Imported Strawberries Losing No Time

[Sally]

I just received these 5 pairs of imported Strawberries on Oct. 4. I put all 5 pairs in a flight cage for quarantine. I put hay on the bottom of the flight, thinking they might be more comfortable with hay rather than paper. I also put two fake plants in the flight, so they would have places to hide from me.

Today, I noticed that there were a few pieces of hay stuck in one of the fake plants. Upon going around the flight and looking in the side, I see that they have started a nest! Checking on the plant on the other side, yet another nest! I will have to get these guys separated pretty quickly and set up in breeding cages.

Who would have thought that in just a little over two weeks, they would be thinking about breeding? So for those of you who have received some of these imported Strawberries, get ready for some breeding!

[debbie276]

Wonderful news!
best of luck

[CindyOH]

Sally,
Very nice,they really are getting busy. They must feel very comfortable at your home. Will you use live food for them as they are going to nest?
Great idea with the hay. Thanks for sharing you photo's.

Cindy

[cindy]

That is great news!!!!!!

[Sally]

CindyOH

I'm not sure about the live food yet. The wild-caughts that I got back in 2011 bred with eggfood and freeze-dried bloodworms, no live food. I even offered mini mealworms, and they didn't take to them. Although now that I see these wild-caughts, I'm not sure that the ones that I got in 2011 were actually wild-caughts. They looked a lot better than these birds did upon arrival.

[danaday]

That is great news! Good luck and keep us posted!

[DanteD716]

Wow! Congrats Sally, best of luck.

[Sam007]

Sally,
Very nice looking birds. Congratulations and best of luck. Why do you want to put them in separate breeding cages? Is it not good to let them continue their nests building and let the breed in the avairy as they seem very comfortable there?. Also, do they breed before fully coloring up?
I do not know much about strawberry finches. I am just curious to know.

[wellingtoncdm]

Congrats!! Hope they continue and prove to be great breeders.

[Sally]

Sam007

The 10 birds are in a Prevue F30 flight cage, which measures 37"x27", and about 4' tall (cage part), so it is not large enough to leave them in there and let them breed. I did put a split plastic band on each bird, so I will try to see which ones may be pairing up. It is hard to tell, as whenever I get close enough to see, they go into escape mode. And the main reason to breed them in separate cages is that I have control over the bloodlines. If all 5 of these pairs would breed, I would have A, B, C, D, and E babies--I could make up lots of unrelated combinations out of their F1 babies.

Yes, the males will breed when out of breeding plumage, but they are more likely to do so when in breeding plumage. Also, the change in color is what is supposed to attract the hens, all part of the breeding ritual in the wild. Some of these males are coloring up now. There is little indication with hens when they are in breeding condition, as they don't have the drastic change to their plumage. Someone once told me that the upper beaks of the hens will turn dark, but my hens seem to have dark beaks all the time.

[finchmix22]

Congratulations Sally! It'll be fun to hear how they do as you get them down to serious breeding soon!

[ivy hill]

Sally~ which importer did you purchase your berries from recently? AZ? if you know anyone interested we want to purchase this weekend....and would love to split shipping with someone shipping to the Charlotte area....

[Sally]

ivy hill

The 5 pairs I have in this cage were purchased through a friend, who knows a broker--he let me add these to his order. I just picked up two more pairs that came from Bird Product in AZ, plus 3 hens that came from Jamie Yorck. The two pairs from BP were ordered because I was unsure that the 5 pairs would come through--not that I didn't trust my friend, I was just worried that his source would not come through. This was before I heard how many did come into the country. And the 3 hens from Jamie were because another friend was ordering some pairs from him, he had extra hens, and I can always use extra hens. Kind of convoluted, huh?

Bird Product has dropped their price, as has Jamie Yorck (he is in SFO area and posts his sale list on the NFSS forum. Are there any bird clubs in the Charlotte area? If so, you could contact them to see if anyone would be interested in sharing shipping costs, it really helps to split it. You might even make a post in the Marketplace that you are looking for someone to share shipping costs to Charlotte area from either AZ or CA--you never know.

If you are looking for 3 pairs, my friend in Dallas is wanting to sell 3 pairs she just received from Bird Product (she now finds she needs to cut back on numbers). If someone bought all three pairs, she says it would be free shipping.

[Nerien]

If you can't go near the cage to see who is pairing up, try taking pictures, zooming in as best you can. Might take a lot of shots to be able to see the bands, but I find taking pictures is a great way to get a look at things they won't let you see close up. (my problem is bad eyes, even my mellow societies don't like my face six inches from them in their cage...)

[Sally]

Nerien

Thanks for that tip, Nerien. I'll see if I can get some photos today. I saw one pair cuddling on the swing yesterday, but couldn't see their bands from a distance. I have also seen two hens visiting the backs of those plants, so I need to figure out which two hens those are. I looked online for binoculars that could be used for close-up viewing, but they are $130 and up--I could buy another Strawberry for that!