FINCHforum

So my zeb has a clutch of eggs and after her chicks have fledged I want to stop her breeding for a while after I do not want a repeat of what happened with my society getting to tired and dying

Also how long should be left in between each clutch like 2 months ?

Fraza

The healthy way is no more than 3 clutches per year. So I think giving her a month or two to rest is a good idea.

Babs wrote: Fraza

The healthy way is no more than 3 clutches per year. So I think giving her a month or two to rest is a good idea.

Well said Babs couldn't agree more, I think with the majority of bird fanciers upto 3 rounds per year per pair of birds would be the norm

Any more than this and no one would be doing there birds any favours and is when the birds start to drain themselves out to much and this in tern will lead to birds that will soon go out of condition and eventually fall ill

Fraza wrote: So my zeb has a clutch of eggs and after her chicks have fledged I want to stop her breeding for a while after I do not want a repeat of what happened with my society getting to tired and dying

Also how long should be left in between each clutch like 2 months ?

Fraza , virtually every post I've seen yer put up is about breeding yer birds

You really need to give yer birds a rest, I'm sorry to here about yer society " ginge " but you must allow time for the birds to go through that rest period, yer birds will also be going through a moult aswell when there ready and you'd certainly wouldn't wanna try to continue breeding,

Most breeders would only breed for around 3-4 months of the year then normally allow the birds to moult and then during the winter months put them onto an autistrey diet, basically meaning a plain basic diet,

Look at it this way Fraza, yer from the same country as me right, you'll notice that all of the British birds breed here in England during the warmer months of summer, they don't breed all of the year round do they and they most certainly don't have just a 2 month break and then start breeding again

As mentioned 3-4 months per year to breed yer birds should be ample, in this time if all goes to plan you could get upto around 3 rounds / clutches per pair, just give it a little bit of thought

Incidentally take out all nest baskets, boxes and all nesting material

Stuart whiting I understand everything being said but birds in wild aren’t stuck together too breed I don’t force them to breed it’s just that when they are breeding and jumping on top of each other I think right I’m gonna have to get the nests out again so they don’t just lay eggs anywhere or get egg bound then it’s tight on the chicks leaving the fertile eggs to die also I’ve only bred two pairs I’ve set other breeding pairs up but not for breeding just getting them paired I’ve got two females out of 6 that have had eggs none of the others have

Thanks for info tho I might have to try the dummy eggs

And I’m not used to them in an aviary yet I’ve had them in a outbreak 6 weeks or something like that and the two pairs have started breeding so I didn’t know what to do also it’s too cold to have them without beds I’ve tried that and they was all half frozen and I had to bring them back in you must live in warmer area of UK I think last option is dummy eggs for the zebra doubt the others are gonna lay as they aren’t even interested in breeding with the males

sorry if I’ve cane across blunt I’m just trying to explain my situation

Fraza

Your species will need body warmth in the cold in the outside aviary, and to get that they will need nests, or some sort of shelter where they can huddle together at night when the temperatures drop.

Especially societies that have been domesticated for a few thousand years.

So yes Fraser, dummy (fake) eggs are the way to go if you dont have a heat source.

My societies will sit on fake eggs for months without further breeding. Thank goodness!

Fraza

I would cut down on high protein foods down to twice a week (eggs, egg food, mealworms, etc.)

The shorter days and colder weather, will give them a hint eventually that it's not good breeding weather.

Make sure that they have plenty of Calcium in their diet.

I would definitely keep the nest boxes up, especially with colder weather on the way. If the weather turns really cold, you might have to cover/ insulate your aviary, and offer some heat, in the form of a warm light. Or even take the birds indoors for the duration of very cold weather.

lovezebs

And just to add to Elana's caution. I would increase their niger seed, millet....get their fat stores to keep them warm for winter.

Babs lovezebs thanks I will do this I have recently bought a red and white light one one for night one for daytime to keep the finches warm and it’s insulated already but this weather can one day be warm then next be frosty so just want to make sure inget other heat source and I probably will bring them in when it gets winter just don’t know when the lights are gonna be delivered and thanks

Also what sorts of food is calcium just egg shell and milket and cuttlebone

Fraza shells (boiled? I believe to sterilize them) and cuttlebone are fine.

Fraza

Cuttlebone, cooked crushed egg shells, oystershell grit.

Fraza wrote: it’s too cold to have them without beds I’ve tried that and they was all half frozen and I had to bring them back in you must live in warmer area of UK

@Fraza what's all this rubish about beds

Birds don't use beds, I've told where I live and I down in Kent, the big county in southeast England

There's not a great deal of difference in temperature between me here in Kent and you up in Manchester, it's still blimmin cold during the winter,

Zebras and bengalese are very hardy birds and can easily be winterd out side all winter in avaries but what I will say is that they must be out of cold drafts, drafts are one of the biggest killers in birds and you must make sure that there is eaither plenty of cover in yer avairy IE conifer branches etc and I mean a fair bit of it so it basically creates a hedge on the back wall or side of yer avairy or alternatively have some kind of built in shelter within the avairy,
The shelter dosen't have to be big even 2-3 ft square is sufficient for a few pairs of birds just so long as they can get out of the driving cold winds and drafts,

It’s not the temperature that harms birds but cold winds and drafts

Stuart whiting yeh but when they’ve slept out of beds they go dead stoff and cold and my dads a builder and he helped build the aviary and insulated it for me so it is warm but just don’t wanna chance leaving them with no bed and maybe waking up to a flock of dead birds however do u have lights in your aviry to keep it warm because I’ve ordered 2 just waiting for delivery then I’ll try a night with no beds