QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
For The Bird Hobbyist!!

Got a question or three yourself?
Simply drop me as line at marcus_pollard@hotmail.com and I'll do my best!!

1) King Quail breeding problem?

Martin emailed this:
”I have a breeding pair of quails in the bottom of a finch aviary. The female had a clutch of about 6 eggs, and one has hatched and the little youngster is being taken care of by the mum, and the remaining 5 eggs have been left alone. Also, whenever the little bub goes near the father, the father aggressively attacks his head (I read on your website that male King Quail often kill their young). I am guessing it is blazingly obvious that I should separate the mum (and the chick) from the dad? Or am I wrong? And is there any hope for the other eggs?”

A. Well Martin, it has been a while since I have had quail but I can vividly remember meeting the same sorts of problems.
Unfortunately I suspect that the other eggs are no good as it is all too common for hens to ‘walk off’ their eggs after the first chick hatches – especially if the hen is a young, inexperienced one. Once the eggs have gotten cold the embryo usually dies but I have done some ‘resurrection’ work on cold eggs myself and, on some occasions at least, I was able to hatch a few chicks. I suggest that you break the eggs that have been left behind so that you might be able to ascertain whether or not they were actually fertile – if rotten it may explain why the hen left them.
Now to the male! A good male King quail is worth his weight in gold as they will care for the young even more so than the hen! If he has a tendency to attack the young then you may have to consider ‘retiring’ him from your breeding program. I would tend to give him one last chance but if the behaviours are repeated then out he goes! In the case of King Quail, two parents are far better than just one.
I once had a very old male quail that was far too ancient to breed yet every breeding season he would wait until a hen was sitting and then chase her off the nest and begin incubating the eggs himself! He was the best parent of the lot and would invariably rear to maturity every chick he hatched – 12 on one occasion! Far better results than even ‘good pairs’ of ‘proper’ males and females! Her also excelled in gathering up any stray chicks in the cage and added a further 4 ‘ring-ins’ to his flock and reared the lot. Told you a good male was worth his weight in gold – even if he is ancient!

2) Coccidiosis in finches:

One from Harry:
“I have heard of coccidiosis spoken about at the bird club and wondered whether you could tell me what it actually is, how birds get it and what treatments are available?”

A. Fortunately my experience with Coccidiosis has been limited to a few birds from the mainland and has not been a huge problem for us here in Tassie. However, I know of several mainlanders that would beg to differ!
The Coccidia is a protozoal parasite which means that it is, generally, a single celled organism. If an oocyst (egg) is the ingested by the bird whilst feeding it may simply pass on through but if the eggs is ‘active’ or sporulated it will burrow through to the bowel and enter a reproductive phase which sees a host of new oocysts passed back through the bowel lining and out of the body. As you can imagine this isn’t a picnic for the host. The danger of this organism is that it does not require an intermediate host and is quite capable of causing a high mortality rate once it establishes in an aviary off its own bat, so to speak. Young birds are at most risk of this and I believe that this is due to their poorly developed immune system. Overcrowded and unsanitary conditions are also a great climate for this pest to spread through a collection causing high losses.

Symptoms would appear to include a general fluffed, hunched appearance, desire to drink continually, greenish through to black droppings – as a result of blood in the faeces through rupturing of the bowel.

The oocysts (eggs) have a very tough outer coating and can resist desiccation and remain viable in the soil for in excess of 12 months. It loves wet, damp and humid areas of your aviary. It is recommended that the soil be aerated on a regular basis, treated with lime or replaced with concrete!!
Can enter the soil through wild birds flying over open areas of your flights and any rodents that sneak past your defences. Although most species of Coccidia are highly species specific and you might be free from Starlings and Indian Mynahs I have seen large flocks of wild finches frequently dropping by to visit their captive cousins!

My treatment of choice is with Baycox (active ingredient is 25g/l Toltrazuril) at the rate of 2mls/litre for 3 days.
In the bad old days we resorted to using Amprolium based products but these required lengthy treatments at different dose rates over a number of weeks and were, as a result, of this over time, open to misuse and widespread resistance was, unfortunately, the end result.
I guess that its liking for wet, damp spots makes it a management problem that needs attention the closer that you get to the equator.

3) SEXING GREEN SINGERS:

Marty writes:
“I have 2 young green singers that have lost their Juvenile necklace and I am uncertain as to their sex. Does this mean they are going to be cock birds, or could they be hens, and do they develop the hen's necklace again, as they mature? Both are in with known cock birds and have been carrying grass and building a nest. Will 2 cock birds behave like this?
I am uncertain as I have only ever bred young cocks before and am unsure how young hens develop. I thought hens would not lose the necklace but retain it?”

A: Been a while since I’ve had young Green Singers but I did find with mine that the hen never completely lost her necklace even when acquiring adult plumage. The males tended to lose the necklace across the front of the chest, which was replaced by a lemon/yellow colouration while hens kept the stippling with only a few gaps in the centre of the necklace. Even in hens that tend to lose part of their necklace it is invariably only in the centre parts and the edging section remain.
To me the greatest indicator of the sex of a young Singer is the white, streaky cheek patches that the hen appears to get at a relatively early age and the general duller appearance of the hens heads against the brighter yellow of the male.

After racing out to look at a mates youngsters I was also able to add that the cock bird tends to have a broader head than the females – but not much good if you only have the same sex to compare I guess!

From experience two males would be fine together until a female was introduced and then the fights would ensue to the terminal detriment of one of the males! These birds have very little sense of humour as you will find out if you try to run a trio of 2 hens and one cock – even the hens get into the ‘action’! I was once told that my trio was a bad move and, much to my surprise, as soon as I removed one female the remaining pair went straight to nest, so much for two hens being better than one!!

So, to cut to the chase, I agree with you that there is always part of the necklace visible in young hens - and mine tended to produce more hens than cocks – and don’t let their behaviour fool you as my first Red Strawberries were both males and they built a nest and preened constantly and stead fast refused to have anything to do with the two females I obtained for them……….their days were numbered!

4) Breeding Cordons:

 Evelyn has a problem:
“I have a pair of Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu’s and they are eager to go to nest, hatch out their chicks and then they either throw them out or simply leave them to die in the nest. I have been told that they are a waxbill and need live food to breed successfully. What is a waxbill and what sort of live food do I need to feed them to stop this happening?”

