New Java Owners in Canada

[EmilyStewart]

Hello Everyone

My daughter and I each got a Java this past summer and they had five babies hatch November 11, 2015.

We want to give away three babies and keep two (four birds in one cage once we give away three babies).

My first concern: is it a good idea to keep parents and sibblings together?
They are currently all getting along well. I have seven food and three water dishes so no agression over food; four perches, two ladder swings and two millet hanging feeders to keep them busy. The cage is a converted dog kennel, 30" wide x 48" long x 33" high.

My other concern is that the parents are starting mating displays again and we don't want any more babies. The cosy we gave the birds for Christmas might be seen by the parents as a place to nest...so I will need to remove that. Is there anything else I can do before separating the male and female?

Happy New Year.
Emily in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

[Sally]

EmilyStewart Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on. I see that you are from Ottawa, we have quite a few Canadian members on the forum!

I don't have any experience with Javas, so I'll let others answer most of your questions. I will say that any time you keep parents and their adult babies together, you can have inbreeding. If you keep all nests/nesting materials away, that will discourage it some, but you still may find breeding behavior.

I am going to split your post off from this thread and set it up on its own, so that other members may see it more easily and help you with some answers. I will leave it in the Finch Chat forum for now, and I will title it "New Java Owners in Canada". Of course, if you would prefer a different title, just let me know, I just have to have a title in order to split it off on its own.

[lovezebs]

EmilyStewart

Welcome fellow Canadian.

Sorry I don't have Javas, so I can't help you with your questions, just wanted to say hello.

There are several members who have Javas on the Forum, so hopefully they'll pop in and answer your questions.

[cindy]

I raise a large amount of javas.... the cozy you need to remove, they do not need these or nests to sleep in and they will see it as a nest. Also cozies are a bit dangerous for finches especially java, the nails tend to get caught in things, they tangle, injure themselves or break a leg or worse. They sleep just fine on a branch or perch next to each other.

Yes depending on the size enclosure you have for them you can keep offspring with the parents. Javas have a tendency to "mob" together in small groups. I have cages with parents and offspring as well as a 8lx 6hx 3 deep walkin that houses about 2 dozen. They can be territorial come nesting time, I have had siblings from the first clutch help raise siblings from a second clutch..depends on the birds.

How many are housed in the cage and what size cage is it...height does not count since javas tend to stay to the top.

[erine]

Welcome to another Canadian! My pair very quickly got the hint after I took the nest away. I found one or two broken eggs on the floor but after that we were good. Congrats on the successful clutch. My javas have laid 2 nests full of clear eggs!
Erin

[Sheather]

As long as there are no nest sites there will be no breeding.

[cindy]

Welcome to another Canadian! My pair very quickly got the hint after I took the nest away. I found one or two broken eggs on the floor but after that we were good. Congrats on the successful clutch. My javas have laid 2 nests full of clear eggs!
Erin

That can happen the first couple of times with some pairs, either the mating was not complete or the hen laid without mating (some are stimulated by the mere nest being provided), they may not have incubated consistently, check the area for privacy and possible interruptions. Also diet, some deficiencies can cause infertility issues. The age of the birds is a factor. Javas are difficult to sex at times... has you male sung?

[tam]

I 'm so jealous, I always wanted to own a pair of java's. Would love to see some pics. - tam

[vienneparis]

EmilyStewart
Hi Emily, welcome to the Forum.
I used to raise javas, but gave them up eventually because my java flock were too aggressive. In the beginning, I had 2 pairs of javas in a mixed outdoor aviary, but soon had to house them in a separate cage because they were too dominant, territorial, and aggressive for the aviary. They kept bullying the smaller finches.

While the 2 pairs lived in their flight cage (48" long x 36" wide x 48" high), the dominant pair kept chasing the more submissive pair from food dishes and nests, even though I placed multiple dishes and nests in the flight cage. Eventually, I had to rehome the submissive pair to prevent them from being injured by the dominant pair.

Left on their own in the cage, the dominant pair started breeding and had a clutch of 3 chicks. They were great parents and successfully raised the chicks. Once the chicks were weaned, however, the parents starting building another nest. They then turned aggressive toward their own chicks. I moved the java children into a juvie cage to keep them safe and eventually rehome them.

With the 2nd clutch of 2 chicks, the parents showed through the same behavior of caring for the chicks until successfully weaned and then chasing them around & bullying them once the chicks had matured. Again, I had to remove the children.

I eventually decided to stick with gouldians and less aggressive finches, so I found homes for all of my javas.

Hope that helps

[EmilyStewart]

So the babies have got their adult plummage....three pied, one silver (he is a beauty..and sings..will try to post photos from my laptop sometime...can't from my tablet as file size is too large), and one agate (well not a true agate as there is some white under all the birds beaks). Both parents have the agate look (both have white patches under beak....so not true agate). I separated some out to get ready for my Mom's neighbour.....and they have settled now...but at first all they wanted to do was get back to their other cage and family.....they seem to talk between cages....definitely social birds in my opinion.