Colony breeding Shaft Tails

williep · Post by **williep** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:25 am

I've had some success breeding my shaft tails (one pair) in my mixed aviary but recently decided to separate all my pushy species to their own aviary (Shafts, Zeb female and Javas) when I obtained a second pair.

I've heard that you should either keep 1 pair or minimum 3 pairs together as the dominant male will chase the other male and no one will breed if you only have 2 pairs, I've experienced this first hand when I got my second pair in my other aviary.

My question is, do I allow them the colony breed 5 or 6 or even 9 pairs in my 4'x15' aviary or separate them 3 pairs per cage and subdivide the aviary into three flights of 4'x5' each?

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:12 am

I've got 5 pairs of hecks in a flight half your size...three pairs are nesting.
Paul.

williep · Post by **williep** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:25 am

Thanks for the reply Paul, would you suggest splitting the flight into 3 smaller cages or just keep them all together.

Initially this would not be a problem but I plan to have 9 breeding pairs in the long run.

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:50 am

If I had a flight your size....personally I would split it.Swopping pairs from one to the other might be a way to determine the best compatibility.
Paul.