getting away without live food....

[toothlessjaws]

hi guys. i keep a few pairs of ruddies, orangebreasts and RRCB's....

i've only had the birds a few months but already i have am having lots of breeding activity, especially from the ruddies. unfortunately my first clutch of chicks were abandoned, no doubt to myself poking about. plenty of other nests full of eggs have been abandoned as well.

i have moved all the food/water etc to the front of the aviary so that i don't have to wander pasts nests in my daily routine. this has left me hoping i might have some more orangebreasts and ruddies on the way......

however the thing that interested me was that i really haven't been feeding them any live food of significance. i had been giving them mealworms but only the cordons ever really showed any interest. and since i have been so busy at work at the moment i just stopped. occasionally i gave them passwells soft food mix, but again i never really see them show much interest.

so really, they just get a good seed mix and lebanese cucumber.

yet still, they are sitting on eggs/chicks.

although my last ruddy nest was abandoned - for a long time i could see the birds were being fed seed and they lasted a week or so.

my question is - how much success can one expect with no livefood provided and with what waxbill species?

[Pete Sara]

hi i have bred ruddies with out live food. u dont get as many young as you would with live food. green seeding grasses can help a bit to if you having trouble with birds eating the soft food place some meal worms in it and they soon will get the taste.also try egg and biscut(crap my spelling bad today) but as for nest abandonment it could be any thing from mice or lice ants even, most of my birds stay put but i don't stick my nose in there nests so i don't risk loosing them but i have been breeding birds for years so the novalty of seeing whats in side has worn of a bit. but everyone has there own ideas on that( you make your own) have you enough room for a pot with vegie scraps in there to attract vinager flies there a good source of live food, plus sometimes the mealies are abit big for the birds so the smaller the live food the better but at the end of the day its my opinion so listen to many and make up your own idea on the matter...pete

[Mickp]

keeping away from the nests is a great place to start, so hard not to peek though.
with the livefood try to purchase the smallest mealworms you can and be prepared for the birds to take a while to get used to having them available. if you have access to termites they are an even better livefood to give your birds.
if you really need to look in a nest one of the safest ways to do it is by using a mechanics/dentist type mirror. this way you can look without poking your fingers in.

nice to see you here

[gomer]

hi there toothless,sounds like pete and mick have given you good advice.personally i dont look in nests except for gouldians as a rule.And also once you start a food source while breeding dont stop it untill young are selfsaficiant.

[toothlessjaws]

i can resist the temptation to look in the nests.

my birds LOVE the lebanese cucumber. and green seed if i get it. i'll do the vinegar fly thing. i keep meaning to try that as its been recommended a number of times. i was told niger is good for breeding - my birds show not so much interest in it and funny enough they totally ignore millet sprays!

unfortunately i don't get home till after dark so i really only get to see and care for my birds in the morning before work. that makes for little time to consistently give them anything i can't prepare from the box of fridge.

i live in the city so termites are definitely out.

however i don't really care if i don't have GREAT breeding success with my birds. just some. there are plenty of breeders of cordons, OB's and ruddies around. so long as they replace themselves and occasionally i buy in or swap for some new blood thats fine by me.

however, i'll probably get more serious about it later on. i'm a total addict to finches. i'm even starting to eye of some of the australian species.....

[Mickp]

thats what we like to hear, people admitting to their addiction

[Misso]

hi there toothless,sounds like pete and mick have given you good advice.personally i dont look in nests except for gouldians as a rule.And also once you start a food source while breeding dont stop it untill young are selfsaficiant.

Hi Gomer alittle off the topic here, but i was wondering how often you check gouldian nests? do you have a guildline, say 2-3 days after eggs are due to hatch to check if they hatched or any dead????, then 7 days later to see there progess etc???, then 14 days??? or do you check once at a certain time, would be intrested to know.


i check a couple of days after eggs are due to hatch make sure they are healthy and have full crops, remove any dead babies so not to fowl the nest, allthough that has'nt really happaned alot. then every so often after that to see how there going, i try and only check when i see both parents out eating so as not to disturb them, im leaning towards less and less interference as im sure it would be hindering my success a little bit.

whats are others thoughts on Gouldian Nest Check Tolarance and how often they check gouldian nests????

Jarryd

[Matt]

I check my nests every 3-4 days until I see eggs. Fertility check at around 8 days. Both parents both spend lots of time in the nest around hatching day(s) so I don't check again until chicks are around 1 week old. From that point, I have a sticky beak each morning until fledgling.
I think the most critical time not to disturb them is around hatching time and a couple of days after, which ironically is the point in time everyone wants to peak.

[Mickp]

with gouldians I dont peek until there is a hell of a lot of noise coming from the nest, normally a week old by this time.

[gomer]

Jarryd because i have so many avairys.I mainly only check if im in the avairy for somthing.Like cleaning auto waterers,or looking for a bird i havent seen for a couple of days,unless i think there maybe a problem.If i only have say one pair of a certain colour,which i dont at the moment then every few days or when i can if busy at work.