Breeding times for red siskins

[Jim]

Hi All,
Please could you tell me at what time of the year are red siskins normally bred.
Is there any specific month when people start to build there birds ready for breeding regarding softfoods and greens.
Thanks, Jim

[Tiaris]

Their breeding season is Spring & Summer. Some pairs start as early as August & some go as late as May.

[Jim]

Thanks Tiaris, would you recommend that the cock is separated from the hen by a wire slide in cages, when she begins to lay eggs.
And let the cock back in with the hen when eggs hatch out, in case of the cock causing damage to the eggs.

[SamDavis]

Mine are now nesting again after a break over January. Crushed sunflower, niger and thistle are the favoured foods for mine. Some hens take a few mealworms too. I have them in aviaries so can't comment on cage breeding.

[Jim]

Thanks Sam for the advice, its appreciated along with the kind advice I have received from others.

[finchbreeder]

Would the fact that Jim is in Britian make a difference to the breeding season?
LML

[Tiaris]

Yes it would. I just realised Jim is in UK. Forget what I said about the months Jim - go with whatever your Spring/Summer months are. In cabinets if you have wire partitions it may be wise to keep them apart from end of the moult after Summer & at the start of Spring when you see the male whistling & if the hen then allows courtship feeding through the wire by the male & she starts to carry nesting material, then take the slide out & let them at it. I was in regular email contact with a bloke in northern England who specialised in cabinet breeding Red Siskins & we would regularly discuss Siskins & Rugby League, but I lost his email address after changing computers some months ago, so can't pass it onto you. Would have been useful for some more local advice on what to do in your neck of the woods.

[Jim]

Thanks for the great advice, this really is a top forum

[Tiaris]

I haven't cage bred them myself either - only bred them in outdoor aviaries, but have always found that the male will feed the female whilst she incubates so separating them once incubation commences may not be the way to go unless the male tries to drive the hen back to nest again too early or is too aggressive in the confines of the small cage.

[Tiaris]

Forgot to mention that good males will also feed young from a young age & increase to most of the feeding duties once they fledge. But if there are any problems & the male needs to be removed, hens will generally also feed them right through on their own if they aren't forced back to nest by having a male in with them. So you can take it as it comes by just keeping an eye on them & react if necessary as any problems arise. Hopefully they will both do their job & you won't need to intervene.