help! my red factor is loosing her colour!

[alexandra]

hi....its me again!! (groans!)

been keeping an eye on our red factor hen and she is loosing her orange/red colour! she now looks peachy, with white and yellow patches.

she did have white tips on her wings and tail to start with anyway but now its on her chest too.

we giver her and Charlie ( our red factor cock) red egg food to keep their colour, but i dont think Tango is eating it! Charlie hasnt lost any colour at all, not sure how much he is eating of it though as quite a fair bit of it ends up everywhere else but in his tum!


we do mix it with their food but in dry form ...................it went all gooey and into a blob when we mixed it with water!

the brand we have is called orlux.

any advice would be great!

[alexandra]

just had a thought, could Charlie have been colour bred and not colour fed like Tango obviously is ?

[fred]

Just some information for you
You can also try some carrot with your canary,s this will help them stay a Red color.
Also I would mix some of the Red factor powder in a plastic container and keep it in the fridge that should stop the mix going gooey.
You may have to wait until the hen starts to moult again before any signs of red coming back.
I hope this helps you

[alexandra]

hi

thanks for that advice i'll give it a go!

cheers

[fred]

Your welcome
please keep us updated with how you go.

[battybirdie]

Hi Alexandra

Sorry if this is teaching you to suck eggs, but just a thought with the egg food - how much water are you using to mix it? I know it took me a while to get the balance right, and it takes surprisingly little water to mix it - I've always found that using boiling water is better for some reason. Just make a little well in the egg food (just like mixing cement really), and fold in the egg food from the edges. Hopefully this should mean that it's still crumbly and not a big goop!
Freds already suggested the carrots - which is a fab idea - you could also try mixing grated carrot through your egg food instead of water. There's a lot more moisture in a carrot than you might think.

Of course if that doesn't work, I believe that Homebase do a really nice range of red spray paints ..... JOKING!! Just in case anyone was wondering

[Scully]

as a matter of interest ..what colour would he be if he did not have the red food? do they just get pale?

[fred]

Alex
Have you tried the powder in the drinking water?
that may be worth a shot.
If your bird is moulting I would do that asap so the bird gets back to its orange, red color.
please keep us updated

[alexandra]

hi Scully

Tango has gone patchy and has patches of pale yelow/whitish and slightly faded orange patches.

We have been giving her carrot, i think it has helped

Fred, we havent tried giving the egg food in the water, wouldnt it go gloopy? its not a fine powder, its more like normal egg food, but red!!

Battybirdie, we will try the grated carrot in the egg food, thanks!! ....................................................................................................................

Phew!