$$$$$$$ Owl Finches

williep · Post by **williep** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:43 am

Wow Hilary $200 per bird, I'm starting to feel much better now.

I agree that the DNA sexing method is much less stressful for the birds as it doesn't involve "knocking them out", but I have witnessed the avian vet doing it and the whole process really takes about 2 minutes and my birds settled in really quick after the whole process. DNA sexing here is also around $20-$25 per bird, 4 times more expensive so for me it's not worth the extra expense. We also wait at least 10 days for the results which is ridicules

I've come across another breeder in the area that sells them for $55 per pair and has 3 surgically sexed, unrelated young pairs, I do not know them but they came highly recommended by one of my friends so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Will keep you all posted

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:18 am

$55 sounds better than $80.

Post pictures when you get 'em!

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 5:06 am

have to see pics if you get them willie, owls are gorgeous

williep · Post by **williep** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:44 am

Update:

I visited the breeder yesterday, a retired school teacher who now focuses entirely on breeding finches and African Grey parrots. O, how I wish I could do this full time.

I was really impressed with her setup, but living in a colder part of our province (state) she keeps most of her birds indoors. I couldn’t believe the amount of space she had for rearing birds. She kept the young males and females separate (all surgically sexed at about 2-3 months of age) in 12 different flight cages. She would then separate a clutch into different cages, one in each cage so no brothers or sisters are kept together, ensuring that she doesn't sell related pairs.

She used to keep one pair each of the species she bred (gouldian, owl, star and parrot finch) per cage but said the species interfered with each other when breeding even though she provided 8 nest boxes per cage. She now breeds them one pair per cage in all wire breeding cages and removes any pair that has reared three clutches to a larger flight cage for the rest of the year until the next season starts.

Anyway I intended to get a pair of owl finches only but ended up with a pair of red faced parrot finches as well - they are gorgeous and were also $55 per pair. Both are young pairs (parrot finches 4 months and owls 6 months) I'll post some pics tomorrow as I did not have time to take pics before leaving for work.

Thanks for all your input on the subject.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:36 am

on wow..... 55 per pair! I had to pay 225 for my pair of red face parrot finches. But they are one of my favorite. Of course I say that about all of them.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:12 pm

Well some people have all the luck

Good luck with new fids
BCAMP

Post by **Hilary** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:32 am

Yes, congrats! I also love my red face parrots. The male sounds just like a cricket, and they are a scream to watch bathing - they get so wet they get little punk mohawks.....

Around here they're $80+ each IF you can find them!

williep · Post by **williep** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:09 am

As promised here are some pics of my new additions to my flock.

I am so happy with them and hope they will breed for me, I plan to pair them in September when our spring starts but being young pairs I'm not expecting fireworks from the first try but you never know.

Here is my Mr Owl (Benito)

Here is Lady Owl (Bernice)

And, finally, here is my Male Red Faced Parrot finch (no name yet)

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:28 pm

They are beautiful!!!

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:41 am

congrats willie, they are beautiful

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:26 am

williep.....your Owls are cute as buttons! Those are great closeup photos. I see you used the "B" theme with naming them as I did. Mine are Buzz & BeeBop.

I hope to breed my Owls this fall so we will have to compare notes with each other on how the breeding thing goes!

williep · Post by **williep** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:19 am

Thank you all for your comments, I now know why everybody loves the owls so much. I like their look but they have the cutest personalities.

But I love the Parrot Finches as well they are so energetic and like Hilary said they have the most adorable cricket sound, I am torn between my favorites!

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:04 pm

Congratulations on your new additions Willie. You planning on getting a hen for the parrot finch?

moe moe2 · Post by **moe moe2** » Wed May 21, 2008 3:37 pm

i have a stupid question

would a simple x-ray show the organs of the birds ?

or are their organs so similar that you cant tell the difference in a pic?

please dont take my head off. i asked this because i was looking through the dictionary and they has a side view of a bird(female) and it showed the two holes of the vent (one for poop and one for the eggs) and it made me think of a thread i read and a person asked what does the breeder see when he blows on the vent (i figured it was two hole like the pic showed)

now reading this im like wow all that to find out the sex of a bird
are all birds not make the same ?

im sorry congrats on your new lovely birds

Post by **Sally** » Wed May 21, 2008 10:43 pm

Hi, moe, there is no such thing as a stupid question. Finches are either monomorphic, which means both sexes look exactly alike, or dimorphic, which means there are visible differences between the sexes. I just got a pair of Grey Singers, and I can't tell any difference on them. I am going to go ahead and have a DNA test done on them, as I want to know if I really have a pair (I bought them for the male's song, so I sure better have a male!).

I know nothing about xrays, but whenever they do one on one of my horses, it is OUCH expensive, so it probably is the same with finches (or are little tiny xrays cheaper?).