The perfect stepping stone finch.
Posted: 07 Aug 2014, 09:47
This brief article if based upon my experiences. In light of some recent posts I thought I would write this brief article about a finch that helped me go from beginner finches (zebs) to intermediate finches (strawbs). This finch is the blue face parrot finch. Please feel free to add anything I missed 
Housing: BFPF are prone to obesity so to avoid that they need a somewhat spacious area. I house mine in a 2h x 2.2w x 3l aviary and place the food, water, live food and greens in different sections of the aviary making sure they make full use of the aviary. They also don't like the wet and cold so the aviary setup should always have that in mind.
Breeding: They are the easiest of the parrot finch to breed and will breed all year round if you let them. I give mine a break in winter and only allow 3 clutches per year. They use almost every nesting site. They are not picky when it comes to compatibility (normals). They do require some privacy when breeding and depending on the pair will not tolerate nest inspections. I tend to only house one pari per aviary as males can pack rape and kill hens if the ration of cocks to hens gets to high.
Diet: These guys eat anything and everything. I feed mine greens, live food, grit, eggshells, cuttlebone, lebanese cucumber, soft food, sprouted seeds (only if a shortage of greens) seed mix, murpys minerals and some oils. These guys do not need live food to breed them but I have always found they go a little bit better when provided some but remember the obesity problem so limit the amount provided.
Behaviour: Always on the move, especially during breeding. It is key not to house these guys in an overcrowded aviary as they will stress everyone out and can be quite "rough" during the breeding season. They are not aggressive but extremely inquisitive and can disturb more timid species out of breeding.
Medication: Because they eat anything and everything there are always on the ground so need a good worming program (I do mine every 3 months)
Keep in mind: these guys will hybrid with other parrot finches and gouldians (I keep mine with gouldians and have never had a problem with it but always keep an eye on them during breeding season)
So what have they taught me:
- The importance of limiting the amount of finches per aviary
- Housing boisterous birds with bigger more robust birds so breeding is not affected
- A good worming program
- The importance of a varied diet but watching portions
- The importance of giving finches privacy during breeding
- Having the correct aviary set up for each finch
- Not running your birds into the ground by over breeding them
- I'm sure there are more I just cant thing of them right now
I honestly believe if you can nail these guys you can easily go into Gouldians, Chestnuts, OB waxbill, Ruddies, Saints, RFPF, African Silvebills and many others (thats not to say they will automatically breed as each finches needs are different)
Hope this helped any beginners (the pics are of some of my BFPF)
Housing: BFPF are prone to obesity so to avoid that they need a somewhat spacious area. I house mine in a 2h x 2.2w x 3l aviary and place the food, water, live food and greens in different sections of the aviary making sure they make full use of the aviary. They also don't like the wet and cold so the aviary setup should always have that in mind.
Breeding: They are the easiest of the parrot finch to breed and will breed all year round if you let them. I give mine a break in winter and only allow 3 clutches per year. They use almost every nesting site. They are not picky when it comes to compatibility (normals). They do require some privacy when breeding and depending on the pair will not tolerate nest inspections. I tend to only house one pari per aviary as males can pack rape and kill hens if the ration of cocks to hens gets to high.
Diet: These guys eat anything and everything. I feed mine greens, live food, grit, eggshells, cuttlebone, lebanese cucumber, soft food, sprouted seeds (only if a shortage of greens) seed mix, murpys minerals and some oils. These guys do not need live food to breed them but I have always found they go a little bit better when provided some but remember the obesity problem so limit the amount provided.
Behaviour: Always on the move, especially during breeding. It is key not to house these guys in an overcrowded aviary as they will stress everyone out and can be quite "rough" during the breeding season. They are not aggressive but extremely inquisitive and can disturb more timid species out of breeding.
Medication: Because they eat anything and everything there are always on the ground so need a good worming program (I do mine every 3 months)
Keep in mind: these guys will hybrid with other parrot finches and gouldians (I keep mine with gouldians and have never had a problem with it but always keep an eye on them during breeding season)
So what have they taught me:
- The importance of limiting the amount of finches per aviary
- Housing boisterous birds with bigger more robust birds so breeding is not affected
- A good worming program
- The importance of a varied diet but watching portions
- The importance of giving finches privacy during breeding
- Having the correct aviary set up for each finch
- Not running your birds into the ground by over breeding them
- I'm sure there are more I just cant thing of them right now
I honestly believe if you can nail these guys you can easily go into Gouldians, Chestnuts, OB waxbill, Ruddies, Saints, RFPF, African Silvebills and many others (thats not to say they will automatically breed as each finches needs are different)
Hope this helped any beginners (the pics are of some of my BFPF)