 A: Waxbills are a group within the Estrildid or weaver finches that, in the main, hail from Africa and Asia. Members of this group are generally smaller finches and, although being seedeaters most of the year, they have a distinct liking for live food when breeding. In fact many consider live food essential for the successful breeding of this group.

African Fire finches (Ruddies), The Blue Waxbills (Blue Caps, Cordons, Violet-ears and Purple Grenadiers), Twinspots, Strawberries, Orange-breasted and Pytilias are some of the better-known members of this group in aviculture.

I suspect that you may not be keen to culture maggots so I’ll stick to the next best thing in my opinion – the mealworm. I must stress here that ‘my next best thing’ is based on the fact that we don’t have access to termites or white ants here!!  So if you are anywhere that you can grab termites do so as they are the preferred live food of wild waxbills – well, African ones at any rate!!

Back to the mealies. If I were you I would grab some ‘mini-mealies’ from one of the suppliers. These are very small mealworms and are exceptional value for money and mine are purchased from Pisces Enterprises in Queensland, but you may have to be a licensed breeder to deal directly with them. When you receive your mealies sieve the wheat bran out and place them into oat bran and feed them on carrots. Why put them in oat bran? Goes back to a conversation I once had with Mike Fidler from the UK who suggested that the nutritional value of wheat bran was zero and that I’d be better off, both nutritionally and monetary wise, feeding them on cardboard! Further to this point I was fortunate to be invited to speak at the 2004 AFA conference in Canberra where I heard well-known Canadian aviculturist Peter Karsten state that mealworms fed on wheat bran are low in calcium and produce phytic acid which binds to the available calcium thus further reducing calcium levels in the bird, if my chemistry is up to scratch!!  Anyway, wheat bran is high in phosphorous but low in calcium. This could lead to egg binding problems when breeding time arrives – especially if the breeding season is disrupted by any cool changes, not that I’d know anything about that!!! Apparently, growing your mealies in oat bran circumvents this problem.

So a few mealworms might prove the difference between breeding a few Cordons and having them thrown onto the floor! Remember that Cordons love to decapitate every mealworm in the bowl, so the best plan is a few at regular intervals through the day if at all possible. In case you think you can outwit them by giving them ten times more than they need remember that they only actually eat the freshly killed ones!! You could also place some low wattage lights into your flight that would attract insects and the like to your aviary and the Cordons should delight in chasing around and catching one or ten during the daylight hours!

 
5) COMPOST HEAPS IN AVIARIES:

“Heard a lot about compost heaps in aviaries for attracting insects. Are they used by many breeders still? How would you go about building one?”

A:  Well, I wouldn’t and don’t, have one in any of my aviaries and I removed them all some number of years ago. Why? Two of us put all our Pictorella mannikins together in my aviary which also had a rather large compost ‘pit’ in the corner. The Picts spent a great deal of time down there picking for insects every time the heap was turned over, white worm being present by the bucket full. From our three pair we turned out 22 youngsters.
BUT, one by one, many of the parents and youngsters died over a 6 month period and, when we finally had autopsies performed, we found that these birds were riddled with fungal organisms and carried a large worm component. Not much use providing a compost heap for the birds if it is ultimately going to kill them!! Sure, it was a cheap source of livefood and the birds really appeared to enjoy fossicking about in it, but now we just work harder to supply our own live food and try to ensure that the birds remain ‘fungus free’ – since removing the compost heaps from our aviaries we have never had an autopsy returned with a deadly fungus count. As many of the parasitic worms that infest, or would like to infest, our birds like nothing better than being deposited in just such a warm, moist environment as your compost heap you would, surely, be creating an ultimately ‘dangerous’ feeding station for your charges? Coccidial organisms also thrive in such condition and, should your compost heap be out in the open flight, a direct hit from a passing House sparrow or Starling could be all that is needed to create an epidemic in your aviary. Also I am aware of at least one instance of an outbreak of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis being linked to just such a scenario from a compost heap.
If you must establish one then what I seem to remember is creating a rather large hole and adding in waste seed, vegetable and fruit scraps, lawn clipping and other such mulch material. This is then well-watered and, once the process of fermentation is well under way – that is it gets hot!!- it is regularly turned so that the birds have access to the rapidly sprouting seed and insects lurking within. We also added a culture or 3 of white worms and left the rest to nature. Every few months the entire ‘structure’ was dug up and most removed and the whole heaps topped up and re-used. We also added lime every few months in an attempt – in vain as we now know- to ‘freshen’ the heap up. Yes, birds love them, but I suggest you will ultimately need an even larger hole to bury your finches in or, at best, be prepared to contribute to your vet’s retirement fund!!
 

 6) MIXED COLLECTIONS

A:  Ok, now I am going to probably get myself into real trouble! Sorry mate, but you have got three of the worst species going for the Mixed Finch Aviary! All of these guys are what I call ultimate survivors and will breed on you if you stand still long enough!
They have the ability to rapidly reproduce, will dominate all available food sources and are absolute bullies when it comes to the ‘acquisition’ of nesting materials. I speak from first hand experience from way back in the dim, dark past when I first started keeping birds. I had these three species and they were breeding like mad things and their young supplied me with enough ‘readies’ to purchase the next rung of finches, namely Redbrows, Chestnuts and Stars.
My Stars went straight to nest but their young kept ‘appearing’ on the floor, the Chestnuts built 2 beautiful nests, eggs duly appeared but hatched into yet more Zebra finches! The cause - my Java’s had a pathological need to throw every young Star out of the nest, the Zebras waited until the Chestnuts had built and invariably took over all their completed nests! Add to this mix that every time my Redbrows started to build a nest, it soon became filled with every confounded Bengalese in the aviary! Most of the Australian and Exotic finches are not as aggressive as the three species that you have and their breeding success in an aviary with these guys would be expected to be minimal – obviously I am unaware of the size of your aviary!
My suggestion would be to leave your three species together and maybe add a pair of Neophema parrots or a pair of Masked or Diamond doves to the mix.
As to your next level of finches? Sorry mate, but unless you want to try Cutthroat finches then it looks like aviary two might have to be on the drawing board!!

