Aussie Finch Forum

hi I currently breed blackheaded purple breasts (bhpb) and black headed white breasts (bhwb) as a colony of 8 pr in a large aviary 4*8m. I keep them with red faced parrot finches 5pr and some grenadere weavers, they have successfully been breeding that way for the past 3-4yrs. I do like the look of the black headed blues but have been reluctant to try them as for years I have heard they were soft. I spoke to garyh a couple of years ago when I visited his avairies to purchase some birds (great setup) and he has been successfully breeding them outside for quite some time. I may try them next year however in the meantime I would like some opinions. are they hard enough to colony breed in an out door aviary? Should I get rid of the red faced parrot finches so I can increase gouldian pr numbers? I was thinking if I did I would run 3pr bhwb 6pr bhpb 3pr of blues. The weavers can be a little belligerent around breeding time and possibly have murdered several of my gouldians however i am presently reluctant to remove them as they are such a beautiful entertaining bird. Thoughts and feedback much appreciated john

Are you able to build another avairy to solve your dilema?
LML

Re the blues ask me in 6 months. I am collecting a few thus week. I am taking the 8 hour drive to Melbourne to collect them though as I have heard melB birds are tougher. I have also seen the difference in a fruends collection.

As for the weavers move them out. Mine had random rage fits to the point I had to move them out of the mixed collection.

Don't compare Grenadier Weavers with Madagascar Weavers
Grenadier Weavers are far more tolerant that Madagascar Weavers

Are you able to build another avairy to solve your dilema?
unfortunately ive ran out of yard

Hi john
Ideally u shld have blues paired up as 1~3 pairs per aviary. U can colony breed blues but make sure u only have blue cocks or hens. U don't want blue/blue pairing up. U will also need to monitor which young come from which parents so u don't gave siblings pairing up in da following seasons.

IMO those starting with blues shld limit pairs to 2 per aviary
Cheers
Paul

shnapper20 wrote:Are you able to build another avairy to solve your dilema?
unfortunately ive ran out of yard

I was able to relocate the weavers and am nearing the end of construction of 7 new flights. My exp is only with the madagascan weaver and I knew I was taking a punt putting him in the mixed aviary. I have heard the grenadier stands its ground more than it will chase down other birds but I wouldn't know fot sure. Do you have other aviaires or Can you section your existing aviary?

unfortunately ive ran out of yard
That's what hubby says about my avairy patch. But I am working on getting the fence moved sideways and replacing the pegola/junkheap next to them.
LML

paul wrote but make sure u only have blue cocks or hens. U don't want blue/blue pairing up................why?
I colony breed now as its to hard to monitor whos with who. I use to have cameras monitoring nest which sort of worked until 3 nest all fledged around the same day. so i gave up trying my results have been good though. I guess if you can only breed with splits and hope double factors will emerge it would be hard.

All mutations need to be bred carefully to ensure the mutation is carried on strong, healthy bloodlines. Using genetically normal, strong, healthy birds also helps the breeders determine how the mutation is carried. Breeding an emerging mutation in this way ensures any abnormalities/deaths can be seen and attributed correctly rather than a doubling up of any "abnormal/lethal genes". In this way steps can be taken to limit as much as possible the cause, effect and percentage of any problems arising.

Of course this is a slow, methodical and time consuming way to breed birds but should, in the long run, ensure you would have birds that you would be happy to sell on to others who could then go on to breed their own blue birds.

Blue gouldians are still a relatively new concept. I know some will say they have been around for many, many years and I would agree with that, but we need to remember that we are altering natures genetics when we meddle with breeding mutations and one of the humans failings is we want results....fast. Fast doesn't always end with the best results.
Nature on the other hand makes small changes slowly.

Even with the vast improvement in the life quality of blues these days I still dont think breeders in Australia who have put many years work in to creating these strong, healthy bloodlines of blues that are available today would suggest putting 2 blues together at this stage in the blue mutation development.
Widening the gene pool of blues is the major priority at the moment and that can only be done by building on the work already done, namely a continuation of introducing the normal genes when ever possible.

So in short a blue with a split blue is always your best option. This not only gives your bloodline an introduction of normal genes it also means you know that every chick will either be a blue or a split.