last few days

[Jayburd]

Thanks everyone for your great support, and especially thanks for the extremely generous offer southy!!!!!!
I'm back in the game, decided I might as well view it as a way to start over with new and exciting species!

Southy, thanks so much, but I wont. I'm going to try my hand at blue caps, and with my new MOUSE PROOF aviary (I have a friend with mice, so can conduct some experiments as to what they can and can't climb) i'll hopefully not lose so many birds again.

I still don't know how they escaped. They were in a cage (I evacuated all my birds because of the mice) and they've been there before, so I don't know what happened this time.

I lost:
1 pair of cordons
1 hen long tail
1 cock orange breast
1 cock tri nun
3 ruddies (2 hens, cock) but recaptured the ruddies.

to the mice:
1 pair of jacarinis
1 pair of red - faced parrot finches
2 baby zebra finches

Total:
8 birds, approx. $225 worth.

however, i'm planning on having a safety door, so I can get into the rarer ones. I'm thinking:

Blue caps
tri colour parrot finches
white headed nuns
spice finches
masked finches

thanks everyone again!

[Jayburd]

If as I seem to recall you are due to or have just moved house

Yep, that's right. not getting any more until new setup's done

[southy]

OK Jay
But remember that offer is still open ( not because I am just feeling sorry for you but us finch breeders have to stick together)..The reptiles are coming.
Having missed a lot of posts recently I would like to add my 2 cents worth on your last comments.
To start with ;I have never had experience with mice killing birds physically only by contaminating food & scaring birds off nests.
Rats a different story these can wipe out a aviary very quickly.So they need a bigger hole to enter.

Now with your comments that you are going to go to the rarer ones I hope you really think about that for instance ;Red cheeked cordons $60 per pair ..Blue capped cordons $300 per pair this is because they are harder to breed than red cheeks so untill you can breed red cheeks why throw your money away?
Now your other birds
Tri colours ..fair enough nice bird reasonably easy to breed
w/h nuns ...hard to find &breed because the gene pool left in australia is very small ???
Spice finches ...A nothing bird breed like zebras thats why no one bothers
Masked Finches ...nearly impossible to sex & if you do will only breed every couple of years when they feel like it
Don't like to put a damper on tour ambitions but there is a saying (you have to crawl before you can walk)
You have a long time to go ..take it slowly

[Jayburd]

Thanks Southy

In regard to the blue caps, I guess I agree, and in my new aviary which is larger and is going to be planted, i'll hopefully not take too long to breed cordons.

About the other finches:

Decided on blue faced first, to get some experience in both parrot finch species before I try tri colours

I know someone in my finch club who breeds WH nuns

Spice finches... I think they deserve MUH more attention than they're getting. Since they made themselves a nice wild population in the NT, no one likes them. But think about it, have you seen any spice finches at any bird sales in the past year or so?
The only birds I've seen are on websites, going for between $30 - $60. slightly higher than zebras.

Masks were just a thought, decided to try either a pytilia (aurora) or a pair of plumheads


In regard to the mice, I have found headless, entrail - less corpses all over, and I found my headless male RF parrot finch at the bottom of a vertical hollow log, next to the body of a mouse I assume he must have taken down with him.
The log is normally covered, and have never had any problems with that before, before anyone asks.
The holes I found were at ground level, about 2 - 3cm wide/high.I don't think a rat would be able to get through that.
As I mentioned in a different topic, I almost caught a live mouse, as it attempted to escape the aviary.

[E Orix]

Jayburd
Originally I thought to let others make comment on your heart breaking problems but I would like to back up Southy's opinions.
Also sadly I concur with fincher I am not the youngest and we do need a new young batch of people taking up the hobby for the future.
Mice yes they are carnivorous but in my experience they only eat bodies that are already dead including their own kind. I have a very large layout which has sections that are 25 years old.Sadly I have a mouse population inside and outside which needs constant baiting to control it. I buy Tom Cat bait in the drum. In my time I can't think of an instant when a bird or nest was attacked. I have found mice (in winter) to take over a nest or nest box to live or breed in, they do disturb birds at night,soil food and are down right horrible and must be controlled.
The big worry are RATS,a half grown one will get through a gap of 25mm and will clean out your collection in no time. A friend sadly had a rat get in his collection(large) and when he realise the numbers were down went looking and caught a rat in a log.He found literally dozens of legs many with the leg rings still on.The rat simply woke at night caught a bird and took it back to its hide. If your birds didn't escape I would be looking for a rat near your cage.
The only other things could be a snake,Currawongs will pull a bird through a vertical wire cage and the other is a mouse like native called an Anakinus(spelling?)
which apparently is a vicious hunter.
When you do get more birds go for the middle rung species at first and breed them up. You will have success and losses but it will tell you what is suitable for your area,that your aviary is a succesful one or not and the breedings will build your confidence up.Birds like Red or Blue Parrot Finches,Cordons,Fires,Cubans
Stars to name a few.Just remember that the majority of people who have the rare species didn't start off with them. They started with less expensive, good breeding types that would put up with the nest inspections and the owners mistakes. In 1969 I saw my first pair of Grenadier Weavers in a dealers shop at $275.00 for the pair, a huge amount of money for them in those days. I went home and cleaned out 2 aviaries full of birds,sold them to another dealer and picked up the Weavers.Even at that stage I had been breeding Cubans,Longtails etc for a number of years.That was my start in Weavers but I had experience to be able to breed them by that time. So think long and hard before you get new species,Blue Caps are lovely but not easy,master breeding Cordons first and then go for the species you dream about. Keep at it and if you need help in stocking let me know as I am sure there would be a spare pair of Reds or Blue P/Finches here.

[finchbreeder]

Research into how to make the avairy rodent proof while waiting to move house sounds like a good way to start the next stage of your finch keeping. You could also research the needs of the type of finch you most want to keep in this new avairy, then look at what other types of finches are compatible with this most wanted and decide on what to keep this way. Pleased to here you are too strong to let this beat you.
LML

[Jayburd]

Thanks Eorix.
The animal your thinking of is an antechinus.
Snakes would have eaten the birds whole, and most of the birds were in areas that would have been impossible to reach by avian predators (butcherbirds etc.)
I've had success with red faces, but I've also had cordons with infertile eggs, and gouldians with chicks that died, and I have had fires on a nest. I've had longtails with eggs, zebbies and quails with over 10 young each, and I am not too fond of cubans or stars. I'll be getting cutthroats soon. They've bred and I hope i'll have to same good luck.
So, even though very few succeeded, I do have some experience, plus an army of info from all you guys!
I've been doing blue cap research for the last 2 years. I agree, to a degree, that I do need to master cordons first.

[BENSONSAN]

jay i know most of us a doing it but i got good gouldians and only have mine in a small aviary and they bred straight up ive also got them on eggs again now. They might be worth looking into again for you? As i said before on here if i can breed erm anyone can. I do spoil mine alot tho lotsa milk seed veggies eggfood and all. But i guess like anything you gotta put in what u get out. What about painteds aswell?
They all breed well.
Ben

[Jayburd]

I have a pir of breeding gouldians at the moment

[BENSONSAN]

awesome!