 7) WORMING MY FINCHES:

A:  Well mate, YOU are just the person that SHOULD be sharing in this paranoia rather than adopting a superior stand point! Unscrew the monocle for a minute and ponder the fact that the creatures that you are basically stating have no effect on your birds are evolutionary survivors that have passed the test of time with flying colours. They do not kill your birds straight up but will breed inside them for weeks, even months before so weakening them that they die – usually as a result of a dramatic climate change, movement to a new aviary or from the stress brought on from simply breeding.
During this period they have produced countless thousands of eggs (oocysts) that lurk about on your aviary floor just waiting for that intermediate insect host to stumble by so that they can reinfest your birds a second time over!! However, this is further compounded by the fact that some have dispensed with the services of an intermediate host altogether. As I spoke with this person I asked him four simple, yet annoying questions:
1) Do you ever go inside your aviary to feed and clean your birds?
Of course I do, I feed them twice a day and put grass and other nesting materials in for them, what a ridiculous question!

2) Do you allow other people to go into your aviary?
What is this? You know full well you’ve been in them and anyone else can if they are interested in looking at the birds and my aviary set-up!

3) Do you feed you birds seeding grasses?
Of course! I have a patch of Silver beet in the garden and have two plots of Green panic and Veldt oats. I also have a patch of Rye and Milk thistle at work.

A:  In a word mate NO!
Most finches from Waxbills, through Grassfinches to Weavers will breed for a far greater period than that. The breeding life of finches will, of course, vary greatly from family to family.
The average Grenadier weaver will breed for as many as 15 years and my best breeding male was 17 years of age and rarely produced an infertile egg. He adopted the ‘trick’ of colouring up a month before the younger male weavers in the aviary and always put 2-3 hens down before the younger ones took over. His biological duties over for the year he would just be content to sit there and watch the other males fight with a smug look on his face!!
Many of the Siskins, Greenfinches and Singers will breed for 6-7 years with no problems at all and often putting an older, more experienced male with a young female will continue to reap rewards – just ensure that you keep records of clutch sizes and chick numbers so that you can check for any signs of decreased reproductive output.
Australian Grassfinches can often produce for 4-5 years with no obvious signs of reduced fertility. The key is knowing how old your stock is when you obtain it so that you can accurately predict what is expected from them.
Often people will replace stock that dies without considering whether you are putting a young cock to a very old hen or a new young hen to a very old male. Guess this is where your records are of paramount importance. If you start off with young birds and still don’t breed then you can reassess your pairings far more accurately. If they do only breed for you for 2-3 years it could be because they had a pension plan when you acquired them!!
As to the old birds, well, I must admit to having a cage with a number of ‘pensioners’ in it. Some have been with me for a number of years and, in their prime, bred a large number of offspring. I feel that repaying them by boxing them off to the nearest bird dealer is pretty poor treatment for their efforts!
Some still produce the odd youngster but, as they owe me naught, what is a bit of seed and greens in the scheme of things. But, I guess what really lies behind the question is, what do I do with the majority of older birds – most age indeterminate- that I sort out after the breeding season? Most do find their way to the bird dealers or are sold ‘out the door’ to bird breeders with the statement that they are adult birds. The term ‘adult birds’ is just that as I will always try to keep my own youngsters bred on the property for next breeding season as they have been reared on my feeding regime. So I will dispose of breeding pairs in order to retain youngsters that have been bred in my aviaries. Be honest with fellow breeders and it should pay off in the long run.
As I have been on the receiving end of some VERY old birds sent as “youngsters” I am aware how frustrating that can be so any birds that are knowingly past their reproductive age are simply given away. If you institute a sound breeding program you will regularly mix your blood lines and should avoid the problems of a number of very old birds.
Knowingly selling aged birds to fellow bird breeders is equivalent to avian suicide as word will soon get around and you will find it increasingly hard to obtain new stock – think the birds world is a big place? Just get a reputation for selling such birds and you might find it’s smaller than you first thought – to your cost!!

A:  Hi Confused, guess you might just have to stay that way for a while because, no doubt, I will confuse you even more!! Talk to 200 finch keepers and you will discover 200 slightly different opinions. In mind of that here, for what it may be worth, is mine!! I am afraid that I am a bit of a ‘finger prodder’ where finch nests are concerned!
I prefer to know what is going on in the nest so that I can be in the best position to intervene if necessary. Why intervene? Many finches will lay clear (infertile)
eggs and many will continue to sit on them long after the required incubation
period. If you throw away these clear eggs chances are that the birds will lay again with, hopefully, better results. I have seen finches sit on eggs until they have actually exploded underneath them leaving them covered in a smelly residue!
As a rule of thumb I try not to destroy or alter the structure of the nest when inspecting and a dentists mirror and a small pencil-like torch are often best for tricky nests. A simple feel in the nest will tell you much about the status of the eggs/and or chicks in the nest. With chicks your best weapon as to how they are progressing is your nose as there is nothing quite as ‘fragrant’ as a nest of abandoned chicks in the heat of the aviary environment!
Guess I haven’t told you anything new but them’s the breaks in this case mate! But, that most probably goes back to the fact that the key phrase in this question is to “know your own birds”.
Through trial and error you will soon work out the pairs that you can touch and the ones you can’t – sounds a bit grim but it is a fact I’m afraid. I have pairs of Red-head pytilias that I regularly swap eggs between and they have never deserted a nest – I take down the wicker nest baskets and roll the eggs out and replace them and the sitting birds are usually lining up to re-enter the nest as I leave their cage! However, I also have a pair that I try to avoid even looking in the direction of their nest lest they should take some umbrage and desert!!
Know your birds and, if in any doubt what-so-ever, FINGERS OUT! Even with my inquisitive approach I am not game to touch Star or Plumhead nests as these birds appear to be super sensitive to nest inspection. I am told that Orange-cheek waxbills are another and know of a friend that experienced problems with African Fire finches.
Some hints that I have encountered from other breeders/writers that might help
are:

l Limit the frequency of nest inspection to emergency only and let nature take its course.

