Bird Building - The Chirp Shire

[JRs Gouldians]

Beautiful setup, and I love the pairs you set up! I wish you the best of luck!

[MLaRue]

Thank you everyone - I'm hoping for lots of babies

[soloisok]

WOWZER WOW WOW!! This was my first time to see this thread so I read it from beginning to end, amazing!!!
Thanks for sharing! You have a beautiful setup and beautiful birds.

[MLaRue]

WOWZER WOW WOW!! This was my first time to see this thread so I read it from beginning to end, amazing!!!
Thanks for sharing! You have a beautiful setup and beautiful birds.

Thank you Stephani

[MLaRue]

Looks good!

I hope they are well behaved pairs, otherwise you want to look for aggression now that their space is smaller. Also, IMO don’t start breeding them right away. Give them at least two weeks before introducing any nest/nesting material.

Good luck.

One pair has been together and no aggression ever and the other no aggression either.

The only mess I'm thinking right now is the Violet Ears. The pair I set up seems to be confused. They have bred before but now the male seems to make the female move from his space all the time. Calling to the other two females he can't see but hear. That was yesterday and now today they seemed fine and not at odds with one another. I'm going to set up the other two pairs tomorrow. So, maybe those two girls will be occupied with their new men? I hope. I love how vocal the female VE is - they sing all the time.

[MLaRue]

Another thing I'm so confused about is the intake of seed from the Violets

Do they eat seed?! Mine seem to eat spray millet but no other seed. They love eggfood and everything else but still no seed. I swear they lick the bowl clean of eggfood though

[Domenic]

How did I miss this?! It's like grenadier galore up in here and somehow I missed it. Fantastic pics Misty, all three of the pairs on the last page are beautiful. You must be proud of them, they are so healthy and shiny. Do the PG's that you caught mating have a nest? Maybe you'll have some PG chicks soon?

[MLaRue]

Another thing I'm so confused about is the intake of seed from the Violets

Do they eat seed?! Mine seem to eat spray millet but no other seed. They love eggfood and everything else but still no seed. I swear they lick the bowl clean of eggfood though

Spray millets should be excluded out of the equation, what finch doesn’t like spray millets?
That is a very, very good thing! Eggfood is by far better for these guys than seeds.
Mine barely touch seeds when breeding and when they are not breeding seeds are only about 30% of their diet. They mainly eat live food (different kinds), eggfood, and greens. They don’t drink much water because of all the live food, maybe once or two times a day.
Let them eat all the eggfood they want and don’t let it run out. A VE on a lot of eggfood is healthier and more productive than a VE on a lot of seeds.
I have to say the set up, the described behaviours, the fact that they had clutches before, and the food intake... it all sounds very positive. You should be very optimistic!

I agree and usually don't even feed spray millet but I was afraid they weren't eating enough of anything. I was just shocked to see them never eat seed at all. Their seed bowls are never touched.

Thank you for your insights I'm certainly excited and hopeful

[MLaRue]

How did I miss this?! It's like grenadier galore up in here and somehow I missed it. Fantastic pics Misty, all three of the pairs on the last page are beautiful. You must be proud of them, they are so healthy and shiny. Do the PG's that you caught mating have a nest? Maybe you'll have some PG chicks soon?

No nests yet but will give the Grens their nests and nesting material today.

"Grenadier Galore up in here" isn't it?! I love these birds and yes their colors are so beautiful! The colors in person are even more gorgeous because of all the colors the camera doesn't pick up on... like the female Gren with her powder blue/purple eye shadow, the camera seems to fade it out but in person it is really very bright and colorful

[CandoAviary]

That is so awesome that the pairs are eating so much eggfood and that they are getting along so well. I suspect...and predict some fat chicks soon

[GOULDYGIRL]

Misty, I want some Violet Earred babies, please!!!! I love them.

Hope you get lots and lots of babies!

Renee

[Domenic]

I know what you mean. I saw them in person at the fair (not even the best condition grenadiers I've seen) and they were not at all like they appear in pictures. The male's are so much deeper purple, and the female's were so much more beautiful too.

[MLaRue]

I had to break down and give live Mealworms I really didn't want to but noticed the VE hen (just the one) just not eating enough of anything. So, now she gets her MW's and she is eating everything again. The other two ate without them. I certainly don't want to loose a VE hen! because I of me

[CandoAviary]

Misty,
I saw your beautiful photo in the latest issue of NFSS Journal. The gren hen was pretty as a picture but I was disappointed to see it was in black and white. Her colors are just too pretty not to show.

[MLaRue]

Thank you Candace

That journal was supposed to be all color but there was an error at print - too bad because her colors is what makes the Grens so pretty...