Aussie Finch Forum

Hi folks,

I've not kept painted firetails before, but I was considering a flock - say 3 or 4 pairs as the sole residents of my aviary (4 x 2 m).

Does anyone have thoughts/experiences on the pros and cons of a colony?

jluna wrote:Hi folks,

I've not kept painted firetails before, but I was considering a flock - say 3 or 4 pairs as the sole residents of my aviary (4 x 2 m).

Does anyone have thoughts/experiences on the pros and cons of a colony?

Painteds are great birds to keep in a colony,non agressive and can become very confiding to their owner but in saying that cock birds can do some chasing to other cocks when they are displaying to a hen but there is not much in it other than the displaying cock misses out doing his thing.

Aviaries need to be very dry with rocks and logs and tussock like plants in parts of the aviary where the sun shines most of the day as painteds sit on the floor more so than most other Australian finches and young remain on the floor huddled together after they fledge for a few days.
Nesting can be on the floor or as high as you put your dry brush attached to the wall.Nesting materials range from small sticks/stones and charcoal for a platform and finished off with regular nesting grasses like pannic veldt and swamp grass.

Normal finch mix and greens and grains or any of the smaller weed seeds are preferred,live food is not necessary but they will take small mealworms and small maggots and copious amounts of seeding grasses but only when they have young.
To sum it up,dry protected open layout aviary with a desert like feeling. Cheers Craig

I have found them hard to sell afterwards.

I know we dont breed purely for economic reasons but a flock of painted will breed up large numbers very quickly so you will need a place to house all the young prior to moving them on (unless your main flight is massive).

I ran 2 pairs per aviary and the amount of young produced was crazy.

I struggled to sell them all and ended up with an aviary full of young.

Apart from that I think they would be a delightful finch to have in a flock setting.

They are tame, their song is nice and they look stunning.

No Live food required but mealies always go down well.

With the dimensions you list I think they would be fine as sole occupants (4 pairs), you would then have room to support the young produced.

It's sounding very tempting... now I need to find a good line of those full-fronted red males!

They are everything that has just been said of them in the way of a great little bird. Good luck in sourceing the stock. And don't forget use 2 sources to make sure they are not related.
LML

jluna wrote:It's sounding very tempting... now I need to find a good line of those full-fronted red males!

I was going to suggest that or the up and coming fawns,there are quite a few being bred now as it's an easy mutation being Autosomal recessive. Craig

Make sure you have plenty of grass and shelter on the ground of your aviary, as the young tend to fledge too early and spend their first few nights roosting on the ground.

I have two pairs in a 1.5x.15 aviary along with a few pairs of Gouldians, and they get along and breed great.