Probably nothing new here but the onus is on you in regards this question and
your view point probably falls somewhere in the list above as you know your birds better than anyone else!
As an example of this from the world of hookbills, I responded to an e-mail about an article that appeared in NZ Birdz (July-August, 2003) about Quaker parrots where a ‘learned’ gentleman, for lack of a more ‘descriptive’ term, suggested that I ‘obviously’ did not have ‘first-hand experience’ with these birds as a number of ‘well respected’ authors had stated that nest inspection was ‘hazardous’ for these birds and just not performed. My birds couldn’t care less whether I removed the chicks/ eggs and the male has landed on my hand and proceeded to feed the chick in my hand!!
I only stated what was OK for my birds and did not profess to generalize to Quaker parrots as a whole - again, know YOUR birds!

10) Dean from NSW writes:
 “I recently purchased some new birds, Masked grassfinches, Yellow-billed Longtails, Plumheads, Red stars, Double Bars and Orange-breasted waxbills.  I then lost 1Mask, 1 Longtail and 1 Plumhead after their second dose of wormer, given two weeks after their initial dose.  Why do you think these birds died? All new birds I get in are segregated for 4-5 weeks but I always seem to lose a couple after I have wormed them, I wait a week before worming them. Before worming they look great!  I use Avitrol Plus at the rate of 1ml to 50 mls of water. What help can you give?

A.  First, I guess you’ve got to appreciate that worming is a very stressful procedure for most birds given that you are administering a poison of sorts! I am sure your birds DO look great before worming, but you may not know whether those birds have ever seen a worming agent in their lives before! Your climate will also help mask the effects of worm infestation as, generally, the hotter the temperature the longer the birds will survive, or at least be able to hide the fact that they have worms. Maybe you could try, during their quarantine period, giving your birds Apple Cider Vinegar (the non-pasteurised stuff, or the thicker looking the better!!) and Probotics for 14 days to ‘build them up’ before you commence worming. I use 5mls /litre of ACV (some suggest 10mls) to the recommended dose of whatever brand of probotic you choose.

Ok, now to your choice of wormer!! Unfortunately I have seen first hand on a number of occasions the effect of Avitrol Plus given as a flock treatment and it hasn’t been pleasant and I am but one of a hoard in that regards. There are a number of groups of finches that show a real intolerance for it when used as a ’water bowl ‘medication. I use this as recommended in its undiluted state direct to the beak and have had, to date no problems but in the water bowl…………..never! Also your dose rate of 1ml/50mls equates to 20mls/litre which is less than the manufacturer’s dose rate of 25mls/litre. One needs to be very careful using any medications at anything less than their recommended dosage as you may reduce its' killing power’ and cause a resistance problem.

 
11) Sharon from the US writes:

A.   If the moving mass is a greyish colour then I suspect that you have a mite problem as this is commonly seen. If in doubt take a sample to someone with a microscope and you will readily be able to confirm it as a mite. Some people recommend throwing the whole lot away but a friend placed small pieces of apple in an area which attracted the mites and he was able to remove most with a tea spoon – he reckoned that he wasn’t wasting them at any rate! The hatching time for mealworms is around 40 days I am lead to believe, depending upon the temperature, and I have tended to notice small shed skins rather than a moving mass as a tell-tale sign that little mealies were on the way.


 12) Bruce from New Zealand wrote:

A.  Hi Bruce, the guy you’d be talking about would be Glen Bowden from Tamworth. I was speaking to Glen a while back about his lights as I was surprised to see his set-up seeing it was about 30 degrees the day we were there in April! He suggested that winter temperatures can get to minus 10 degrees overnight so it was essential that the boxes are heated as the Gouldian’s breed during these winter months! Rather than waste your time with a lengthy description of his system for heating the boxes I thought it more prudent to attach the photo below which will give you a far better insight than I can! I believe that Glen uses 25 or 40 watt globes in these batten holders.

	Lights under Gouldian boxes.

13: "I have heard breeders talk about birds that are ‘single factors’ and/or ‘double factors’ for a particular trait and I was unsure as to what these terms actually mean?"

A: I too must admit to being a tad confused as to what breeders meant when they bandied round these terms! However, I did study basic genetics at Uni so I ‘thought’ I knew what the actual terms were that they were referring to so I recently consulted a few Gouldian breeders who were ‘up to scratch’ with their genetics and they all basically told me the same story.
So, with some apologies to them, and with a few initial terms for you here goes!

Firstly, the term Genotype refers to the gene makeup within the chromosomes of a bird and is not something we can ‘see’ by looking at the bird and the Phenotype is the expression of those genes and is something we can readily ‘see’ when looking at the actual bird. The genotype determines the phenotype if you like!

It refers to the genetic makeup of the bird (Genotype) for that particular trait. In extremely simplistic terms genes occur in pairs which means that for every trait/feature there are two genes which determine the features expression (Phenotype or what we actually see when we look at the bird). But each visible Phenotype has three possible gene combinations or genotypes. Lost me already? How about I stick to something really simple that I know which is regrettably, a parrot!!

I breed Quaker parrots and they come in two colours (so far here at least!!) – the ‘normal’ green colour and the mutation blue body colour. The gene is an autosomal one which just means that it is carried within the body chromosomes rather than on the sex chromosomes.
Green colour G is dominant to blue colour g, which is recessive. This means that for a bird to be blue it must have two recessive genes – gg which makes it double factor for blue colour, however any green bird can have two different gene combinations. A normal green bird can be GG or Gg and still be green. The bird with Gg is called a ‘split or carrier’ or we could simply say it is single factor for blue colour – in other words it could pass the gene for blue colour onto its progeny.

The other form of inheritance that we commonly see is called Sex-linked and refers only to traits carried on the X chromosomes. In birds cocks have two X chromosomes (XX) and hens have only one X (XO). So, referring back to our original question you cannot have double factor hens for a sex-linked trait. Males can be single or double factor for a particular trait. Fawn St.Helena waxbills and Sea green parrotfinches are examples of sex-linked traits in finches. In sex-linked traits there are usually a higher number of females showing the trait because they only need one recessive gene to show the trait whereas males need two recessive genes – one on each of the X chromosomes.

