Aussie Finch Forum

I find the quicker you take the young out, the quicker the parents will go back down to nest

Taking young out as soon as they are feeding themselves (3 weeks or thereabouts) results in those young never achieving their physical potential IMO. They are then forced into a significant environmental and dietary shock just as they are starting to learn how to best feed and forage for themselves. I know a couple of breeders who take their young finches away from the breeding aviaries regularly at an early weaning stage like this and it shows very clearly in the quality of their birds - they certainly breed reasonable numbers of young and they are not sick as such but they are typically poor sized birds which never seem to become excellent examples of their species. I avoid obtaining breeding stock from these breeders.
When young independent birds are allowed to mature in the breeding aviary for just an extra month or so beyond independence they have a much better environmental and dietary springboard into adulthood and a far higher proportion of these young birds mature into excellent physical specimens.
Having breeding aviaries stocked lightly enough to allow for this extra bit of maturing to take place prior to moving young birds into holding aviaries definitely pays off in the quality of young produced. If aviaries are stocked this lightly, numbers bred are generally better than the alternative too.

well said graham this is why I'm waiting for your book on finches pal before i drop off the perch.

Maybe some time in the future Mick - before I drop off the perch too.

Start NOW . .

Set a target time each day

But start . . I can tell you from experience, that the older you get; the lazier you get

I can tell you from experience, that the older you get; the lazier you get
Not being sexist here, but that must apply to men not women. Either that or my mother is unusual - hmm - that could be it. She may be going to get lazy sometime after she turns 90. But is over 80 and showing no signs of slowing down so I can catch up yet.
LML

It apparently does apply only to men . .

According to my wife, who is something of an authority on this subject . .



And . . perhaps not surprisingly . . her mother warned, many years ago, that I appeared to be predisposed to this condition

Gold.

Having read and appreciated the opinions expressed here, I will be extending the weaning time of my Gouldians by a factor of at least 2.
The Prime Minister of my small suburban block simplified this decision by decreeing (without unanimous cabinet consent) that one of my suspended holding enclosures should go to make room for other nonessential, but more aesthetically pleasing garden greenery.
I think the answer to my problem is to replace the bulk of my Gouldians with a less prolific breeder.

On the latter subject, it seems that for 'spousal' definition, a retired man may be deemed lazy if he spends more collective time on his hobbies, sport and leisure than he spends on daily household chores, house/garden/yard maintenance, and other wife-sanctioned appeasements.
This is just something I've heard, no personal experience here … don't shoot the messenger, I have no misogynistic tendencies at all.

starman wrote: ↑23 Jul 2019, 11:51
The Prime Minister of my small suburban block simplified this decision by decreeing (without unanimous cabinet consent) that one of my suspended holding enclosures should go to make room for other nonessential, but more aesthetically pleasing garden greenery.

I think the answer to my problem is to replace the bulk of my Gouldians with a less prolific breeder.

Why don't you make a large aviary and fill it with plants. The wife gets more aesthetically pleasing garden greenery, and you will have more space for your birds so the young can stay with the parents for longer.

I initially started out with a 2 meter cube aviary in the corner of the yard. I was told it was boring and needed plants. I extended the aviary along the back fence and it became 14 meters long x 2 meters wide x 2 meters high. I filled it with plants, finches and small parrots. No more complaints about it being boring and a waste of garden space.

--------------------------
All finches breed readily when provided with optimum conditions. Replacing Gouldians with something else won't solve the problem of what to do with the young. You will simply have a different species of bird producing young.

Keep birds that you want to keep. Tell the wife the aviary stays and you will get some plants to go in it.