Anyone make a living selling finches?

[Tiaris]

It is certainly possible to derive a regular return from breeding finches under certain circumstances provided you were seeking just a sustenance-level regular return from a total commitment including plenty of hard work, no holidays and no expectation of ever accumulating significant wealth from the exercise. It would require sufficient area and initial means to establish a suitable large aviary complex (generally at significant cost), sufficient capacity/skills/experience to competently house, sustain and manage a large breeding population across multiple species in order to consistently breed large numbers of a variety of species season after season. For most people, this is not achievable. I suspect that a similar investment of resources and effort into most other conventional business ventures would be likely far more lucrative. I believe that for the right person (who has the right mix of experience, expectations and effort - namely low expectations of returns with maximum effort by working bloody hard every single day) "making a living selling finches" is possible provided it is a lifestyle choice as much as a commercial one and that your living expenses are meagre.

[fraudster]

About two years since I started (I had birds when I was a kid tho, eight years ago but didnt really breed them). Haven't made ANY money from birds, but still love them to bits. Not only do I "lose" money but I also "lose" a lot of time - having to change and feed every morning, go out to the bush to pick up fresh seeding grasses etc. I guess you're not really "losing" anything, though, if you love the hobby!!!!

[elferoz777]

Got my first linnie pair in 2013 green burds split turqand one was split ino. Cost me 1300 the pair.

I bred a heap the next year inos, greens and a turq and mad made 20k. I reinvested a heap a d the following year made 3k.

Moral is there's no money in birds and also being driven by dollar takes away the enjoyment i found. Talking dollars rather than birds is not good.

My intent was to breed these as i loved them and still keep a few pairs but i will say the dollar birds are tempting but ruin what Bird keeping was about for me.

Answer is yes you can make a living but id rather not ruin the hobby factor.

My fav birds are still my goldfinches and red zebs are they cost little but give back a heap.

[E Orix]

To make ends meet you need experience and more experience, and the more expensive species
plus no losses.
You get the same return for one pair of Red Crested to 12pr of Cordons
if you can breed Red Crested that is.
I laugh to myself when people with little experience and heaps of cash buy up
big to make their fortune, I would say virtually all fail and our rarer species are lost to ignorance
If you break even and get the enjoyment of the hobby you are miles ahead.

[arthur]

https://www.andrewisles.com/details.php ... 963&jump=1

If anybody does happen to have a bit of 'bird money' under the bed . .

Unlike mutations this can only go up in value

[elferoz777]

I met a bloke who invested 120 000 on parrolets when the price was 2000 a pr for blues.

They sold 3 months later for 500 a pr and still falling.

Its a micro market and the more success you have the more you cut yourself.

This bloke was victim of a mass market flood like cheap chinese steel. Others bought large numbers of these easy to breef birds meaning the prices fell. Grest for birdos not great for investors.

[E Orix]

My rule of thumb is if you buy a pair of birds you need to at least breed 4 from them plus keep the parents for breeding.
Mutations in the parrots are really like Russian roulette, in early then out,not for me.
I can remember Blue Indian Ringnecks at a mere $23,000, if you could get them.
The market is lik e a pyramid, pointy end expensive and a small market as you come down bigger market, less value.
With regard the rarer Finches most who have expensive birds have bred birds to buy dearer ones and most have the experience to keep breeding them.
By the way I still get the same buzz from seeing newly fledged Painteds as I do with rarer types.
If there is a challenge go for it.

[finchbreeder]

If there is a challenge go for it.
Which is why, 35+ years after I got my first finches, I still love Zebs. Always somehing new to develop.
Hobbys are for fun and to spend the spare cash on, other wise you would just waste it on something you dont need.
LML

[Tiaris]

Breeding any colour mutation of any species is ALWAYS a race to the bottom in terms of price. They NEVER hold their value long-term. Throwing big dollars at a bird mutation at any stage beyond establishment is a very risky exercise.

[Craig52]

Agree Tiaris and E Orix, look what happened with the King Quail mutations. I have a mate in Sydney that jumped on new mutations in parrots and spent heaps of money to buy them, only to find that breeders that were well setup pumped these mutations out in big numbers and at a third of the price he paid. He wasn't called the mad Italian for nothing but then again he never made nothing out of them. Craig