So, what do I reckon? Well, at the risk of introducing yet another set of terms, I think that a single factor bird is one that carries the trait in its genotype and would/may look nothing like the colour mutation you are looking for yet has the ability to pass that desired gene onto its offspring. I’d even dare to say the bird was ‘split’ for that trait and that its genotype was Heterozygous for the trait or has only one recessive gene for that trait!
If, on the other hand, you told me that a bird was a double factor I would say that the bird would have to express the desired colour and would have a genotype that was Homozygous for the trait/colour or would have two genes for that particular trait. This is regardless of whether the trait was dominant or recessive.
Think I’m wrong/mistaken well write in and let me share your thought with the rest of the finch world!!

However, before you reckon this was a gob-full; we didn’t even mention X-linked Dominant, cross-overs, Multiple alleles or Polygenic inheritance……….whew!!

A:  "I read your recent article on raising mealworms and you asked at the end if anybody has a trick to get the mature larvae to pupate.

What works for me is cutting back on moisture i.e. carrots/greens etc. when they have reached full size and more importantly to place folded pieces of brown paper (grocery bags or animal feed bags) on top of the medium. Two or three folded pieces about the size of the surface to create two pockets will do nicely. The larvae see this as a good site away from gnawing larvae and pupate en mass. You can lift up one side of the pocket and look at the pupating larvae and pupae all gathered up cleanly in-between the sheets. Do not fold the paper harmonica style or you will dump most of the larvae when you inspect the inside. Raising the temperature to 29 Celsius should also be beneficial. Cutting back on moisture gives an alarm signal to better pupate than to die of dehydration. Flies and Waxworm will pupate when they run out of food and turn into smaller adults, but they do complete the cycle. This is why we see a given species of flies and other insects of different size in the imago stage.

When I find I have more than I need for beetles I sometimes pick up a paper pocket and dump the clean larvae and pupae into a dish to harvest them as food for my birds. It is quick and efficient because the larvae are at maximum size and I do not need to disturb the culture."

15: Geoff e-mailed this:
"I am about to install full-spectrum lighting in my finch flights and I have heard various things about the critical nature of the actual situation of the lights in relation to the birds and wondered whether you could ‘shed some light’ upon the subject!"

A: I’ll do the jokes thanks Geoff – the nerve of some people!!
I too am contemplating this very situation myself and have spent some time researching and asking 4000 questions of a number of NSW’s breeders that have some experience with this form of lighting. I must admit what I learnt has certainly made me rethink the "how" of installing these lights. It is not just simply a matter of whacking a full-spectrum fluoro into the flight and sitting back saying how clever you are! Apparently the birds need to perch within 12-18 inches (~ 30cms) of the light otherwise any beneficial effects are lost. This means that one will have to be clever when siting any perches so that just such a situation is created. Merely attaching the fluoro to the ceiling is a waste of time as it would be relatively impossible for the bird to actually sit there unless they could hover! To gain any benefits from full-spectrum lighting the birds need to spend at least 30 minutes under the lights on a daily basis so this must also be factored in. Apart for the commoner fluoro tube lights there are a number of screw-in full-spectrum lights available in Australia from the Arcadia Company. Apparently these screw-in ones have a life of around 12 months whereas I have been told the fluoro's may only have a viable life of around 3-6 months depending upon which brand you choose.

16:  Justin says: "After you recommended Lebanese cucumber, I tried it with some birds and they just looked at it but let it shrivel up untouched!! Is there any nutritional difference between Lebanese cucumber and Normal cucumber?

A: The answer to getting your birds to eat it is a relatively easy one using the ‘monkey see, monkey do’ philosophy. Simply place a Red-faced parrotfinch in your aviary and you’ll have all your birds eating it in no time flat. They consume absolutely every piece of the seeds and pith leaving only the green skin. Would be interested in knowing what birds rejected it as I have seen Blue-caps, Pytilias, Siskins and every bird in between eating it with relish.
As to the nutritional value I am not 100% sure if there is any difference between the varieties but a number of breeders in many different countries extol the virtue of the Lebanese variety over its (usually cheaper!!) cousins. My attempts at finding what is in the cucumber that makes it so appealing – well, to most peoples birds at any rate – has been less than spectacular! Some have claimed that it has aphrodisiac properties but all I can ascertain is that it is rich in vitamin C which may be why my finches have never suffered from scurvy!!

One reason for feeding it and not the ‘burping varieties’ is that it has the same effect upon them as it does upon us! My mate made an executive decision to purchase a normal cucumber when the Lebanese variety was extremely expensive and stated that his birds were sitting around the cucumber gasping…..or should I say burping…..so much that he feared for their health!! I kid you not! He swears its true but I have never fed them any other type.

17: Debbie asks: "I am thinking of getting a few Weaver species to add to my collection. Are Weavers able to be mixed in with other finches safely?"

A: I guess the answer to this question has many parts depending upon which of the Weavers you are planning to keep in with your other finches. I feel I’d best go through most of the commoner species available as they are rather ‘different’ in their natures to say the least.
The Comoro/Madagascar weaver is the cheapest available and the nastiest to boot!! The ones available here in Australia tend to be a mish-mash of both species with the amount of red on the chest the indicator of whether they are more Comoro – red half way down the chest – or more Madagascar – full red right down the chest and between the legs.

In the hens the Comoro’s tend to be an olive green while the Maddies are a more brownish colouration.

Pure Maddies are reputedly the ‘friendliest’ of the family but I wouldn’t trust them with crows! A friend had a pair in with a pair of Green singers and two pairs of Turquoise parrots. He complained to me that the Singers were attacking his Turks and had killed one of the hens. I stated that it was the Maddies rather than the Singers but he wouldn’t believe me. That is until he rang to say that over the season he had bred 9 Maddies and that the parents had killed them all in one night along with a cock Turk for good measure! All had their heads completely scalped!
My tendency would be to give the Maddies a miss! Depending upon the purity of the birds you were getting I would expect to pay upwards of $150 a pair.

The Grenadier weaver or Red Bishop is my favourite and is a bird I would recommend it to anyone for a mixed collection. They sit around like sparrows for 8 months of the year then the male erupts into their nuptial plumage. When breeding they require plenty of livefood so it is important not to overcrowd their aviary with other insectivorous species. A great bird that I have not witnessed attacking any other finches unless they dared to approach too close to the weavers nest. At around the $300-$400 mark they are a bargain.

