FINCHforum

Hey there

I'm still a fledgling compared to other breeders on this site, and as such, I could really do with some help!

Our aviary seems good. A nice approximate size of 6.5m by 7m and a height of about 4m. We inserted stumps and planted some savanna-like grass stems which are wonderfully green during the summer, and slightly dry in the winter. The earth is covered with red sand and we've placed several types of enclosed nests in the upper corners, and in the tree. It has a very flat drinking hole, which is easy to get out of, deep enough for bathing, with a pipe that allows us to drain the water out of the cage when cleaned. Three mystic sprinklers are placed within the cage and turned on for half an hour during the evening when it's not too cold. And since the cage is on our farm in the savanna, the workers often collect heaps of dried twigs and grass for me to put inside. I also occasionally put in the soft belly feathers of the guiney fowls we hunt once in a blue moon and more often place little chunks of cotton in there. It's usually gone after a mere hour or two.

It contains a pair of each of the following so far :
Chestnut Flanked Zebra Finch
Society Finch
Red Cheeked Cordon Blue
Gouldian Finch
Diamon Dove
Bourke Parakeet
Chinese Quail
Singing Quail
Common Quail
Rabbits
Guiney Pigs

I personally want to get rid of the rabbits and Guiney pigs, but they're my sister's and the deal was that I could have the aviary if those were allowed in. They don't cause any trouble though, and live peacefully with the finches. I had some quarreling between the society and zebra a few days ago, for the zebra were the first to build their nest, and the society finches wanted to take it from them. So I hung another nest a meter or so away in the tree on the same height. I also places a little bit of grass and cotton in there. It worked. They raided the hanging home and left the zebras in peace.

My main problem now is a little gift I got from my mother. She bought me a pair of black throated parsons ! She said she liked the look, but I've read here that they don't get along with the other finches. It was mentioned that they are a little more chilled in a large aviary? Do you think there's a chance that they'd be able to live together in such a large aviary as mine (6.5 by 7m)? The breeding shouldn't be a problem, for I keep each pair I receive apart in a normal canary cage in the house for a week to three weeks. So far they've all bonded greatly, and built their nests and chose their mates according to whom they've been with for those weeks. They zebras have accepted each other, as well as all the other breeds. There doesn't seem to be a desire for cross breeding, because of these unique bonds. I still have the parsons apart in the canary cage. They haven't seen or heard the other finches in the aviary yet. But apparently they don't bond easily?

Should I try to swop them at the pet shop for something else or is there any chance I can get them to blend in with the rest. I feel terrible about rejecting the gift, but she didn't know.

Thanks!

Though I don't have any experience with keeping birds in aviaries, it seems as if yours is certainly large enough to allow each pair of birds to establish its own territory. Your aviary sounds wonderful, we'd love to see pictures! Here is an article on Parson's finches that may help: http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/ ... _finch.php

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at the Finch Information Center, linked at left, and the members are always ready to help. We have other members from South Africa, who might be able to advise you, as they have aviaries as well.

Hi Bibi
Welcome to the forum. It is good to see young people getting involved with the hobby. Your parsons will be fine in your aviary. Personally I think that zebra finches are more aggressive than them. Your aviary is very large and they is enough space. Is your aviary sheltered enough for Gouldians? Where I stay in the Cape, they don't last long in the winter if there is not adequate shelter. It is more the damp than cold that kills them though. Since you live on a farm, see if the workers can bring you some termite hills every few days. You chop that open in the aviary, you will see that the birds will go wild for it. If you have some slangbos on the farm, you might want to use that as nesting sites too. Birds love to construct their own nests in slangbos. In what province do you stay?

Thanks for your tips! I'll still keep a close eye on the rascals once they're released into the aviary. Yeah, I learned the hard way before finding this site about the dampness. The roof is high inside, and I believed it to be warm, since it's a grass roof (haha don't worry. I know they peck at the stuff. The wired fencing goes underneath it and leaves a hand's width between the grass roof and the finches. I still lost two amazing black cheeked zebras, a red cheek cordon blue and two zebra doves (although the doves and black cheeks were released by the individual who takes care of the farm while I'm studying in Potch. He made the stupid mistake of just chucking them in during the night, while it was freezing. I told my father that no one is to touch one of my birds again, and that I'd see to it on my own. All the guy has to do is make sure the farm worker fills the water spot, keep the food full and turn on the srpinklers for a little while on the warmer days during noon.

