I have herd that breeding Zebra Finches is a lot easier than gouldians?
I do believe this is correct but to what extent ?
I purchased a pair of gouldian finches and plan to breed them, i have never owned any other finches although i have owned Parrots, budgies and many more.
This is my first birds im trying to breed, do you guys think i will be able to achieve this ?
They are fed seed, cuttlefish, greens, grasses and other fruits and vegetables. There will however be another pair added to there reasonably good sized aviary within the next couple days. They also have 3 breeding boxes (each different) in the cage.
the differance between goulds and zebs is simple. a zebbie can breed from 9 weeks of age yes 9 weeks thats why they are so easy to breed. goulds on the other hand from 9 months on wards or after 12 months is better... thats why zebbies are also known as flies.....pete
Why do people give the zebbies a bad name?
1. They dont always comply to what you want them to do like most birds.
2. I have had difficult ones. Try a few of the mutations
3. If you dont want so many of them, pull your boxes out or what ever they use after 2 nests. Then they wont be like flies.
And i am not saying all this because i have them. Its just common sense with breeding them.
Breeding Show Zebra Finches, Blue Gouldians, Pied Orange Breast.
The zeb is a great finch. Of all the finches, they give you the most satisfaction with their willingness to breed and ease of maintenance. They gave me the confidence to try the harder finches like gouldians. I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone starting out. Good point about them breeding like flies. Just remove the boxes. Simple!
Yes i started with them about 3-4years back and when i look back it was probably a confidence thing as well had trouble with all the other Birds and not nesting etc. I sold everything up and went out and bought a couple off pairs of Charcoals and went from that. Back to Parrotfinches, now Yellow Gouldians and Cream, Fawn Longtails
Breeding Show Zebra Finches, Blue Gouldians, Pied Orange Breast.
dont get me wrong but i love zebbies to bits to.their are so many colours to play with these days and eventually a pure bred one will only come from the wild....... goulds are easy to breed but keeping them alive through there first moult can be a bit tricky. they hate draughts but i will leave this one to some of you gouldian nuts to answer.......pete
Well so far i can say mine are breeding like zebra finches. As poitta said keep erm draught free i have clear plastic that i hang down over my aviary and i always leave half covered so they have somewere to retreat to.
Fresh green food bok choi leb cucumber etc sprouted seed and they go mental...well mine are anyways. Also i realy do think it plays a big part in who u get them off i bought mine from a guy whos got a solid bloodline bred outdoors and are very strong a robust. my cock bird and even the babies ive got look larger then the birds i see in shops.
One person who bought a pair of pete who i got mine off acually had petes cock bird do over 6 hens in his aviary and the other cock birds wer none the wiser.
Ben
melly_star wrote:So are gouldians difficult to breed ?
Nah they're pretty easy to breed, they do tend to protect their nests well so there's a bit of push and shove but other than that they're pretty mellow. Actually I reckon they're the most calm and people friendly finch i keep. When I first got into them I had heard they were hard to keep so i asked some questions http://www.aussiefinchforum.net/viewtop ... =43&t=2844, I've had no real issues with them so if your thinking about keeping them I'd say go for it.
Good idea to let people know which general area you are in so the advice they give is relavant to your area. Cause if you are in a hot dry area and they are in a cold wet area or vice versa the advice may be a bit
Zebs are great, I have them now and always have. Coments about range of types and taking nests out are sound.
LML