The Orange Bishop weaver is a sub species of Red Bishop and is a smaller bird. From my limited experience with this species they would appear to be a tad more aggressive than the Grenadier. Thus saying they appear fine with most finches as long as they keep their distance! I have never noticed them actively chasing other species and we bred a number of birds like Pictorellas, Red Strawberries, Red-faced parrotfinches and Grey singers in the same aviary. This species appears to be more dependent on the weather than the Grenadier and rainfall is the key factor in breeding this species. Also males vary in their ‘matrimonial responsibilities’ and a good male is essential for successful breeding results. You could expect to pay upwards of $2000 for a pair of these guys.
The last of the Weavers available here is the Napoleon weaver. My experience with these guys is restricted to my mates pair and these birds have shown little aggression to other birds in with them although, given their very high price, there were very few bird in with them. They pursue the hens with vigour and males will do likewise to each other which may annoy some more delicate finches!

At around $3000 a pair they are not for the feint hearted. These Weavers appear less controlled by the weather than either of the other two Bishops.

Hope that has given you a brief look at the Weaver species here in Australia and a little about their habits. Although I have extolled the virtues of the Grenadier I must point out that it will strip the plants in your aviary whereas the other species tend to hide their nests rather than advertise their presence by stripping all and sundry from around the nest. One of the very few plants that can withstand the onslaught of the Grennies at breeding time is the humble Genista bush.
 

18:  My name is Suzy and I have only recently become a Finch addict!!!!!  I have started with Gouldians which apparently I am told are quite touchy!!! I seem to have trouble with air-sac mites in the birds I have bought; one in particular is not too well at the moment. I have spoken to the breeder that I purchased my 2 pairs from and he has said to add Ivermectin syrup to the drinking water. I have done this and the bird is not any worse but is definitely no better either. I have seen on other American site a product called Scatt….do we have that in Australia?? Do you have any other tips for me with my Gouldians? Look forward to learning more about this breed to enable me to care for them properly. Many thanks for your time.

 A: Must admit that I am not the world’s best person to ask about Gouldians as I have only just started with them but have bred heaps this season – must have been the good birds to start with!!!
My first port of call would be to send a faecal sample to an avian vet – such as Colin Walker at the Australian Pigeon Company or Danny Brown in the Glasshouse Mountains – and actually confirm that it is air sac mite you are dealing with.
However, worms and worming is one of my fetishes so here goes!! I gather you have Ivomectin??  If you have the sheep and goat strength one add 3.1 mls of Ivomec to 25mls of isopropyl alcohol (from chemist or a friend that dabbles in chemistry!!) and add ONLY 2 drops to the back of the neck. If not you could end up with a very inebriated bird! If you have cattle strength Ivomec then add 0.5mls to 25mls of alcohol and same dose rate.  That should do the trick but you may have to repeat every couple of weeks to ensure you kill it all as air sac mite and gizzard worm can prove difficult to kill and completely remove.
Scatt is a product produced here by Vetafarm but I do not use it. The active ingredient is Moxidectin which is sold as Cydectin....5mls per litre of water for 5 days is the recommended rate. I use Cydectin (Cydectin Plus is the new version which contains a tapewormer - praziquental - as well and is VERY bitter so use a sweetener!!) quite a lot in the water but I suspect you would need to be more aggressive to get rid of air sac mite if that is what the problem really is as many respiratory problems appear to be similar to air sac BUT it is what I would suspect given the species!!!  Dr Colin Walker at the Australian Pigeon Company sells both sorts in small bottles.....aint cheap but does the trick!!
Just as a final word I will refer back to a good mate who has always told me that “clean water is next to godliness” where Gouldians are concerned.

19:Tom called with this one:
I recently brought a pair of split Seagreen parrotfinches from a mate, they are both normal looking but I am assured that they will produce both male and female Seagreens in their offspring. However, my reading has suggested that the type of genetical inheritance for Seagreen is sex-linked and I am unsure as to what this actually means! Could you shed some light on this problem for me and is my mate correct?

 A: Shall have to be a little careful here Tom as I suspect my reply may cause a bit of a ‘ruckus’!
There are basically – and I do stress the ‘basically’ bit - two types of inheritance. There are traits that can be carried on what we call AUTOSOMES or ‘body chromosomes’ or on the SEX CHROMOSOMES or ‘X and Y’ chromosomes. So both males and females have the same autosomes but, depending upon their sex, different sex chromosomes. In birds the male has two X chromosomes (same as for females in humans, whereas us mere males have an XY system where the Y is a tiny excuse for a chromosome and hence males tend to show far more sex-linked traits than females!) and the female has what is known as an XO sex determination system where the O simply denotes the absence of a chromosome. Clear as mud?! This means that male birds have one extra chromosome than females.

What does it all mean for you? Well, if any trait is carried on the Sex Chromosomes then a male must have two recessive genes for that trait – one on each of the X chromosomes – to show that recessive trait. Whereas in the female she only needs one recessive gene to show that trait as she only has one X chromosome.
What does this mean for the pair of birds you purchased? Well, your male birds CAN be split for Seagreen – which means that it carries the recessive gene for Seagreen on one X chromosome but its effect is masked by the stronger, normal green body colour gene on the other X chromosome. Therefore it looks green or normal coloured but can pass on the ‘hidden’ gene to its offspring.

However, your female, having only one set of genes for colour on her single X chromosome, must be a normal green female and is simply that and not/can’t be split for Seagreen. Sorry ‘bout that, which mean that your mate is mistaken and that the hen “split” you’ve got is, in reality, a normal Red-faced parrotfinch hen.
Just to add a final thought, if Seagreen colouration had been an autosomal mutation you could have both split males and females but, alas it ain’t!!

20:  I have read that Parson Finches are supposed to be 12 months old before you should breed from them, but mine are carrying grass wanting to breed at 9 months. Will it hurt to let them go ahead and breed?

