JEM Aviary

This is my catch all tab.  I will insert recipes for bird food, tricks for saving money when it comes to your birds, raising mealworms, and people who you should know and sites that I like.  I will update this every opportunity possible so if you have a good recipe, tip, or anything else you feel could belong here email me.  I would love to add your information to the site!!

Lovebird Recipe-

I cook some small tube pasta add a bag of frozen fiesta style veggies (bell peppers, garbanzo beans, string beans, black beans, white, beans, a little corn, broccoli, carrots, kidney beans) and some cooked couscous and/or quinao.  That's it.  I place it in either individual portions ziplock bags or a long shallow tupperware trays that I freeze.  It is great during the summer since it cools the birds of or during the winter I thaw it and give to them.  They LOVE this treat and you can se in their little faces the wor "charge" as I have bowl in hand.   As always if there are left overs PLEASE toss it out as it will spoil and can either make your birds very sick or kill them.  I would rather that this not be served to a bird if you are not available to remove it in a fairly timely fashion.

Baking Egg Shells-

This is a wonderful inexpensive way to give your birds calcium.  I just have gotten into the habit of collecting egg shells anytime an egg is cooked in my house (think Sunday morning breakfast).  I used to bake them in the oven at 400-450 for 45 minutes until my husband and kids complained about the smell that I switched over to my microwave.  I now separate them on a dish and put them in the microwave for a couple of minutes.  It is much faster and the smell is not quite as bad.  The purpose of baking or microwaving the shells are to make sure that there are no traces of salmonella on the shells.  So please allow your egg shells to cook long enough.  Each microwave has different strengths so be careful. 

John's Bird Corn Bread Recipe-

John is a very dear man that I am lucky enough to have met because of our common interest in button quails.  In short order we learned we had a lot of other birds in common and I have enjoyed countless conversations about them.  He mostly teaches me and I am a watchful student.  Here is a recipe that he shared with me that he gives to his birds.  I have tried it on my birds and they love it too.  ENJOY!!

               Cornbread for birds

I have to admit this is not my favorite part of raising buttons quails and other birds that enjoy mealworms, but having said that it is a VERY easy thing to do. 

1) get a cat litter pan and filled it with oatmeal (not the instant kind)

2) put about 2000-3000 mealworms in the pan ( I bought mine from NY worms and they were cheap and in perfect shape even though I ordered them in the summer)

3) place slices of potatoes, apples, carrots all around the sides of the container

4) Place newspaper over the cat litter pan, but leave 1 each off of all the sides (this is were I place the food)

5) Mist the newspaper daily (tip-do not over water- I have done this and killed my worms and made a stinky mess...yuck!!)

That's it!!  It is that simple.  Replace the food once the worms have eaten it.  The worms will grow and transform in to pupa and then beetles.  A good picture of their life cycle can be found on efinch.com

There are lots of other proven methods to raising mealworms.  This is the one I use because it only uses on container.

Sites:

Here are some of my favorite sites

www.fairestfinches.com    They have wonderful line of bird products for sale.  Michele is incredibly knowledgeable and is very giving of her time.

http://www.nyworms.com/mealworms.html   I buy my mealworms here

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ladygouldianfinches/  Great place to ask, comment enjoy other Lady Gouldian lovers

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GPA101Genetics/messages?o=1  Good place to ask genetic questions for you Gould's

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ButtonQuailUSA/ Wonderful group of people that like to share ideas about button quails.  There are some incredibly knowledgeable people on this site.

http://www.voy.com/13979/ another site that is good for the button quail lover

My Thank You's:

This really belongs on the front page in the about me section.  All these people are the ones that have helped make me who I am or helped me achieve this dream of having an aviary with such wonderful birds.

First of all, my husband and kids.  They are more than patient with me.  I know at times they would like some of the attention that I pay to the birds to fall on them, but they never fuss.  JEM Aviary has come to be because of my husband (John Emmons Murphy).  As I would fret whether I could do this or that he would always say "Hon if you want to do it, then I just do it". He is always as solid as a rock.

Secondly, my father and two brother in laws.  They helped my husband to plan, build and paint the aviary.  They did this over their vacation time without a moment of hesitation.  My brother in law, the architect, and my sister designed the aviary and I know that was a time consuming job.  Thank you guys, I couldn't ask for a better family. 

John Fuqua-He is the gentleman that gave me the delicious corn bread recipe, but he has also given me so much more.  He has always taken my phone calls and given me sound advice.  He has given me his best button quails for me to work with and hopefully someday soon I will be able to get some of his beautiful Lady Gouldian lines in my birds.  He is a JEM of a person!  He will soon be able to sell a large variety of different birds and as soon as he is ready I will post his information on the site.  He is located in Louisiana so keep an eye out for him.

Kellyann Sena-I met this wonderful woman when I bought a few Gould's from her.  From there the friendship grew very quickly.  She has been my teacher through this whole web site building experience and I have been her humble student.  Kelly has an old soul and is about as kind as they come.  She is out of the bird business for now, but as soon as she wants back in I will be the first to send her some of my birds.  She is now concentrating on embroidery.  If you need anything embroidered please keep Kelly in mind.  She can do wonders with her machine.  Thanks girlie for all your time...big hug!!

Michele Fair-Michele is another one of those people that you wonder "how can she be so nice?"  She was the person that opened the door for me to start working with blue and yellow back Gouldians.  Without her I would still be dreaming of someday owning them.  Michele is not only generous, but knows her Gouldian genetics!!  She is the first person that I would go to with a breeding scenario.  Smart as a whip!!!!  She also has a site where she sells great products.  www.fairestfinches.com 

Laurel Sherrie-I have bought several Lady Gouldian's and my Splendid's from her.  She has incredible birds!  My first visit with her I went up to buy some birds and then I walked into her studio to have my breath taken away by her artwork.  I not only bought some beautifully colored birds, but I bought several of her art work pieces too.  I have even commissioned her to do a larger painting which is one of the center pieces of my home.  Please visit her site at www.laurelsherrie.com.  If you like nice California scenario she is my artist of choice.

Devona-She has nothing to do with birds...mini and toy aussies are her thing www.anadee.com, but she is always there when I need her.  I don't need to say more because I think she knows how much I care about her. 

I know I am missing at least 10 other people, but this is a work in progress and I want to have this site up and running before I turn old and grey...wait I'm already there!  Please email me if you have anything that I should add.  This site is a work in progress and I want it to be as educational as possible.

THANKS TO ALL,

Patty