Mixing other finches with Red crested finch

[Cooper]

Hello
I have a pair of red crested finch in large planted avairy and was looking to add some diffrent various of finches to the avaiary
Has anybody got a idea of what types of finches I could add as I would like to add 3 or 4 pairs
Cheers Cooper

[vettepilot_6]

When my father was breeding them they were always kept on their own....

[E Orix]

This season I had one pair(male) that really sorted out a colony of Red Faced P/Finches and another male that went absolutely nuts when I released
a pair of Jacarinis. He was so bad that if I hadn't removed them then and there they would have been dead in 10 minutes.
Apart from that they have been fine.

[Craig52]

This season I had one pair(male) that really sorted out a colony of Red Faced P/Finches and another male that went absolutely nuts when I released
a pair of Jacarinis. He was so bad that if I hadn't removed them then and there they would have been dead in 10 minutes.
Apart from that they have been fine.

From what i am reading about these birds is that they are very similar to crimsons,you get some placid birds and you can get some very aggressive birds.These two species imo will never be in abundance in breeders aviaries due to their traits.
It's a shame really as they are both beautiful birds and first time breeders of them could be very disappointed with them if they want to breed them in a mixed collection as most would like to do. Craig

[Tiaris]

If you are intending to house a species which you know can tend to be aggressive at times its crucial to do 2 important things to minimise the chance of problems: Keep numbers of other birds to an absolute minimum to reduce competition & make sure the (at times) aggressive species are the last ones put into that aviary so you aren't putting other birds into an established territory of the more aggressive ones.

[arthur]

Do a search on the forum for RCF and you will find a few good reasons for not mixing

But should you decide to mix please post your outcomes both in the short term and the long term i.e. after breeding seasons for all species in the mixed aviary

[Trilobite]

I have to jump to the defence of the humble crimson and I suspect it would be the same reasoning for the RCF.
Firstly first time breeders ( and I dare say experienced breeders) have problems with aggression as they try to overload the aviary with more of the same kind and with an abundance of other species - you can manage this to be successful. As Tiaris said have all your non aggressive birds set up and well and truly established before introducing new birds.
Secondly and I think this is the most important thing - most people buy a pair of crimsons (of RCF) and put them into a breeding aviary akin to setting up battery hens - you know 900 wide * 1.8 high and 2-3m deep with no retreat spaces and green cover.
The crimson in the wild has a very large territory when nesting and so it goes if you try and put a square peg into a round hole your going to have issues - I suspect the RCF is the same.
I run three pair of crimson in the one planted aviary and have no major issues other then occasional scuff because something got too close to a crimson nest.
I have had success with other finches by taking a few feathers out of the dominant males wings to make him work just that lttle bit harder and it slow them down to a point that they tolerate each other enough to become established and live happily ever after.

If anyone has some RCF's they want rind of let me know please.

[Keven S]

Cooper,
I don't think you have any thing to worry about with this particular pair of RCF, as they came out of a mixed specie aviary
which contained Himalayan Green Finch,Lesser Red Browed,Orange Bishop Weavers,Orange Cheek Waxbills and Beautiful Firetails with aviary dimentions of 3x9x2.4 and heavily planted.
I keep my other pairs in mixed collections of verious species and same size aviaries with out incedence.
All the above birds sucsessfuly bred and reared young in this aviary with out any agro shown to old or young birds.
If the only problem I have had with the RCF is that you remove their young as soon as they are self dependent or you take the chance
of loosing the young as the parent birds WILL kill their young, I have learnt this the hard way, not by just one pair.
Best of luck with them, in my opinion and experience they are a great addition to any collection.

[Cooper]

Hello All,
Thank for the answers at this stage.
Keven I do not have any of the types of finches you have listed and some of them are hard to find in Victoria as I am new at breeding finches. I am trying to get the best type of finch that will mix with the red crested with out causing too many problems
thank you for your help.Do you have any of those varieties for sale
cheers
Cooper

[Keven S]

Cooper,
Not saying thats what you should keep them with, just giving you an Idea of what envirenment they come from.
As with previous posts from other members Jacarini and Red Faced Parrot finch are maybe not a good mix.
Im sure there could possibly be other specie that they may not be able to be kept with as well.
All Im passing on is the variety of bird that they have been kept with.
I have had them in with six different (including breeding) species of red colour dominence with out any dramas.
Personaly have kept far more blood thirsty specie than the RCF, end of the day its your own experiences good or bad.
Once again best of luck with them, keep plenty of live food up to them whilst breeding and reep the rewards of such
an exquisite aviary specimen.