A: However, nine months is a fair amount of time and if you are residing in a temperate climate then all should be fine. I have known of people that try and breed their birds after their first adult moult and, regardless of whether you are in Cairns or Hobart, this is a recipe for tragedy.
I guess opinion varies on this one with a camp, including myself that feels it is far better to hold the hen back for 12 months than to breed her under that time frame and run the risk of losing her to egg binding. The other camp feels that they are old enough to breed when they want to! In cooler climates it is fairly important to hold your hens back as sudden changes in the weather can prove disastrous for young hens.
However, nine months is a fair amount of time and if you are residing in a temperate climate then all should be fine. I have known of people that try and breed their birds after their first adult moult and, regardless of whether you are in Cairns or Hobart, this is a recipe for tragedy.

Also if both your birds are the same age, say juveniles, they will mature at a similar rate and probably be ready to breed in synch with each other. The other recipe for disaster is to introduce a young hen to a mature cock perhaps following the death of its mate. In this scenario the adult male will be ready to breed as soon as he accepts his new mate but the hen may require a far longer time interval to become ready to breed. This constant harassment may lead to increased stress levels in the younger bird or may result in egg binding/laying problems as the hen is ‘not ready’ to reproduce. This behaviour reaches its peak in the Blood or Crimson finch where, if the female is unreceptive to the male’s advances, he may hound her literally to death! I know of several breeders that have introduced young hens to adult cocks with this the end result. At least remove the male from the aviary until the hen has had enough time to settle in or, at least, find a series of clever hiding places!

I do not wish to imply anything sexist by constantly referring to the health and well-being of the hen but, just like us male humans, female birds are a tad genetically weaker! Just as sex-linked traits are expressed mainly in the male population amongst humans similar traits are often shown by female birds in the avian world!

21: Some recommend an austerity diet during winter, yet many in Australia breed from their birds all year round. How can you do both? Is it wise to stop birds from breeding if they want to continue and how is that accomplished if they are left together?

A: The debate about an Austerity diet rages amongst members of the avian community. Much of the literature concerning austerity diets comes from Europe and the US where finches are often kept indoors under regimes of constant temperature and photoperiod. Under such conditions there is no stimulus or maybe lack of stimulus even, to cease reproductive behaviour. Great you say “I could breed my birds 12 months of the year” but pity help your breeding birds trying to cope with 12 months of constant egg laying and chick rearing. How long before the quality of your stock reaches danger point – not long I fear! So what do you do? You alter the climatic conditions or limit the intake of food to your birds removing live food and other rich food sources and impose an austerity period on the birds to ‘make them believe’ that the time for breeding is over.

Here is the crux of the matter – austerity diet or period? I was fortunate enough to be able to discuss just this very point with Mike Fidler and Ray Lowe early last year. I have never been in favour of imposing an “austerity diet” upon my birds because such a removal of foodstuffs during the Tasmanian winter would, I believe, impose undue stress when compounded with our winter ‘climate’. I asked Mike for his opinion of this and he simply smiled and said I’d missed the point! In the Tasmanian climate he stated that there was no real need for an ‘austerity diet’ as the weather imposed an ‘austerity period’ during which time the birds were not ‘encouraged’ to breed – if only he knew how much sense that made from years of living in Tasmania!!

So that was the debate made clear to my cloth-eared brain! The notion of ‘austerity’ is where we devise a regime – be it diet, alteration of photoperiod/temperature, removal of live food, basically whatever suits in your region – whereby you mimic what happens in nature where birds reproductive behaviour is changed/switched from ‘breeding to non-breeding’ or the reverse.

We take birds from an environment where everything is against them and they are, because of their small size, on the top of every predator’s food shopping list. We remove predators, we cater for their every dietary and health whim, we supply them with safe and secure nesting sites, we ensure they never have to access the singles pages again so it is little wonder that they reproduce! However, there comes a point where this reproductive behaviour can damage the birds by being overstimulated to breed and hens and cocks are lost. Sure you have plenty of young to take to the sales and the likes but at what cost to your breeding birds – 3, 4, 5 nests of young when are we satisfied? How many are enough?
To give you an example from the world of hook bills I once sold a guy a pair of Red-fronted Kakarikis and heard that he had bred a few. ‘A few’ turned out to be 21 from this pair and, upon meeting him again; I asked how the pair went. “They pair bred 21 youngsters but the hen dropped dead after the last nest but who cares I did get all those youngsters.” Needless to say I’ve never sold him another thing!

So I guess that answers part of the question. Anyone that constantly breeds from his birds for 12 months has little regard for his birds and would you like to buy the progeny from the 6, 7 or 8^th nest?

If your leave your birds together in what I assume is an outside aviary then by manipulating the diet and removing nesting sites and material it is possible to ‘semi-control’ the desire to breed. Removing/limiting live food is also frequently used but some species might still require you to separate the sexes especially if they have a tendency to breed naturally during the winter months in cooler climes or, as can be the case at times, they just won’t stop breeding! Remember a good breeder is prepared to adopt a diverse range of strategies to ensure the optimal breeding return. I always remember a mate of mine who has always maintained that he is from the “old school” of finch keeping yet every time I visit he has subtly altered the way he keeps and feeds his birds, has the best in ‘state of the art wormers’ and the latest soft foods and diets available………….maybe that’s part of the secret to his legendary breeding prowess, old school my foot!!
However, in defence of the finch breeders that I know, I must say that of those that breed for 12 months of the year the ‘rotation system’ comes into play whereby certain pairs are rested to ensure they are ready for next season rather than trying to breed them to death! The breeders I know are too smart for that one and have far more respect for their charges too! I guess what I am saying is that if you fully intend to breed 12 months of the year then you rotate your stock and never succumb to the trick of over-breeding certain breeding pairs. I have been told by some that my ‘theory’ is bollocks as ‘birds will regulate their own breeding’ which, I suspect, is a polite way of saying usually when one of the pair dies!

A bare holding aviary is a very good place for giving birds a rest as this bare nature ensures that you have better control over food stuffs and can watch the calorific content of the diet far easier than in a planted aviary. What goes in you put in!

