FINCHforum

Branching out

It depends on the birds; highly-prolific species like zebras and societies may continue to lay eggs, while others should stop trying to breed without a place to nest.

Diet influences breeding quite a bit. Only provide egg around once a week when the birds are not moulting or breeding; they shouldn't be as inclined to breed with less protein. Just make sure they are getting enough nutrients, especially vitamin D and calcium, in their seeds and vegetables. I reduced the amount of eggfood after my societies finished breeding, and none of them have laid eggs since.

So long as you don't let the birds hatch inbred eggs, everything should be fine. Take the eggs away before they are incubated, as they would not have had the chance to develop. Some birds will stop laying for a while after they complete a clutch, while others will need their eggs replaced with fakes so they don't continue to lay more.

Keeping the adults and their offspring together for more than a few months could be problematic when it comes to pair-bonding; it's possible that the siblings could bond to each other once they reach sexual maturity. Owl finches are supposed to have strong pair-bonds, so they would probably find it quite stressful when they're separated from their partners for pairing to unrelated birds.

I have a couple of good (ish) photos but cannot work out how I uploaded last time - any tips?

Also looks as though I might be able to get two pairs of bengalese / society finches within the next couple of days; so I now need to decide whether to leave the owls on their own or give them some bengalese /society company.

Not sure what to do or what would be 'best'. I don't want to upset the owls but would they benefit from company?

Branching out I don’t think they would benefit nor would they effect them they would get along just fine in my option

However they will benefit you if you ever get your owl that abandon a nest the society’s woll jump in

Thanks for the advice. I decided to stick to the original plan and have added four Bengalese. They have been interacting with the owls and there has been some mutual preening, so hopefully that is a good sign. One of the Bengalese has sung, so presumably that one is male. The cage looks better with six, so I think I have done the right thing.

Branching out I think so too and yep definetly it’s A Male the singing one

Branching out

If it won't let you upload due to file size, a photo-resizing app could work. I use an iPad app called "Image Size," and make the longest side of the image around 1000 pixels; this should be small enough to upload here.

Photoshop works very well on computers, and some similar photo-editing apps are free online. The image size option should then be under the image section on the top toolbar. Make sure you check "constrain proportions" so the image doesn't end up looking all wonky. Save the image as a JPEG.

Then click on the "POSTreply" button on the bottom of this page and upload and submit your resized photos.

That's not the problem, it only seems to want to load from a web address and I have jpegs I could upload. I do it before but I cannot work out how!

Branching out

It won't let you upload if you click the image button over the reply box; you have to scroll down on the reply page until you get to the "Upload attatchment" section:
If you're already doing that, then I have no idea.

Branching out wrote: That's not the problem, it only seems to want to load from a web address and I have jpegs I could upload. I do it before but I cannot work out how!

Does it say file size is too big? I just convert my photos to a “2:3” and it works fine like that.

Thanks for the advice; i was trying to make the attachments in 'quick reply'. Here are my first photos; I'll try to get some better ones when they are more settled. Owls came on Saturday and Bengalese on Monday. I have spotted one problem with the cage; there is a bracing bar where the divider goes in al it is painted black, the same as the ceiling; one of the owls was a bit panicky when I changed the water and he almost flew into it, so I will put some of the background sheet on it so it is much more visible.

Two more.

Nice birds and amazing cage

Things are going well and I am really enjoying the finches. There have been no squabbles (that I am aware of) to date and they all sit together on the highest perch at night.
Apart from the huge quantity of poo they make, the only surprise has been their reluctance to eat anything other than seeds. They seem to eat about a teaspoon of finch mix each a day and the bengalese enjoy an occasional millet spray.

I have tried them on broccoli, cucumber, tomato, orange and dandelion leaves but they are having none of it. I grew them some carrot tops and they possible ate those, or they might just have stripped them off and thrown them about. Today I have given them a grape cut in half and they have ignored it.

If I offer just fresh food they ignore it and don't eat. Any suggestions for what I can tempt them with?
My other birds have fruit or veg every week.

Branching out mine love green leaves ripped up mixed with egg

If this helps

Branching out wrote: Two more.

Beautiful birds and amazing cage!