's, only a few color patterns were available. Now, there are dozens of varieties. Here are just a few of our birds:

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