Problems with housing the whole family in one cage?

[Shasta_man]

I have zebra finches. Older Dad and younger Mom produced a chick. Chick is now mature and living in the same large cage. Exact copy of Pop.

My questions are about keeping multiple pairs in one cage, and keeping the offspring around the parents.

My questions are:
- Junior is interested in mating soon if not already. Is getting him a separate girl our only solution to keeping him away from Mom?
- Can we expect to house two couples in one cage if the cage is large enough?
- Will two females get along in the same cage?
- Is there a problem with Junior breeding with Mom? We want to avoid it, of course, but if...

Details:
- We don't want to breed them, and have been removing eggs.
- Dad had feet problems, so we give him a nest. There are two nests at equal height at opposite ends of a rectangular cage. Mom and Dad sleep in one and Junior in the other.
- they get along for the most part but
- When younger, Junior was always, sometimes frantically, at Mom's side. He is now too, but I'm not sure whether its security or chasing her with amorous intentions
- Dad chases Junior away from near Dad's nest.
- Mom sometimes seems to be chasing Junior around a lot. They can get pretty squawky. At times, I didn't see any provocation, and sometimes Junior seems to be chasing her.

This is a pretty large cage, about 36"Lx20"Wx36"H,

[franny]

I think there is no way you can have two pairs and be able to be certain that Junior is not mating with Mom, so any babies would be suspect. If you want to keep Junior and give him a mate, I'd suggest a second cage as the best option.

You said Dad had problems with his feet, so you gave him a nest. As long as there are nests in there, you are likely to have some bickering. I would suggest removing the nests and that may help. Why not put a platform perch in there, for Dad to rest his feet on instead?

Any extra wide perch, or flat perch would do, or some folks even wrap the perches to help out finches with bumblefoot. I'm not sure I'd want to do that, as I'd worry about them getting caught on the material. But a flat platform or wire platform would let him rest without having to grip a perch. Yet it would hopefully not encourage mating behaviour, especially if you don't put any nesting material in the cage.

The cage is certainly large enough to accommodate a pair, and 4 finches might get along in that size, if they are not breeding. But usually the theory is that when keeping multiple finches, 3 pairs is better than 2. However, that would only work in a larger cage. Not in one that size.

So I guess what I'm saying is, if removing nests doesn't discourage aggressive or nesting behaviour, I think the best option is to then remove Junior to his own cage.

[Shasta_man]

Thanks very much. Very helpful.

I thought having more than one nest at the same level would moderate that problem. However, I understand now the mating behavior is more than just taking a nest. We'll see if they can get along.

I'll switch to platforms and see how they get along.

Interesting point about 3 are better than two but I guess that makes sense, giving them more to spread across and have to defend against.

[ac12]

If you don't want them to breed, worse case is you may have to separate the hen from the males. I had a pair that would mate w/o a nest in the cage, and the hen laid eggs any place she could, and if she could not find a place to lay, she would drop the egg from a perch to crash to the cage floor. The only way to stop her from laying eggs was to separate her from her mate.

[cindy]

I have a cage of Black cheek, one has issues with her feet. If you take two perches and place them next to each other (make sure there are no gaps) you can wrap them with cloth surgical tape....it acts as a support more so than one perch.

I leave the mates together and remove young after they get to a certain age.

[debbie276]

Just a thought ... maybe Junior thinks dad isn't good enough with the foot problems so being more fit then dad, Junior wants to take over. Kind of like a pecking order thing. So ... Junior may never stop pursuing mom, maybe it is best to remove him.

[cindy]

Debbie...I was thinking along the same lines as you in regards to junior sensing dad is weak. I have housed a whole family of Blck cheeks in a fliight without problems but can not do it with some of the other mutations. I think it has to do a lot with the birds.

My shaftails are all family but are in a 5 ft long 3 ft hight flight and all get along.

Either remove the nests or remove junior and let dad rest his foot. The constant chasing and landing probably is hindering his foot issues from getting better. Also offer Herb Salad and lots of dark leafy greens like romaine, it may help the foot issue also.

[debbie276]

I find that once they sense a weakness in another they don't stop harassing it till ... The old "survival of the fittest" kicks in.

[flrancho]

Unless you want potentially inbred babies (which I don't see why you would), I would definitely separate the babies from the parents, and even the male/female babies from each other, that way you don't have sisters/brothers breeding together either. Inbred birds can have some health issues.

[Shasta_man]

Thanks so much for all the info.

I'm trying to find good platforms for them. My concern is a place to rest but to to protect their feet. I have a hanging shelf but it's a bit larger than I like and not powder coated so it can have sharp edges. No real luck looking online.

Any tips on where to get pieces of cage to make one?

Junior does seem to be the aggressor. We'll see if he mellows with no nest. I'm doubting it. They get along for a while, then a squabble. Dad is doing OK because Mom is equally not having it from Junior.

Tough decision on who to send to another cage: Junior from the family or the mate we got so Dad can have a companion. I can see Dad's thought: we had a kid so they took my wife?!