Aussie Finch Forum

Can someone tell me what time of the year Strawberry cocks start to colour up

I think any time of the year as some i had bred uncoloured and others bred when they came into colour. Craig

Wow has been around 20yrs since I bred them, but going through my records of when young fledged I would take a guess around September..

Thanks, it's just that my pair are on their second nest after fledging 2 young 4 weeks ago
and the cock is very plain looking.Looks like I won't be able to sex the young for some time.

I seem to remember they took up to 2yrs to attain full colour and song

branchez wrote:Thanks, it's just that my pair are on their second nest after fledging 2 young 4 weeks ago
and the cock is very plain looking.Looks like I won't be able to sex the young for some time.

Branchez,you can sex young stawberrys by the rump colour,hens will have a rusty coloured rump with no spots,while cocks tend to have more reddish rump with faint white spots. Craig

Thanks for that Craig, when I catch them up I'll have a look at them and the other 1 they fledged in March.

Here in the West at least, mine colour up around Jan/ Feb. They breed from Feb through to Sept/Oct for me. Some will breed uncoloured but i find the best breeders will stay coloured longer. I believe i can sex the young before their first moult as hens seem to have a brownish breast whereas young males are quite light/white on the breast, although i am reluctant to part with any before their first moult. Depending on conditions, the young first moult around 4-6 months and young cocks are obvious by the white spots on the rump. Mine attain full colour and will breed within their first year but seem better in the second year and on. I have one pair that regularly fledge 5/6 and have recently fledged their 3rd nest of 5.
Cheers Tony

Mine always coloured best here around new year. Before it warms right up they tend to gain some colour but not achieve full colour until around January. Absolute picture at this time & highly variable thereafter.