To answer you Marius, I live in Pretoria, and study in Potch. Thus, most of my birds come from those areas, but I've found some rare and less common birds in Nylstroom. The aviary is in Marken, which is an hours drive past Vaalwater, and two hours from Nylstroom. As such, it's deeply rooted in the bushveld. It never reaches below 4 during the coldest of cold winters, and even so, half the aviary is covered in a black sail for extra heat. It's placed to block out the wind which always sweeps through from a NE direction. During the day, half the aviary has sun, and the other half, covered in sail, has complete shade. We've also built an external part which has no roof, and just the fencing for complete sun. One stump is placed under this fencing, as well as the sprinklers, and the water supply and large stump that reaches a full 3.6 m is in the shade.

I'll take some picks of the aviary and place it here as a reply tomorrow. And thanks for the termite idea. I thought about it somewhere in the back of my mind, but these rascals seem very picky. They barely touched the banana, breadcrumbs and apples I placed in the aviary two days ago, but if you say they love it, I'll give it a go.

And thanks for the link Sally! I'm sure it will help. I'm going to scroll through it right now!

Thanks for the reassurance and help!!!

I would think a grass roof would be a magnate for mold and fungus, which can be deadly to finches. You could swap that with tinted corrugated roofing material. I'd make sure there are plenty of nest sites, to avoid competition, but it sounds like you have a very nice set up. Post some pics when you can, as I'd love to see how it all looks.

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind.

The bushveld is very dry though. The only 'moist' time might be once or twice a week in the early mornings for an hour or two during the coldest days of winter. We're in the middle of winter now and places like Pretoria and Potch are freezing, but we're expecting a warm 26 degrees tomorrow. The house has the same type of grass roof as the aviary. We've had the farm for 13 years now, but it has stood here for far longer than that and we've never had that problem. So I don't believe I'll have a problem with mold or fungi, but I am very thankful for your tip!

I'm going to keep a hawk eye on that, and I've made a memo of your tip for changing the roof, should so much as a button of green appear.

A corrigated iron roof will let through too much heat. The birds will definately die. Thatch roofs are designed to keep the heat out and the cool inside. Bibi, birds won't just eat carrots, apple etc. It is not their natural food, while the termites are these birds natural food. You can't breed your cordon bleus without live food like termites. If you put a termite heap in, you just need to chop a small bit off and break that into pieces. Your waxbills and quails will go mad for it. Some people give mealworms, but it doesn't have the same nutritional value. You have to teach your birds to eat other food. Most of the people on this site keep their birds in small aviaries and their birds have been taught to eat eggfood. Eggs, carrots, apple, bread, vitamin powder etc. My birds won't eat it, so I take a boiled egg, put some vitamin suppliment in and add some bread crumbs. You can also add the shell of the egg. I chop it up very fine and give it to the birds. They eat it because of the egg.

MariusStegmann wrote: ..... Personally I think that zebra finches are more aggressive than them.....

Agreed!
I had a pair of these a while back (a similar situation; my husband thought they were pretty....and they are!)

They were caged as a pair, but they did have free-fly time with others and there were no problems.

I don't think you should have any trouble with them. And if you do, then cross that bridge when you arrive at it, you know?

I always tell people to remember that each animal is an individual. So while they're prone to certain tendencies due to species/breed, each individual is unique so it's really the individual dynamics that matter.

Don't let their aggressive label scare you.
I say this about dogs all the time. Many people are scared away from wonderful breeds because they're labeled as aggressive. *cough* pit bulls *cough*
Just because they can be aggressive doesn't mean they necessarily are.

Hope that helps!

On roofs.....
FWIW, my mum has a thatched roof on her cabana and it's water tight and in 10 years, it's still mold-free (though very faded; not as pretty as it was originally.) So when built properly, they can be water tight and mold-free.

But if you fear mold, you could always put a metal or plastic panel between the thatched roof and the birds to serve as a "liner".