Aussie Finch Forum

Tiaris wrote:I certainly would not be cutting back canary seed during the breeding season. Its the time it should be increased if anything. Check crop contents of young - mostly canary seed when they have a good mix. Colder weather at this time of year also warrants extra canary seed which is the clear preference of Gouldians. During the non-breeding season I agree that too much canary seed can contribute unwanted body fat, but now is the very time that extra is needed.

I totally agree Tiaris,but that is not what i was saying.If you look at that mix it is more than 90% canary seed and the birds look a bit tubby,there needs to be a variety of seed in fairly equal proportions.
The reason i said to cut the canary back and add more white millet was to trim them down,none of those birds look in breeding condition and i doubt wether they have young.When i was breeding gouldians,the young birds in the nests crops were always choc full of White millet and a little canary,totally opposite to yours. Craig

I feed a finch mix with extra canary to my birds at this time of year also. But not that much extra canary either. Ditto a preference for canary from my Gouldians, with white millet as a strong 2nd preference.
LML

crocnshas wrote:

Tiaris wrote:I certainly would not be cutting back canary seed during the breeding season. Its the time it should be increased if anything. Check crop contents of young - mostly canary seed when they have a good mix. Colder weather at this time of year also warrants extra canary seed which is the clear preference of Gouldians. During the non-breeding season I agree that too much canary seed can contribute unwanted body fat, but now is the very time that extra is needed.

I totally agree Tiaris,but that is not what i was saying.If you look at that mix it is more than 90% canary seed and the birds look a bit tubby,there needs to be a variety of seed in fairly equal proportions.
The reason i said to cut the canary back and add more white millet was to trim them down,none of those birds look in breeding condition and i doubt wether they have young.When i was breeding gouldians,the young birds in the nests crops were always choc full of White millet and a little canary,totally opposite to yours. Craig

Totally agree with you Craig...particularly the comment regarding which seed are in the crops of young....WFM

Wow, thanks all for the great replies.

I think some of our birds are a bit tubby....and some are eating a lot. We have 4 pairs on eggs at the moment but those birds seem trim, taut and terrific!

We've had the first few of weeks of quite cold mornings...down to 2c....it changed quite quickly, and some of the birds are eating a lot in the morning and then sleeping in the early morning sun for a while....so maybe they are bulking up a bit more for winter?

The seed mix is about 50% canary and the rest mixed so I'll cut it back and see how it goes.

natamambo wrote:I believe so Adam, but breeding resuts is the only way to know for the WB. Pair with a normal hen, any normal daughters (50% on average will be normals) will prove he's a SF. Any normal sons likewise (again 50%). If you use a PB hen that will make the SF more obvious in the male offspring as they are generally close to normal in back colour.

Thanks natamambo,

We're not set up for cage breeding yet - plans are afoot. His only choices are PB Normals so we'll know if he gets lucky! At the moment he's really active and keen but none of the available hens fancy him.

adamj wrote:

natamambo wrote:I believe so Adam, but breeding resuts is the only way to know for the WB. Pair with a normal hen, any normal daughters (50% on average will be normals) will prove he's a SF. Any normal sons likewise (again 50%). If you use a PB hen that will make the SF more obvious in the male offspring as they are generally close to normal in back colour.

Thanks natamambo,

We're not set up for cage breeding yet - plans are afoot. His only choices are PB Normals so we'll know if he gets lucky! At the moment he's really active and keen but none of the available hens fancy him.

Adam, he shouldn't be sending a hen to nest right now anyone, it will be too cold for the young. My last nest fledged yesterday, I'm removing all my nests in the next few days, doing a bit of a clean and (literally) flushing out the remaining mice (no good doing that while there are nests in there or that's where the mice head).

Hi Adam,

I am still persisting with my breeding season down here in Melbourne. The temp's are not too bad down here in Melbourne so for birds that have not had 2 full clutches of young I cannot see any issue with breeding at the moment.

Cheers
Paul

Agree with you Paul,everybody has different aviary set ups and management schemes ,weather conditions change all the time,the reason the cock bird is still trying to go to nest is because the breeding season still has months to go,everybody has different methods of breeding,what works for one doesn't mean everybody has to do the same,garyh

garyh wrote:Agree with you Paul,everybody has different aviary set ups and management schemes ,weather conditions change all the time,the reason the cock bird is still trying to go to nest is because the breeding season still has months to go,everybody has different methods of breeding,what works for one doesn't mean everybody has to do the same,garyh

Adam,

Gary is spot on....you tailor your breeding program according to your location and set up...for instance all my walls and roof are insulated. I also have lights on timers allowing me to extend the daylight hours (eg mine come on at 5AM and switch off at 8PM at night)...this allows me to extend the season longer than someone who may not have insulated roof/walls and may not have automatic lights.

I use lighting to extend hours to suit my work hours....I often get home after 6PM so if i didn't have lights I couldn't give my birds their second feed for the day. I use insulated walls/roof because with my previous set up I was sick of finding 10+ day old chicks frozen in the morning with full crops from the previous nights feed. Since insulating my avairy this has not occured....yes I still have things go wrong so you never stop learning and modifying your approach.

To assume that one solution fits all breeders is not the right way to go about breeding.

Cheers
Paul

Hi Again,

I just wanted to say a big thanks to you all.

I'm only just learning really and it's amazing to be able to come to a place like this where you all give so generously of your experience, time and knowledge.