FINCHforum

Hi, I just got the hq double flight cage, and I got a pair of society finches and a pair of cordon bleu (male & female) everyone is great...here is my problem, in another cage I have 1 single female gould. and 1 male cordon bleu, they have been together for a long time both of their mates have since died and they have always got along well but recently they have been fighting (this was going on before I got the new flight and new birds) so I moved the lady gould in the new flight with the new birds...great. Now my delemma the cordon bleu male (single) sees all the birds in the new flight especially the new cordon bleu female, and has been dancing with his feather in his mouth when he sees the female, I wanted to move him into the new flight, but now I'm worried that the two males will fight...what should I do? add him? get him a mate? keep him in his cage w/ a new mate? It might be a problem getting him a mate, where I buy my birds they only sell them in pairs...any help and info will be appreciated. thank you

I checked your profile and you do not have a location.

Please do not take this personally. . . I know you are fairly new and do not intend to scare you away.

I want to help. . .

(Not pickng on you. . .MEMBERS PLEASE LIST YOUR LOCATION IN YOUR PROFILE, IT MAKES HELPING EASIER SOMETIMES, AND SAFES TIME.)

I realize that we all want to keep our information safe from hackers, but listing you city, state, and country, will not give hacker enought to find you and and hack your systems. If they want to find you and hack you they will with or with out this basic information. Just by being online you have made yourself vulnerable. Like my father says. . .Locks are for honest people.

With that said. . . Please let us know where your general location is will allow the members to determine if they are in an imediate position to help.

Since your Male BCCB is trying to display to the new hen I would say that he has been in breeding condition for some time given that he has been squabling with his companion gouldian. He needs to be seperated from his companion gouldian at the vary least. Ideally he should paired with a BCCB hen to allow him to do what he already knows how to do.

The hen you just brought home would do just fine, but then you are left with the issue of the new male being withoout a hen. He may be too young to know what to do with her yet. If that's the case you are in luck!

If you do want to pair him with the new hen, or provide your general location, then you need to remove him from his compion and place him in the location in your residence farthest from them the hen as you can. Otherwise he will continue to pine for the new hen thay has become the object of his affections.

If we know of a breeder in your area that breeds BCCB we will provide it, as we do with every forum member and customer thats is looking for some one closer to home than us that we may know.

Sean

Hi so sorry about the location..didn't know...I live in santa monica ca.
Thank you for your reply, I should also mention that I do not intend to breed any of my birds.

I would say definitely don't add him to the cage with the other CB pair. Two males and one hen won't work with this species, the males will fight. You could always try to get him a mate. Are the pair of CBs a bonded pair? You could try putting him with the hen, leaving the other male in a cage by himself for now. Of course, if you don't want to breed, you don't necessarily want to find him a mate.

If you don't want your birds to breed - especially BCCB's - then you'll need to keep the males and females separated during their breeding season, don't offer nests, and don't suddenly increase the amount of protein they're offered or begin offering live food (those things can trigger breeding).

When BCCB's are not breeding, you can house: a) one male and one female together; or b) a number of males together; or c) a number of females together. But, don't house an odd number of male and female BCCB's together since, as Sally said, the males will fight each other .... for breeding rights with the hen(s).

The first BCCB male you have sounds as though he has come into breeding condition -- the courtship song/dance display can be a sign. If you don't want him to mate with the hen you just acquired, don't house them together until the male is no longer in breeding condition.

Also, you mentioned in your original post that you just acquired a pair of societies and BCCB's along with a new cage, then moved your gould hen in with them. You might consider the dangers of not quarantining new birds ..... they could be infected with a disease that can infect other birds you may have -- i.e., your gould hen and BCCB male.

Michele

Thanks everyone for your great info. This is what I'm thinking of doing...getting a mate for my single CB male, keeping them in their own cage. But my new question is this...If I do the above, and once they are paired and bonded could I then add them to the aviary, or should I always keep them seperated? And you are absolutly right on the quarantine....How long is this period usually? My gould is a senior citizan...but very sweet. Thanks again everyone...your info and feedback I appreciate.

Quarantine usually 3/4 weeks ...enough time for any problem to appear.
Adding new birds to a flight is not an exact science it's always a case of try it and see.
Paul.