Studying finches

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BrettB
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Hello Jessica,
My post went missing as well ! Fortunately Rod has covered most of it (and in more detail)
It is very nice to see someone, young or old, doing their research first.

First question is do you want to breed your finches ? This would make a big difference to what I would recommend.
All Australian finches available in the USA can be maintained on dry seed, fresh water and a few greens. Breeding is another matter.

Are there any local breeders ? Local knowledge is very important. I always talk extensively to the person I buy birds from (not the pet shop), how are they housed, what are they fed, etc. Individual birds have different tastes that start when they are young. For instance, my Gouldians will not eat any greens at all. They only take dry seed, green seed and sprouted seed. Most of the information on this site relates to aviary birds, cage birds have slightly different requirements. If you do not have any local contacts I know a "bird person" in Texas who does (or did) a lot of travelling to shows / sales etc and she may be able to point you in the right direction.

Finally, start small. One or two pair of easy to keep birds. It is such a shame when people (usually older men ... like me) start with birds that are more complex, do not have success and give up on finches all together. Surprisingly no-one has mentioned the mighty Zebra finch, I think if you polled AFF members 90% would recommend it as the best "first finch".

Cheers
Brett
"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are ." Anais Nin
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finchbreeder
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Agree with Brett that Zebs are one of the easiest and most enjoyable finches to keep. I had them as my 1st finch and still have them (though in many more mutations) today.
They were not however on your list.
If you want to learn mutations they are an excellent finch - if you do not want to learn mutations they are an excellent finch - if you want an easy to breed and keep finch they are an excellent finch. I see a pattern here.
LML
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Jessica
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Location: Oregon USA

Hello Brett! Do I want to breed my finches? I bought nests first purchase thinking these birds would want to sleep in nests - it seemed natural, hahah! I won't put nests in at first (I don't think) but I might change my mind. Yes, I want to breed them but I'm realizing I should put on the brakes a bit. I don't want a flock of finches that can only be sold for $25 and I have several cages full and they are brothers and sisters now so they can't be together past a certain age etc etc ... I realize it might be a bit much until I get the basics down pat.

I can see it now ... back up that 15-wheeler, Nute ... all that seed will only feed my 1,000 finches for a week! I'd start paying people to take one!

No local breeders that I can find. One in Washington and I'm sure some in California but the ones I've tried on west coast, most seem to be out of business which is ANOTHER reason I want to be sure before I invest into it as a 'profession'. I can get ahead of myself and I want to study the market further and that might influence the finches I begin breeding.

I would love a link to the breeder in Texas. Really, I'm struggling to FIND birds to buy but that's a good thing since I have much to learn and I haven't even put together the cage yet. Wow, difference between aviary and cage - seems obvious now but it wasn't when I started; same with their prior feeding behaviors etc. :-)

That's a pretty strong pattern, LML! Well, my friend's zebra finches are like fingernails on a blackboard to me. :-O I'm sure it's just me. They sound like very rude crows! Maybe I should give zebras a second chance and listen to OTHER zebras on YouTube. You'all wouldn't recommend them if they weren't good birds! Okay, they're on my list! Oh such fun! Bless ya all for helping!
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Rod_L
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Some finches sleep in nests at night and others don't, so you will need nests in the cage/ aviary for the species that do sleep in nests. Birds that naturally sleep in nests can be more prone to panic flying at night when it's dark if they sleep out in the open on a perch. This doesn't mean they will always panic fly, but just they are more prone to it if they don't have a nest to sleep in.

Birds that sleep in nests are less likely to suffer from cold weather because they are not exposed to the elements and the nest helps to insulate them.

Zebra finches, Shaft-tail (black hearts), Parsons, Owl (double bar), and my Painteds used to sleep in nests.
Gouldians, Stars and a lot of the others don't.

This is a bottleneck nest, which is preferred by most Australian finches, especially black hearts, parsons and owls.
https://www.petshopdirect.com.au/shop/i ... ket-rattan


This style of nest was preferred by my zebra finches back in the 70s and 80s. They will probably use anything these days due to domestication (captive breeding).
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0406/ ... 1599803591

Gouldians will use a nest box or hollow log when breeding but sleep out in the open when not breeding.

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With nests, you can put some green or dry grass in them and squish it down a bit. Then have more grass in the cage and let the birds finish building the nest to their desired shape.
death to all cats & ants
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finchbreeder
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My Zebs will nest in practically anything. Wooden boxs, hanging baskets, old bait containers, old light fittings, cardboard boxs. They do like to be offered lots of different types of grasses in all different lengths to line those nests with. Feathers and tissue paper are also very popular (white by preference) but all donations gratefully received. They are noisier than Owls or Societies. Particularly when you have several dozen.
LML
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Rod_L
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Speaking of materials to line the nest, DO NOT use coconut fibre or hair. These can get tangled around the bird's legs or toes and cut them off.
death to all cats & ants
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rebecca1453
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Rod_L wrote: 29 Dec 2020, 10:56 Don't believe everything you see on YouTube or online. I have seen some utter rubbish online and lots of people reckon it's really good information.

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Cordon Blue finches require live food if you want to breed them. So do virtually all African finches. Australian finches on the other hand don't need live food and do really well on green grass seeds when it comes to breeding. This should make your mum happy (no bugs in the house). :)

The weavers should have an aviary at least 3 metres (10 feet) long and should not be kept with Gouldians or other small peaceful finches because the weavers can get a bit aggressive during breeding. Weavers actually do best in huge aviaries with multiple pairs of birds so they can breed in colonies.

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Most Australian finches do best in colonies and breeding results can be reduced if they are kept with other species. Gouldians and owl finches (double bar finches) should be ok but the Gouldians are significantly bigger than the owl finches and might bully them a bit.

The Bengalese (society) finches are big enough to live with Gouldians but might decide to take over the other bird's nests and rear their young.

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You can grow types of bamboo, Australian bottlebrush, Eucalyptus and Acacias (wattles) in pots and put them in the cage for the birds. Types of bamboo are very changable for growing. They are all safe for birds and quite easy to grow. They have tough leaves and do well indoors or outdoors (in most climates) and would provide you with some natural plants in the cage.

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Have you thought about making your own cage/s?
You can buy slotted angle iron from any hardware store and build a frame with that. The frame gets held together with nuts & bolts. If you make the frame 6-10 foot long x 2 foot wide x 6 foot high, you could divide it into 3 sections (going up). This would give you 3 separate bamboo cages that were 6-10 foot long x 2 ft wide x 2 ft high. You wrap the whole thing in wire and put some shelves on each level and away you go.

This size cage would let the birds have flying room and you could have different birds in each cage, but it would only take up a small amount of space.
Thank you for this advice...
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