FINCHforum

Is it true that it is recommended for a female bird(s) to be put in a large cage, so they can get the needed excercise in preparation for breeding. Being in that large cage without a male. Just females during the non breeding season. Can someone validate that?

Christian

Many breeders keep their males and females in seperate flights when not breeding.

The thought behind it, is that everyone needs a good rest, and this way the boys won't pester the girls when they are not in breeding mode.

I'm sure it depends on the species, though. What birds do you have?

For instance, it is never a good idea to put male Canaries together, as many will squabble even in the off season. The lower-ranked males will be constantly stressed and sometimes never are quite right after a long period of that.

I keep all of my non-mating birds separated by sex.

#1 - This prevents unplanned population growth, especially with the zebras, where the males would mate at any opportunity. In fact with some zebras I had to separate the M from F, to stop the hen from laying eggs.

#2 - But more important, for breeding, I NEED to know who the parents are, for record keeping and planning for breeding.
While it might be fun for some to have a surprise of different color chicks, with limited space and a target color that I want, I have to be selective. Following are gouldian examples.

Example1, if I want a blue gouldian, I have to mate a blue with a split to blue. So I have to select the appropriate birds to pair up and mate.

Example2, if I want a RH-WB-YB, I will not mate a RH-PB-YB with a RH-PB-YB. Or even PB/WB.

Example3. I need to know if a bird is split or not, and mating to discover this is a waste of time and space, for me. So I would not mate a PB/WB to a PB/WB, because the visually PB could be PB or PB/WB. All of my visually PB birds are PB/WB.