Cabinet Or Aviary

[VR1Ton]

John,

Tiaris was only giving you his opinion (and a very informed one, I might add), as was asked, & am sure when he said Good Luck, he was sincere. I have breed finches in cabinets from Zebs & Bengalese to Gouldians, & even had a Plumhead breed with a zeb, whilst in a holding cabinet I hadn't taken a nest out of, it can be done, but the birds are generally not as stong as birds breed in an aviary situation, with limited access to direct sunlight & room to move, you get feather problems, a higher incidences of eggbinding, obesity & a few other problems, that are significantly reduced when they have access to sunlight & open space to move about freely & exercise. This in no way means that it can't be done with good results, as diet can be more precisely controlled, but as said, breeding results would more than likely be greater, & stronger, more robust birds would be produced in an aviary situation.

I no longer keep finches in cabinets (except for quarentine), & have not for nearly 15 years. To add to this, the last pair of Zebs I breed in cabinets produce 3-4 young each nest, when put into an aviary, the next 3 nest all had 6 young, & one of these young won 3 Champion Zeb of Show, 1 Champ. Aust. Finch in Show, & 1 Grand Champ Fich in Show, 3 of wich were in the one show, & it was a hen.

Peter

[Myzomela]

If you are going to house some of your birds in cabinets, just make sure that they get to spend some time in flights outside the breeding season. This way you will maintain their fitness and minimise problems such as obesity, egg binding etc.

[jusdeb]

Good idea .

[Simba]

I have found if you buy Gouldians born and raised in Aviaries they take a while to settle down to breed in Cabinets (I have found about 4 weeks is not usual) and although most will breed eventually some never settle enough to breed, so having a spare aviary for the odd pair(s) that won't settle is useful.

If you decide to use Cabinets try to buy Cabinet bred birds they will settle more quickly for breeding.

I have been experimenting this year with cabinets and aviaries (one with 5pr & one with 3pr) and so far have had better results in the cabinets, If I had the space & money I would build indiviual aviaries ( one pair per aviary) that way you get the best of both worlds.

[Sicj]

Hi Simba.
What size are your breeding cabinets?

We are going to have a breeding cabinet room and a couple flights so have the best of both worlds.
Not long now till it starts getting made.

[jusdeb]

Dont forget the photos

[Myzomela]

Hi Sicj,

Don't rush with your cabinets. Have a look around at different designs. In particular look for features that will make cleaning & feeding & nest inspection easier so that maintanence doesn't become a chore. eg sliding trays to catch droppings & other waste; dettachable wire fronts so that you can get in and clean the walls etc easily; automatic watering systems- well and truly worth the effort and initial increase in cost; provision for dividers to give you the option of incraesing or decreasing the size of each until easily.
Look at some canary set ups close to you. Compare these with Mike Fidler's set up as can be seen on his DVD. Then build what suits you!

Have fun; designing and building cages and aviaries can be exciting!