22:  My name is David; I live in the southern suburbs of Sydney. I need your advice, this morning Sat 4th June, I attended to my aviary in which I house a mixed collection of Finches and to my shock 14 birds of a colony of 20 birds were found dead on the aviary floor. The dead birds include, Stars, Red & Blue face parrots, Painted firetails, Longtails, Cordons & Black nuns, and the only surviving birds were 2 parrot finches & 4 Bengalese. Every night I close the aviary using clear plastic blinds and I have a fan heater that is connected to a timer switch turning on 10 minutes every hour. I try to attend to my birds every day, but on the previous day I did not have the time before work, to supply seed & water. My local bird dealer tells me that finches become stressed after 4-5 hours without food & water, is it truly possible that this is the cause, or might there be other reasons? My birds were happy & healthy on Thursday, and then I found them dead on Saturday morning, please advise me so as this never happens again.

A: Sorry to hear about your birds as I know what it feels like to lose them and in such numbers must be doubly horrendous.

A: Well Narelle, the old adage of all things in moderation should be adhered to when starting a new feeding regime with any of these supplements. The ones on my site have been developed over a long period by a number of dedicated finch breeders so they are tried and true!
However, perhaps my experience will help you decide or at least make you wary of which types you feed them to.
As you know I hail from a cold state, Tasmania, and this has lead me to make a number of interesting observation on the feeding habits of some finches. I have been feeding a supplement for around 8 months and it was added to the soaked seed every morning, about a tablespoon to a kg container of seed (roughly!). All was going well until I noticed the Blue-faced parrotfinches were hogging the soaked seed, especially during the long winter period, still, nothing abnormal there I thought as they do it every winter. Great I thought, as I knew what was in the mix and felt sure they would benefit from it. The breeding season came and went and from 5 pair of Blue-face not one chick or egg! I caught up a few birds and found, to my horror, that they were obese and riddled with the yellow fat commonly seen in the male Tri-coloured parrotfinch – much to the amusement of a friend from NSW I might add!

I spoke to a number of people about whether the birds, and parrotfinches in particular, were prone to this condition when exposed to such supplements or whether they tended to consume more during colder periods. Most said no but the ones that said so were not familiar with birds kept partly outdoors during a Tasmanian winter so I rang a few trusted local yokels for their opinion. What did they say?

• They had noticed that Blue-faced showed a real liking for such supplements especially during the winter months whether it was fed alone or mixed with soaked seed.

• Another breeder had experienced problems with fertility – or rather a lack of it or any other nesting behaviour – when his birds were fed on such supplements, again over winter.
• A general observation by all of us that seed intake is greatly increased over the winter months in birds kept outside – just ask our wallets!
  

It has taken two of us around 3 months to ‘slim down’ our Blue-face in order to get them fit enough to breed. In fact ours were so keen when they had slimmed down that we both have youngsters in June!!!! Unfortunately no-one has stepped forward and offered to fund my research on this matter so I must just give you some of my finding based on a very small statistical group and let you draw your own conclusions!
If you live in a more temperate region you may never see the problems I have outlined so feel free to feed supplements ad lib or maybe, just maybe, you’d be wiser to run a few experiments first – up to you!

Oh, and just in case you are still pooh, poohing my comments on increased food intake during winter here’s one for you. The air conditioning unit recently ‘spat the dummy’ at the animal holding facility at the University such that the internal temperatures dropped from 21 degrees Celsius to a wintry 12 degrees. Guess you know what’s coming! Yes, the food consumption of the rodents increased 2 fold! Sure I know they are rodents and not birds but……..feeling as little uneasy are we?!!!
So Narelle, supplements are great in moderation but I feel it just puts the onus back on us to keep watching our birds and to never get complaisant over what we present to them. Talk to 150 aviculturists and they’ll give you 150 slightly different tips but it’s basically up to you how you assimilate their information and apply it to your own flock.

24: James Wilson from N.S.W e-mailed in:
I am just starting out with finches and at the moment I have 7 Zebra finches - 3 of which I bred myself. I have attached a photo of my aviary (under construction when photo was taken) which faces north with the north face of the enclosed section open except for the roof. I was just wondering if you could provide me with some of your expertise.
I would like to keep Gouldian’s, Stars and Double Bars. Will these birds live together in the same cage, also what type of plants should I put in the cage and will I need to offer more protection from the cold?

A: Always good to hear of someone starting out and it sure makes the years melt away………OK, I wont push it too far!!!! Anyway, I guess we can all remember ‘way back when’ and most of us would have had the ubiquitous Zebbies there with us at the start!
Firstly, don’t make the same mistake as I did, get rid of the Zebbies before you take the next step up to Stars, Emblemas and the likes as the Zeb can take over from many of the more ‘timid’ species and disrupt breeding. I can well remember watching my Chestnuts build their unlined nests and seeing the chicks hatch only to watch these chicks fledges into yet more Zebbies!

25: Gladys from Victoria hit the ether to email in this question. "As I live in Victoria and winter is fast approaching can you give me some ideas as how to keep my aviaries warm through the colder months. I have heard of people putting clear plastic around their aviaries or putting heaters in the aviaries, but wouldn't that be too expensive?"

A: I guess in Victoria you would have similar problems to us down here but you would have even better summers! Personally I do not have regular heaters in any aviaries but have the power on to most so that I can plug in a column filled oil heater if there are chicks in a nest that might need extra heating at night. Perhaps the best plan of attack is to build your aviaries to suit the local conditions more than relying upon heating during the winter months.

26: Phil from South Australia sent me in this one on my favourite topic!!
"Hello Marcus, Have really enjoyed some of your latest postings - I regularly visit your site to make sure I am up with what is happening. I have a question regarding live food that I am hoping you can answer for me. I have gone into maggot production mode, and this coupled with mealworms has meant it has been quite a few weeks since I have had to purchase any live food. I seem to have a famine or feast though, and I am wondering whether it is my mixture or that is just how it goes? I am following your instructions but using bran and no pollard. It seems that maggots don't generally appear until there is a crust on top of the mixture, and then they can be found in large groups underneath. Is that how it should happen, or should I expect to see them within 24 - 36 hours in a newly mixed batch?"

A: At last a question to get my teeth into – or is that much imagery for so early in the day!! In all honesty Phil I never let it build up a crust on top if I can help it, in fact I aerate them twice every day to stop that happening - if it does form a crust it means that the top maggots have dried out anyway and this could be part of your problem. Turn, turn, and turn...........my friend. This means that fresh eggs on top of the mix won’t desiccate but will be turned under into softer, juicier substrates – more excellent imagery!!