Aussie Finch Forum

No good, they will go again. Maybe lay some ant stuff around the aviary.

Just for my interest, when you say they were dead but had full crops did you mean you could see white seeds
in the crop.
If you are feeding mainly dry seed and your mix has a higher percentage of white millet then they probably died of starvation through the night. White millet can be too hard for some birds to digest quickly. I run a large number of Saints
and their diet is mainly soaked seed in particular when they are feeding chicks. They eat a large amount of white millet
but it seems mainly when it has been soaked for about 3 hours
At times gouldians can suffer the same fate
I must be lucky as I can not remember ever having lost a nest of chicks to ant infestation.

I have sprayed the perimeter of the aviary with pyrethrum so hopefully that will deter them. They did have seed in the crop but they receive a sprouted seed mix with avi blue, corn, carrot, peas and kale everyday along with gents and a couple of mealworms. Another pair had two fledge today on the same diet. They also get cuttle fish, softfood, egg and biscuit and grit with egg shell and charcoal. This is my first time breeding saints so if I'm doing something wrong please let me know. They nested in a wicker basket and used swamp grass, white and emu feathers mainly.

It would be easier to tell with a clearer picture but I assume that's a pied.

18 months on it should certainly be obvious by now if it is a pied or not. And how the breeding went. Any update info?
LML

Hi guys. I’ve been MIA for a little while. Life got in the way, kids, new house etc. After the initial nest I got a whole lot of nothing (a few nests of clear eggs) and lost the bird only a month or so ago. It did retain the white markings though so I am pretty sure it was a pied.

Sorry to hear that things birdwise have not been the best. Hopefully the new house is going to lead to a new and more sucesfull season or 3.
LML