New Member

[collector_and_buyer]

Hello to all the AFF members,my name is Dale Davis and i live at Young NSW.After a 12 year absence from breeding birds,the time has come to get back into it.I will give you all some of my background in some future posts and hope i don't bore you to death. Am really looking forward to talking to and meeting some fellow breeders.Kind regards Dale.

[collector_and_buyer]

My interest in birds started at a young age in country NSW.Probably not the best for the birds,as i used to collect birds eggs.Weekends,holidays etc were spent running around the hills and bush searching for that elusive nest.This was forty four years ago and a lot of us country kids used to do this,along with ferreting,shooting and another that i don't like to admit,trapping finches.All types were on the radar,chestnuts,zebs,redheads,double bars,but that was back then.My father introduced me to keeping finches via a couple of aviaries filled with normal zebs.These little fellows got the two of us even more enthused when we learnt about the different colours that you could get.We obtained and bred the colours that were available back then,white,fawn and pieds etc and in the process learnt of the many varieties of foreign finches that could be kept.Out with the zebs and in came (to us) the exotics.No research back then,you just bought what you could afford-liked and threw them all in together,thinking that they would co exist happily like the zebs.Mistake number 1,some species did not get on too well together,lesson soon learnt.More research by dad and some happy campers gave better results.Will post some more,by for now.

[collector_and_buyer]

The teenage years saw a move away from the birds for me,as other hobbies,the pub,work etc took over.But---- that spark was set deep inside me and keeping finches-birds would become a large part of my adult life.Marriage and my own house with a good sized back yard soon had me building some aviaries.Thanks to my previous experiences with my father,i was armed with some knowledge on a few levels eg, where to face your aviary,what species will co exist happily,who needed live food and general care of your birds.Some of the birds i bred were Jacarinis,cordons,orange breasts,painteds,stars,cubans,ruddies.I could not afford the likes of parrot finches,singers etc even though i admired them.Being a member of a local bird club saw me introduced to a bird that would eventually steer me away from finches.Bye for now.

[collector_and_buyer]

At this time,these little fellas were in huge demand and you virtually had to place an order with breeders to aquire certain colours.Yes,they were the Peachfaced Lovebird and what a frustrating bird they turned out to be.Breeding them was easy,sexing them was an entirely different kettle of fish.Surgical sexing was i think,in its relative infancy and was a risk,as i would soon find out.After losing a couple of young birds to this procedure,it was back to an educated guess.Now----,the parrot side of things had my interest and wasn't this a costly exercise,new,larger aviaries to build,better quality mesh etc and out with the peach faces and in with the new Australian species.My new inhabitants were,hoodeds,scarlets,turks,princess,crimson wings,major mitchells,west australian king parrots and eclectus, all of which i was lucky enough to breed successfully.My smallish town was now getting larger and the thought of some acreage was just too tempting.After looking around a few towns in the south west of NSW we settled on Young and in no time we had sold our house and was building a house on a 10 acre block.A bank of aviaries was built and the birds were happy and healthy,what more could you ask for.Bye for now.

[ColouredFeathers]

Welcome Dale to the forum

[desertbirds]

G`day Dale, welcome aboard

[SamDavis]

Another Davis is always welcome here!

[Brooksy]

Gday Dale good to have you on board.

[Mr Tino]

Hi Dale welcome to aussie finch forum there is alot to learn and ask enjoy.

Cheer from Mr Tino

[Canary]

Dale, welcome to the Forum.

What birds are you currently keeping and breeding?