Aussie Finch Forum

Hi,
Just wanted to know is it better to colony breed tri coloured parrot finches, or as single pairs in separate aviaries. I have four pr in one aviary, 3m x 1.4m x 2.4m high. They have been in there for about four weeks and nothing is happening, except they stripped the nest boxes of November grass.

I breed on colony system but found they need lots of privacy from other birds plus youself...so order of the day is shrubbery...I use second hand xmas trees.... easy to wash and replace after use (& cheap bought 2 from Salvation Army store for $12 the other week)...otherwise my mate does quite well also in single pairs...as I'm away a lot I dont have time to look after multiple breeding aviaries...whereas couple of community aviaries works for me... I should also point out I have multiple feed stations and partitions in aviary so you/birds can't see from one end of aviary to the other in breeding section..

Keep mine one pair to an aviary with a variety of native & foreign finches as well as chats with no problems.

Mine build almost completely with emu feathers.

Regards

Alf63

In that sized aviary I would only run 1 pr (along with a few other finches) and provide dense bunches of "cover"/brush. They do not like to feel exposed & need to have a couple of options to seek refuge where they at least think you can't see them for some of the time. The sense of security they have when this is offered (as well as a compatable pair) will drastically improve your chances of breeding success. A varied low-fat diet with plenty of green grass heads, etc. is also greatly beneficial to breeding success as is a plentiful supply of extra nesting materials (emu feathers as indicated above are highly favoured & can be bought from the forum). Young lean adult birds are the only genuine breeding prospects in this species. Good luck.