Once again i have found out just how difficult the bullfinch is to breed,from a total of 24 chicks hatched,i only got 6 reared to independance
Heres a couple of nests with 1 and 2 day old chicks,11 in total between these 2 nests.
Bullfinch
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Nick Nolan
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- Posts: 19
- Joined: 01 Feb 2011, 06:23
- Location: IRELAND
Hi folks,i havent been on here for a while,but as our season is well over,and birds are almost finished the moult,i thought i would share some pics with you all..
Once again i have found out just how difficult the bullfinch is to breed,from a total of 24 chicks hatched,i only got 6 reared to independance
Heres a couple of nests with 1 and 2 day old chicks,11 in total between these 2 nests.
Once again i have found out just how difficult the bullfinch is to breed,from a total of 24 chicks hatched,i only got 6 reared to independance
Heres a couple of nests with 1 and 2 day old chicks,11 in total between these 2 nests.
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Nick Nolan
- ...............................
- Posts: 19
- Joined: 01 Feb 2011, 06:23
- Location: IRELAND
A couple of fledgelings with the parents
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Nick Nolan
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- Posts: 19
- Joined: 01 Feb 2011, 06:23
- Location: IRELAND
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Diane
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- Posts: 7402
- Joined: 05 Apr 2009, 14:23
- Location: Northern 'burbs of Adelaide
- Location: Northern 'burbs of Adelaide
Great pics. 25% success rate, did you find that it was individuals surviving from each clutch or just certain clutches survived?
Diane
The difference between Genius and Stupidity is, Genius has it’s limits
The difference between Genius and Stupidity is, Genius has it’s limits
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Nick Nolan
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- Posts: 19
- Joined: 01 Feb 2011, 06:23
- Location: IRELAND
Hi BB....Bullfinches will build a nest and incubate eggs with little or no trouble at all,its when the chicks hatch,that the trouble begins.
Some birds just will not rear their young for reasons unknown to me.This season i have had chicks abandoned from 1 day old to 1 week old,
I have 1 reliable pair of bullies who reared 4 of the 6 i got to independance.The other 2 were fostered under a canary,who reared them with no problems.
One of my breeding hens is a young bird that i bred last season,and she gave me an absolute nightmare,her first clutch of 5 hatched and all was well,until i rung the chicks at 8 days old,i purposely left the ringing until late in the evening, so she could settle down on the chicks for the night,but when i went out to check on them in the morning
all 5 were cold and dead on the aviary floor,she rejected the rings,which some hens do.so i gave her the benefit of the doubt and let her go for a second round,in which she hatched another 4 chicks.I kept a close eye on her and all seemed well for the first 3 days,but on the 4th morning,i found all 4 chicks dumped from the nest and dead.This time they had'nt even been rung
I let her go a 3rd round,but took the eggs away from her and finished her season.By coincidence i had 2 pair of canaries on eggs,so i swapped their eggs for the bullie eggs,3 in one nest and 2 in another,all 5 hatched but the nest of 3 were abandoned at 1 day old by the canary,
the other 2 were reared to independance by a scruffy little mixed breed canary,she was an excellent mother to them,worth her weight in gold....
The bullfinch is regarded as a real challenge to breed,and i know first hand just how much of a challenge they are,its a good job i managed to rear 16 redpolls aswell,because if you were breeding bullies alone,they would break your heart ....But hey,thats why i love em 
Some birds just will not rear their young for reasons unknown to me.This season i have had chicks abandoned from 1 day old to 1 week old,
I have 1 reliable pair of bullies who reared 4 of the 6 i got to independance.The other 2 were fostered under a canary,who reared them with no problems.
One of my breeding hens is a young bird that i bred last season,and she gave me an absolute nightmare,her first clutch of 5 hatched and all was well,until i rung the chicks at 8 days old,i purposely left the ringing until late in the evening, so she could settle down on the chicks for the night,but when i went out to check on them in the morning
all 5 were cold and dead on the aviary floor,she rejected the rings,which some hens do.so i gave her the benefit of the doubt and let her go for a second round,in which she hatched another 4 chicks.I kept a close eye on her and all seemed well for the first 3 days,but on the 4th morning,i found all 4 chicks dumped from the nest and dead.This time they had'nt even been rung
I let her go a 3rd round,but took the eggs away from her and finished her season.By coincidence i had 2 pair of canaries on eggs,so i swapped their eggs for the bullie eggs,3 in one nest and 2 in another,all 5 hatched but the nest of 3 were abandoned at 1 day old by the canary,the other 2 were reared to independance by a scruffy little mixed breed canary,she was an excellent mother to them,worth her weight in gold....
The bullfinch is regarded as a real challenge to breed,and i know first hand just how much of a challenge they are,its a good job i managed to rear 16 redpolls aswell,because if you were breeding bullies alone,they would break your heart
....But hey,thats why i love em 
