Aussie Finch Forum

I have a question in breeding for better colour. We have a yong cock bird with nice colour (a painted) so I have been trying to find a nicely coloured hen for him to continue improving on colour. Now the other half, who has in the past bred budgies and canaries, tells me that you pair one good coloured bird with a dull one. I haven't yet clarified with him the whys and wherefores, and was hoping to get some insights from others on the forum as to the best way to breed from him (the painted, not the other half!!!!). The hen he is currently paired with is pretty average in terms of colour. they are just starting to nest so no idea as to what they would produce yet.
Thank you for any information.

Seem to recall reading that the hen that has a dull mate will produce more hens, but otherwise don't know of anything to do with bright and dull mates.
LML

Breeding for better colour.
I breed gouldian finches and i put good coloured birds together
that produces good quality birds size and health matters ,good luck
cheers flavio.

If you wish to increase the redness of the young, a good hen for redness will be just as important in producing redder young as is the cock. Hens with some red on the belly plus head usually result in redder fronted young in both sexes. In particular a hen with red under the beak is a very good indicator of strong red features. Best to best pairings nearly always result in the highest proportion of better quality young.

Thanks for the replies, will definitely find him a nicely coloured hen. Tiaris, is your avatar one of your birds? it is the inspiration for what I would like to end up with one day - in the very very distant future I suspect!

Yes, he's one I bred last Summer. It only took 6 years of selective breeding from very average Painteds to regularly produce birds like him. Let all your young colour up the only keep the very best & they will improve drastically each season. Same with any species - choose your direction then breed toward it.

Sounds good. The hard part would be to source the right stock to partner the selected birds to... As we have a few species and little room to keep multiple unrelated pairs for breeding stock. First hitch in my plan! Beautiful bird by the way Tiaris... Shame you are not over here on the West coast.

I've sent a few over that way.