FINCHforum

Just doing a little breed research...

...why are the Pekin Robins so expensive? Couldn't find out very much info...and nothing to warrant the expense. Anyone know?

they come from asia and if its the same as in the uk its because the import of birds from the countries of origins is banned, excellent singers though and a challenge if u want one

Thanks...I don't think we have the same stringent restrictions the UK and Australia have...

...they're cute little birds though...I'll have to keep my eyes open...

I honestly don't think I've ever seen one of these anywhere. Maybe I just don't hang out at the swanky pet shops.

...me either! But I'd love to!!!

They are absolutely gorgeous birds! There's a woman on my other finch forum who lives in Florida, <floridababies@earthlink.net> she has a pair of these and might have some babes for sale.


I found this contact info on my other forum, it's almost a year old, but worth a try. <ly_nature@hotmail.com>

Wow, that is a good looking bird. Thanks for the picture, Tammie!

wow beautiful!!! If you get a few Rue you'll have to post pics, I wonder what they sound like.

I did some reading up on these, as I have always thought they are so beautiful, and they are supposed to have a beautiful song. They are actually softbills, not finches, and so they need a completely different diet--they don't eat seeds. According to the article I read, breeding them is fairly difficult, as they need a varied live insect diet when breeding. So that explains whey they are more expensive. Most of the softbills are way more expensive than finches.

Thanks for the beautiful photo Tammie! They are intriguing!

Do you think the diet is part of the expense? I suppose if you're feeding a large flock it might be...

Thalia...at $600/pr...I doubt I'd be having a flock anywhere in the near future...but I think I'll keep my eyes open...

...I knew they were softbills at least! ...

Here's an excellent article on the Pekin Robin...

http://www.birds2grow.com/art-pekinrobin.html

Here are a couple snippets regarding their diet,

Wild Pekin robins are quite omnivorous, eating various insects, berries and seeds. Captive birds should be offered a similarly nutritious diet. Mine were offered a blended softfood mixture consisting of crushed digestive biscuits, eggfood, finely chopped peanuts, high protein chick crumbs and a quality proprietary insectile mix. All the ingredients should be weighed by the pound and bound together by 1lb of melted beef dripping. Grated vegetables, such as carrot, Brussels sprouts and broccoli should be added to the mixture just prior to serving and, sometimes, a sprinkling of grated cheese.

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of adding greenfood to the diet. If one can imagine that, in the wild, insectivores must consume copious amounts of insects, such as caterpillars and the like, that would have been feeding on succulent plants, one would realise that not only would each insect be of nourishing value, but so, too, would the amount of undigested farinaceous matter contained in its gut. The bird is, in effect, gaining two nutritious meals for the price of one!



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Since inanimate food alone is not enough for any insectivore, especially during the breeding season, all my Pekin robins received ample daily amounts of livefood. Fruit-flies can be cultured on chopped bananas and provided ad lib throughout the year. They constantly buzz around and through the cage fronts and are quickly seized upon. Although extremely small, too small to rear chicks on, they provide protein and also have a high water content. The flies chitin or ‘shell’ also aids digestion by supplying roughage. It must also be borne in mind that, when moulting, birds have a higher than normal protein requirement.

Such small insects alone, however, are far from adequate and more substantial livefood should be provided by way of mealworms, around six per bird per day - except during the breeding season when it is advisable to offer waxworms and crickets. It has come to light that Pekin robins fed mealworms during this time of the year are more likely to evict both eggs and young from the nest.

At $600/pr, I KNOW that I won't ever be having these birds!! Plus it sounds like a full-time job taking care of them. And it sounds like breeding them is a real challenge--no wonder they are so expensive.

i ahve 4 pairs coming over from Northern Ireland in July

lol that's awesome Tom, you need to record their singing and post it when they come!

Four pairs!! You lucky dog. Yes, pictures would be great. I can't imagine 8 such beautiful birds all together.