FINCHforum

You've gotten a lot of good advice already, I just wanted to welcome you to the forum! When not breeding, you can keep a few more birds in a cage than when breeding. If you go for all males, all passive species, they should be easier to care for. The presence of females, even if not set up for breeding, can cause territorial issues and breeding behavior. Six male Societies (Bengalese) would be a group that would get along and be entertaining.

Sally you are right 6 makes would be entertaining I had 4 together and the nests they build are amazing when there 4 very good males I’ve only got one left as I sold two to my mother and one sadly died darky

But to be fair I agree society’s are a funny species

Please help! I originally had three female zebra and 3 male zebra finches. They were all successful and had babies. Then one female started killing all but one female. Now these two females have coupled up! They preen each other, share a nest together and have been sitting on five eggs. I purchased two male zebra finches to hopefully breed more but the two females aren't interested! The two males now constantly sing and fight each other vying for the female attention. What do I do?

Madiddy right it’s the females they have paired u need to separate them so they can’t hear each other or see and have them by ther self for couple of days then introduce there males to each other once they have paired(when they start preening and sleeping next to each other ) then introduce all 4 together.

But in my cases you won’t have much luck with 2 pairs of zebras in one cage

Thank you, Fraza! That sounds like a good idea. I only have two cages. I'll separate it so that there's a couple in each. Yes I've had trouble with two pairs before in one cage, too. I'll add a third couple if they start fighting again. I just didn't think it was possible for females to couple up.i wonder if males will do the same in the finch world?

Madiddy well i had it where two female society’s oairwd up and they would not separate for ages and ages the males made nests did the Correa hip dance tried to preen them and nothing worked then I have one of my males eggs of another finch and when they hatched one of the females helped him and they stayed paired after and then the other female went to the other male

Then I used to have two male society’s paired and when I jntroduced a girl they attacked each other

Wow! How interesting! Thank you for sharing. Like people, there can be various ways of coupling I suppose. What I don't understand is why the females continue to sit on the eggs and care for them as if they were fertilized. Anyways, I've listened to you And separated them. ill post an update on how this works. Thank you again!

Madiddy

If hens are broody on a nest it's never a good time to introduce strange finches. The hen will protect her nest from the intruder.

I'd remove nests completely while you make your changes. ;)

I see. Thanks Bobs! It's interesting how both females were sitting in the eggs. As soon as I separated the females, the leftover female has abandoned the eggs! I'll remove the nest. They aren't fertilized anyway. I love all the helpful feedback I get on finchforum!

Madiddy that’s good keep us updated

Now that the couples have paired up, I thought it was safe to put the four finches together. One male is constantly attacking the other male! I gave it a few hours hoping they'd establish a hierarchy but hey didn't .i can't bear to watch this poor beautiful white male get pecked constantly. I've removed the white bullied male. What's the best way to reconcile this? Initially the two females seemed excited to be with one another then they started to peck each other. Now the girls are calm. Birds are supposed to be social! What the heck?

Coming back to the original post, and from y short experience with owls I must warn that the 'pushy' owls (cocks) attack other males in a big cage (105x50x180cm).
I wouldn't consider them pushy ... as soon as they had company they turned out to be quiet aggressive and chasing. I took them apart for two weeks and back to the big cage - same story.

When keeping pairs together it is recommended to keep the pairs in odd numbers (eg 1 pair, 3 pairs, 5 pairs etc) good luck with pairing your birds up!

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

Glad to hear that you have decided to "Branch Out" into Finch keeping. It is a very enjoyable and rewarding hobby.

Regarding compatible birds, species to choose from, and life spans of different species, etc....

Societies, are a sweet and gentle species that usually get along well with all other non aggressive species. Bear in mind though, that they breed like rabbits, so I would recommend males only (if not interested in breeding). Although their lifespans are listed as 4 years, I have several that have passed that age and are still going strong.

Owls, are generally gentle and non aggressive sweethearts, that tend to get along well with others . They are active and fun to watch, and relatively easy to keep happy. One pair, will usually live peacefully together with other birds. Their lifespan, is around 5-7 years.

Hecks, or Shaft tails... are another story. They do tend to be more aggressive. A true pair will become territorial, and two males will not live peacefully together (unless in a large aviary setting). I have 2 males, one housed with Societies ( whom he likes ), Zebras and Diamonds. The other, is housed with a mixed group of Softbills, with which he gets along well, having formed a special friendship with a Strawberry female. Life span is around 5-7 years.

Gouldians, are beautiful and peacefull birds, and not difficult to keep (as long as their needs are met). They are lovely to look at, and generally have sweet personalities to match. Several males will get along well together. They have a soft whispery song. Life span is around 5-10 years.

Spice Finches, I have no experience with.

There are many many other options of species out there as well to consider.

Good luck with your cage building (keeping in mind that bigger is always better), and keep us updated.

Thanks for all the additional advice. I have not got very far with cage building yet, as a result of poor UK customer service. I ordered 24" x 15" black finch cage fronts from one company who took the money but sent nothing, sorted that out and ordered another pair from a different company who have sent 30" silver Budgie fronts, both of which were damaged before transit.
Bird wise, I visited the shop that I will probably use. they had a pair of gorgeous spice finches for £75, a pair of Hecks that loooked great but just sat on their perch for the whole time I was there and didn't move, Gouldians - lovely but £150 for a pair. Happiest looking of them all were the Bengalese at £25 a pair, in a large cage , playing together and looking very content. I didn't really want to go for Bengalese but they were the most interesting to watch, so I am open minded about them now.