Aussie Finch Forum

These little guys fledged 6 days ago (23rd July). To my amazement 5 Lesser Red Brow young appeared one by one. I don't think it is common to have a large clutch like this, especially in the middle of winter. Has anyone else had Lessers breeding in winter? The rest of my pairs bred in late spring and early Autumn. Perhaps they do this in the wild being a tropical bird. I have also included a cute photo of two having a cuddle. The parents are terrific! Regards Greg

Good Healthy Chicks...Well Done so whats your secret? feeding etc?

I am not sure there is a secret. I am still finding out about their habits and what they like. The are housed in an avairy that is made of cool room panels with suspended flights. These ones are housed with Painteds and Yellow Rumps. The Yellow Rumps are a bit irritated with the Lesser "swarm". There are plenty of nest sites (tea tree).

The are feed a high quality finch seed with Leb cucumber, "Grains n Greens", soft food (my recipe which I am experimenting with) and maggots. I use Poly's calcium grit and diatomacious earth as well.

All in all a fabulous finch that is full of character.

Greg

Congrats Hope you breed more

Congrats on the young.
I really hope you breed more

When i kept them here they wouldnt generally start until April. They always went bent better through winter, i had one clutch of six but the norm was 3 or 4.Congrats on breeding a few, they are lovely finches.

Thats very true DB,i fledged my first young around a month ago.They haven't been bred long enough in aviaries to change their breeding cycle as they breed in the dry season in far north Qld which starts around April/May.
A couple of years ago,i wintered my prs in cabinets in my birdroom and during this time i had a call from the person i got them from telling me he had just fledged a few batches of 5 and his birds are doing really well.He freaked when i told him mine were in holding cages till spring
The following day i put them back in their aviaries and with in a week they were building nests,lesson learnt. Craig

Congratulations to everyone who is breeding this loverly little finch. Keep up the good work.
LML

They are a beautiful finch. Keep up the good work. I see these guys in the wild near craigieburn often.

FinchKing wrote:They are a beautiful finch. Keep up the good work. I see these guys in the wild near craigieburn often.

Whoo Finchking,these are not the common redbrows seen around Melbourne,they are a rarer subspecie from Cape York Qld. Craig