Solitary vs Mixed

[ruthieharris]

Any thoughts on what works best for you , 1 Pair alone in smaller Aviary or in mixed larger Aviary ? Pros and cons ? Not talking about finches that can be housed as a Colony but Finches that only 1 pair is better

[Tiaris]

Pros of single pair - no competition for anything & you get the opportunity to more easily learn exactly what makes that species tick ie. exactly what they eat & what they prefer to do when they aren't forced into the only nesting, roosting, feeding option available due to competition. Main cons are cost & feeding routine constraints of 1pr per aviary & slightly less aesthetically appealing viewing of 1pr in a small aviary vs more species in a larger aviary. But from the birds' perspective single pr option is all pros & no cons. Likely breeding results for most species are a far better prospect with the single pr option.

[Craig52]

Pros of single pair - no competition for anything & you get the opportunity to more easily learn exactly what makes that species tick ie. exactly what they eat & what they prefer to do when they aren't forced into the only nesting, roosting, feeding option available due to competition. Main cons are cost & feeding routine constraints of 1pr per aviary & slightly less aesthetically appealing viewing of 1pr in a small aviary vs more species in a larger aviary. But from the birds' perspective single pr option is all pros & no cons. Likely breeding results for most species are a far better prospect with the single pr option.

Well said Tiaris,i now don't have any mixed collections but have a dozen smaller aviaries with 1pr of finches in each,namely crimsons and lesser redbrows and it is a lot more work but the results are a lot better.
Other finches that i have bred 1pr in an aviary are blue caps with fantastic results so it all boils down to wanting to specialise and have total control of feed/nesting sites/the best birds to pr together etc etc. Craig

[ruthieharris]

Yeah does make sense , thanks guys