Aussie Finch Forum

It's been a bad year. Lost 6 parrot finches in 2 weeks 4 hens 2 cocks. Don't know why could be weather. Worst was lost 4 in 1 nite. Heart breaking. I have know 9 Pf in 1 avairy that is 3.5m long & 1.8w. 5 cocks 4. Hens .. what is best way to keep em should I leave 3 pairs in the 1 avairy & put other 3 birds in diff avairy For 1 bloke told me it's better to have more hens than cocks.. iv also they just seem not to breed. Must be over crowded or just not breeding season yet..

Thats not good mate . Sorry you lost so many birds in such a short time ...

Hope someone can help you out with this one ...

mine are not breeding at the moment mate , in the old place in the 3 pair I had only 2 pair would breed early august but not while it was cold. My blue face were the same , never give up you could try 1 pair per cage and see or 1 pair on their own and the rest together and see if there is a differance, have you tried lebanese cucumber it can be an afrodizizac for them....is that aviary floor always wet , have they been wormed recently.....pete

It was wet for a while..(still is)I put plastic cover Over avairy so no draft can come in & to sort of make it bit warmer . But this morning took plastic cover down to half way so it can dry floor a bit.. Mmm now I'm worried the cold could kill them. It's really bugging me trying to stop floor being wet always.. Should put pavers or something similar to stop it..

Sorry to hear you have lost so many birds,But it sounds like a cold weather related issue, I would definatly not be trying to breed from them until the weather starts to warm up. How long have you had the PF's ?

its a hard one. As I am not a vet I can only make a guess without having tests done , personally wether the floor is paved or just earth , if the drianage is not right the water will not run away. could be night frights even...I even lost some about 7 years ago from ingesting mouse dropings that were blue from them eating baits...pete

When do you guys reckon I should separate them. In aug or sept.. In pairs by then I'll get a hen for my spare cock.. Should I put 3pairs in 1 avairy & 2 in other or 1pair inone avairy & 4 p in other

hey slick. i would definitely NOT try and breed the birds in melbourne over winter. i remove all my nesting material and just feed my birds plain seed and cucumber over winter to purposefully stop them. with the cold weather it just puts too much stress on the birds and you are likely not going to have much success with the chicks anyway. best to give them a rest and start up again when the weather picks up in spring.

also, i recommend you go and buy some coarse native mulch and put a nice deep layer over your aviary floor. this will keep the floor dry as the water drains well to the lower levels of the mulch, even if your soil isn't such good draining. is your aviary positioned to take advantage of the morning sun? this will be of great benefit to bird health as well as overall aviary dryness.

T tree mulch is a good mulch . $8 a pack from Bunnings , havent spread mine yet but 2 bags was reccommended for a 2.4 x 1.2 floor ..I bought 3 just in case .

Gollandra was the brand name and before buying I emailed the company who assured me it was the ants pants for aviaries.

With parrot finches I have found you must always try and maintain a dry well drained floor as they pick up sickness quite easily.
Do you give your birds Coccidiosis medicine regulary or long periods of wet weather,also worming every 3 months as they spend a lot time on the ground.
I have led night lights that comes on when it gets dark to help them if they have any night frights .
You must is keep the cold draughts off them.
Coming into the cold Melbourne weather do you do anything different to their diet high oil seeds,,cod liver oil in their seed etc.. just to help and put a bit of extra fat on them for the cold.
Come around september and as the day light hours are starting to get longer you can start to feed them more greens and sprouted seed,also start to feed them some live feed to bring them into breeding condition.