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sea gulls

Discussion in 'Private Collections & Pets' started by leigh catherick, 10 Dec 2010.

  1. stubeanz

    stubeanz Well-Known Member

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    Always a surprise in there :) the cormorants look great as well. I would love an aviary that size, in fact I would just like enough land to house an aviary that size!
     
  2. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    even just a small aviary is fun , i have a small aviary with zebra finches and quail and another with tiny serama bantams and i enjoy them just as much ,
     
  3. Gonetothebirds

    Gonetothebirds New Member

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    Hi Leigh. I've been reading your posts about your gulls and am hoping you can help me. I live in Canada, and I am an animal trainer and collector, specializing in birds. I have been trying to find seagull breeders, as I want to buy several, and haven't had much luck. I know there are more gull breeders in the UK. Do you know of any breeders, or have any of yours bred yet? I would appreciate any help in this matter. Thanks so much!
    Cherie
     
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  4. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    hi , i don't no of any one else who breeds gulls other that one zoo here , last year we bred one common gull chick , this year we should breed a few commons as they are all adults now, also black tailed i have 7 adult pr also a young pr available , black headed and herring gull are to young to breed yet , i have just been offered 7 larus fuscus lesser black backed, captive bred but not DNA sexed they are in Holland but the dealer who has them wants a fair amount for them ,
     
  5. FWC

    FWC Well-Known Member

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    Gonetothebirds, if you want give me a shout, I have a couple of contacts and I might be able to hook you up with something.
     
  6. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    gulls doing well common gull has one egg again this year , black headed have 2 eggs and they are 1st year birds just hope they hatch , hope to get eggs very soon from black tailed and grey gulls looking very promising ,
     
  7. Pacarana

    Pacarana Well-Known Member

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    Great news Leigh! I'm glad to see the grey gulls breeding. Please do share pictures if the greys do lay eggs. Also, how are your giant wood rails doing?
     
  8. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    i will get pics as and when , the wood rails my friend has and they are still laying eggs like hens crazy birds but great fun to keep if you don't have close neighbours very loud at dusk , but hey iv got approx 47 gulls you want to here them on a full moon and storks clapping beaks to lol ,
     
  9. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    just to keep gull fans up to date we now have 6 slender billed gulls to our collection and very nice to they were bred in Italy but lucky for me were i collected them from a dealer in Belgium , we have had a few rescue herring gulls chicks and a lesser black back with half a wing missing ? , we did have a fulmar brought in but it died the next day was a real shame fantastic looking bird ,
     
  10. stubeanz

    stubeanz Well-Known Member

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    Wow 47 gulls, Impressive stuff! How many storks do you keep? I was involved in rearing a white stork a few years back, amazing creatures. Its currently on loan at Whipsnade.
     
  11. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    i have 2pr white storks one pr had 3 eggs this year but i think the cold got to them as they were fertile was a real shame ,
     
  12. stubeanz

    stubeanz Well-Known Member

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    Lovely, do you provide nesting platforms for them?
     
  13. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    yes iv one 4ft high and one 3ft high one pr of storks are full winged they have the 4ft high one , i have to wing clip the other male as he will build nest were his female cant get as she cannot fly she is not pinioned but i think she has had tendons cut ? she came from france with loads of paper work she was part of a breeding program over there ,
     
  14. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    hi just a update on gulls i am collecting some grey headed gulls next week very excited , just released 2 herring gulls at ramsgate harbour also released peggy the one legged herring gull from home about 5 weeks ago so far she has made an appearance 3 times for food its great to see her return to see she is ok we released another herring gull we called kipper and he turns up 2 times a day at feed times for a chick and fish how do they tell the time very cleaver birds just a shame more don't keep them iv kept most birds in my time but none as interesting as the gulls ,
     
  15. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Did you breed any gulls this year?
     
  16. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    hi just one common gull chick , black headed had eggs but 1st year birds so nothing hatched, black tailed , greys,ect 2014 should be there 1st adult year so i really hope for a interesting breeding season , slender billed are to young as yet as will be the grey headed ,
     
  17. Nanook

    Nanook Well-Known Member

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    Just a word to say this is one of the most interesting threads I have read on ZooChat, (and very refreshing to have one without any needless arguing on it too!! )
    Good on you Leigh.
     
  18. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    hi Nanook, many thanks, i am converting some into liking gulls , great birds and so under estimated but i will keep on holding the flag for them , if any of you out there are ever in south kent and would like to come and visit to see my collection do contact me ,
     
  19. stubeanz

    stubeanz Well-Known Member

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    I would like to 2nd this, it's my favourite and probably the best thread in the private collection forum. I think its great for you to be so open, especially with people asking lots of questions like myself!
    Keep up the good work! And next time I'm in kent I would love to visit such a well designed set of aviaries :D
     
  20. leigh catherick

    leigh catherick Well-Known Member

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    many thanks for your kind words , i am always willing to share info that's what makes what we do even more interesting , you are more than welcome to pop in for a visit it would be great to meet a few like minded people ,