Breeding Cordon Bleu pair

anne22 · Post by **anne22** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 9:46 am

I have about a 4 year old pair of Cordon Bleu red cheek finches that I am hoping to get to breed. I have had a woven covered nest in with them for a few months now, and have some torn up kleenex and dried grass in the flight cage for them also. They don't seem interested in the nest at all. Should I try a different next or ? to try to get them interested? .

Post by **Sally** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 10:52 am

Cordon Bleus are difficult to breed. Their favorite nest material is coco fiber and then white feathers to line the nest (they also use the feathers in their mating ritual, carrying a feather in the beak while dancing and singing). To bring a pair into breeding condition, offer high protein foods such as hard boiled egg. Live food is even better, as they almost always need live food in order to feed babies.

slwatson · Post by **slwatson** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 2:32 pm

Sally

What kind of diet do they normally eat, and should they get live food every day? I have coconut fibers at home, but no feathers.

Post by **Sally** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 6:37 pm

slwatson Cordon Bleus are difficult to breed, but so beautiful and with such a lovely song that they are worth the effort IMO. Besides the coco fiber, which they use for building the nest, they love white feathers, both for lining the nest and for carrying around in the mating ritual.

As far as diet, when resting they can eat a seed/veggie diet with egg food for treats. When bringing them into breeding condition, you will want to give them egg food every day. Once they start laying eggs, then the egg food supply must be plentiful, never having an empty dish, or they will toss. Most CBs do require live food, mini mealworms will work. You will see that they bite the heads off and you will find tossed m/w bodies all over the cage, this is typical of CBs. When breeding, they are very insectivorous--in the wild, they will feed only insects for the first week or so, which is what presents us with problems. After that first week or so, they will start to feed some seed. Mine also fed lots of veggies, especially greens.

Good luck with them, Ahmed had gorgeous CBs!

Derk · Post by **Derk** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 6:47 pm

slwatson
Please keep us posted with how you proceed and what seems to work. I have a pair of blue caps and a lone male blue cap and red cheek. I hope to be picking up another BCCB in the next day or two. This is a species I am very interested in trying to breed. I find them to be very sweet and appealing to watch. Maybe peaceful?

slwatson · Post by **slwatson** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:52 am

Sally Derk

Thanks Sally for the info! They're really beautiful birds. Ahmed said they usually breed in the spring. Is that true?

Mary

I'm happy to share how everything goes

Post by **Sally** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:57 am

slwatson They may have bred in the spring for Ahmed because that is how his program worked (feeding them high-protein food to bring them into breeding condition). I think they will breed any time if you stimulate them with lots of egg food. It is much easier on the breeder if all the birds are on the same breeding cycle, as then you can rest all the birds at the same time, not having some birds on high-protein diet and others on a more austere diet.

Rox · Post by **Rox** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:50 am

I have a pair of blue-caps which are sitting (yay!). Since my birds out outside and it's spring here in SA, the extended daylight hours have triggered my birds into breeding mode. While I was giving egg food already before they started sitting, I only started giving mealworms to them once I was sure they are actually brooding. I have now been giving them a pinch of worms morning and evening and from this weekend (which will roughly be 2 weeks of incubating, I think...), I will be increasing the volume of mealworms substantially. Basically, the parents should not feel like they will run out of live food at any stage during the first week after hatching.

I also have a 2L tub in the aviary which has layers of banana in, between layers of newspaper and this has started a very nice fruit fly culture, which they are loving! I cut out the center of the lid and replaced it with chicken mesh so that the birds can catch the flies that emerge but not go in and ruin the culture that is busy cooking.

They are notorious for tossing chicks but I am hoping between the mealworms and fruit flies they have enough live food to put chicks on the perch.

Jen · Post by **Jen** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 8:55 pm

anne22
I also have Red Cheek CB's in an outdoor aviary and have had a couple of successful clutches. I give them live mini mealworms daily during breeding season. I have also been able to find rotting wood with termites in it to offer to my birds as a treat. The coco fiber and white feathers are a must for them. You can find white feathers at Michael's or Walmart hobby section.

I believe the biggest factor for breeding these guys besides their diet is privacy!!! I'm able to offer different areas in my outdoor aviary that have nest (I use the woven, covered nest for RCCB also) covered with lots of greenery all around for privacy. Using a flight cage you need to make every effort to make a "cozy, hidden corner" for them to feel secure in their nest....and no nest checks. Best of luck!!!

Jen · Post by **Jen** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:00 pm

Rox
I will definitely be trying your "banana sandwich" for my guys to enjoy. Great idea!!! RCCB's are all about bugs. I see small bugs sometimes flying around in the aviary and they are always on the "hunt". Thanks for sharing!!!!

Rox · Post by **Rox** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 2:30 am

Jen It's the first time I am trying the fruit flies this way and it is working phenomenally well. So easy and free live food! I let the tubs stand for a week before putting them in the aviary's and this allowed a nice culture to start. All of my waxbills, including the twinspots are loving it and it's so much better than what I did last season with an open bowl of rotting fruit. I just need to keep an eye on how long the banana lasts in the tub but if you layer it quite thick between the newspaper, I recon I only have to put fresh tubs in every 2 - 3 weeks. It all depends on how hot it gets and how quickly the banana dries out.

That said, I'm not sure if I would try this if my birds were indoors. There is literally a cloud of fruit flies coming out of the tubs!

slwatson · Post by **slwatson** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 9:55 am

Sally Rox

Sally

That's good to know...I've got several pairs of birds on eggs now, so I might go ahead and see if I can get the CB's to breed.

Roxanne

Thanks for the information! I was also told to use bloodworms, so I'm planning on getting some soon to see if they like them.

Post by **Sally** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 10:57 am

Freeze-dried bloodworms will be accepted by some waxbills, and they are very high in protein. I like the Hikari brand (I order it online), and it is 65% protein. You have to mix them in with the egg food, as they are so lightweight that they will blow all over the cage bottom.

slwatson · Post by **slwatson** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 2:36 pm

Sally

I'll have to look into getting the Hikari brand...Ahmed is the one who said to use the bloodworms with the mealworms, so I hope they like them.

slwatson · Post by **slwatson** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 3:55 pm

Sally

What's the best type of nest for cordon bleus? I know what nesting materials to use, but should I use a plastic nest box, wooden, or something more natural?

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Breeding Cordon Bleu pair

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