Aviculturalists?.....

LOU said:
South Gippsland.
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thats not melbourne! i was going to recommend a good livestock feed place here that you can get all one desires for birdkeeping at a quarter of the price.

in any event i'm sure there are plenty of such places your way. i buy a quality finch seed mix, then mix it roughly half half with red pannicum. it seems to be every finches favorite seed.

green seed is really, really good for finches so collect as much of that as you can - some people collect it in bulk in season then freeze it.

goulds are a type of parrotfinch - which i have read are a little fonder of fruit than most. but DO feed the lebanese cucumber. the birds go crazy for it and most breeders all consider it an integral part of their standard diet these days...
 
phoenix said:
thats not melbourne! i was going to recommend a good livestock feed place here that you can get all one desires for birdkeeping at a quarter of the price.

in any event i'm sure there are plenty of such places your way. i buy a quality finch seed mix, then mix it roughly half half with red pannicum. it seems to be every finches favorite seed.

green seed is really, really good for finches so collect as much of that as you can - some people collect it in bulk in season then freeze it.

goulds are a type of parrotfinch - which i have read are a little fonder of fruit than most. but DO feed the lebanese cucumber. the birds go crazy for it and most breeders all consider it an integral part of their standard diet these days...
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Thanks. Green seed is no problem, nor is finch mix but what is red pannicum??

Also, what made you think i lived in Melbourne??
 
sorry, i thought i saw melbourne on your location.

red pannicum is a type of seed. if your going into finches its one of the first things you'll learn - all the different types of grasses.

there is plenty of resources on the net. just be sure that you spend a few months doing research before you jump into things. of course there is things you learn as you go - but its best to know your stuff first.

read everything here:

Articles
 
hi
all myn get corn and they love it and i have been told that if u can get green millet when its at its milky stage, that is spose to be exellent for breeding birds an i have had a number of breeders swear by it. I have used it but i can not get my hands on it enough, so it is only occasional that my birds get it. And apple, all my finches love these and get corn and apple usually once a day.
 
I don't want to be an alarmist but be careful with gouldian finches - they are very delicate in cold climates and very susceptible to disease, especially when housed with other species.
My brother successfully bred gouldians for years, but here in Sydney at dusk every evening in cooler weather he would shut them into an insulated and slightly heated shed. Not really necessary? Depends how keen you are not to lose them.
 
true ara. from what I know it's not so much the cold - but a combination of cold, wind and dampness. cold air temp is tolerable so long the bird is out of the wind and dry. nonetheless, being in the country where it gets colder, I would provide terracotta heat lamps in winter and I would definitely fully roof the aviary and provide plastic curtains or persex shutters for those cold wintery days/nights.
 
phoenix said:
that said, some moths ago i saw oriental fire bellied toads advertised in sydney. instantly dismissing it as a scam, i was surprised to see about three days later a news report of sydney man busted with the species!
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Both Customs and DEC/DEWHA regularly peruse Petlink and bust people. Some people are just plain stupid. I remember a couple of years back someone in Perth advertising he had Indian Star Tortoises for $5,000 a piece - Customs called him, set up a deal, when along and busted him.

ZYBen said:
all the kids that say that death adders look like corn snakes
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Obviously don't know what they are talking about!

LOU said:
and i'm wondering what is the best diet to feed them on. I've heard of millet, kale and endive but none are available anywhere near where i live.
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I used to buy a variety of seeds (Hungarian, Japanese, French White, Pannicum, Plain Canary seed etc) and mix it up myself with some fine shellgrit. But it became easier to just buy a premixed Finch Mix or Budgie Mix. I usually get a 20kg or 40kg bag.

I also soaked seed during the breeding season - the birds go absolutely wild for this when it's sprouting!

And a mate of mine is growing French White in a corner of his garden. He puts the spraysin with his Zebs when the seeds are fully developed but not yet gone hard, the birds love them too apparently.

And take everyone's advice with the Gouldians - one draught will kill.

You might also find some of your finches are interested in mealworms - they won't swallow them, but they may chew on them and squish them up to get the juices.

:p

Hix
 
MARK said:
Yes they are very nice birds, We dont see the Red Brows too often. I like seeing the Blue wrens also the Red back wrens here, cool birds :D. We do get Rose Robins and Scarlet Honey eaters love these small birds
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Oh Mark, I used to get all those birds in my garden, and many more, but with all the housing development in the last ten years round where I live they have long gone.:(
 
best way to help keep your birds warm with out using heaters or fully covering ur aviary. Is to face the aviary in a north to north east position. So the birds can sun bath in the morning sun, and it will warm the cages in winter. and cover the south and west sides of the cages. i have found that my gouldians are doing much better know they face these directions and they often sun bath .
 
Noisy miners try to chase all other birds out of my garden, even the aviary birds, by running around aggressively on top of the aviaries. The currawongs don't help either.

People winge about Indian mynahs, and fair enough too, but noisy miners are just as bad.
There seems to be a rather simplistic outlook that says "foreign birds bad - native birds must be good." Not when they breed like mice and chase everything else away, they're not!

By having vegetation planted heavily down the back and along the creek which runs across my yard I have managed to "keep" Eastern whip-birds, which I'm pleased about. Don't see much of them, but I hear them all the time.

Whoops - got off track a bit there. Back to gouldians; phoenix is probably right when he says it's not so much the low temperature but a cold draft which kills them off. Cleanliness can't be stressed enough either.
 
Thanks heaps for all the advice everyone.

I think i've got most things covered.

It certainly gets cold during the night but day temperatures aren't to bad. The aviary is open on the north-east wall but is protected on all other sides and is two-thirds roofed.

If necessary, i can roof the last third.

I spoke to another finch breeder about heat lamps and i'll definitely be getting at least one.

And thanks for those links, phoenix. I'd red several of the articles already but i'll red the others tonight.

:)
 
and last of all - don't skimp on the landscaping. the best thing about keeping finches is the garden you get to keep them amongst.

let me know if you would like to know some suitable plants.
 
phoenix said:
and last of all - don't skimp on the landscaping. the best thing about keeping finches is the garden you get to keep them amongst.

let me know if you would like to know some suitable plants.
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What species of Finch do you have Phoenix any double bars?
 
phoenix said:
and last of all - don't skimp on the landscaping. the best thing about keeping finches is the garden you get to keep them amongst.

let me know if you would like to know some suitable plants.
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There are already 5 well established plants within the aviary (three callistemons and two tea-trees) but i'd certainly be interested to here what could be added.

Thanks again.

:)
 
MARK said:
What species of Finch do you have Phoenix any double bars?
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mark - no doublebars - just exotics! :)

red-billed firefinch
red-cheeked cordon bleu
saint helena waxbill
orange-breasted avadavat
red avadavat

pretty soon i'm getting some cubans and having a second crack at tri-coloured parrotfinches...
 
LOU said:
There are already 5 well established plants within the aviary (three callistemons and two tea-trees) but i'd certainly be interested to here what could be added.
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thats all good - i'd just think about planting out the floor of the aviary with some lush native grasses. stuff that grows tall and dense - if they are like my birds they'll probably choose building their own nests in here them over the baskets. mind you different species have different preferences.

also for substrates keep in mind that dry floor is very important for health. i'd lay coarse sand in the undercover areas and use a nice thick layer of native much in the open-air spots. that way you'll never get any muddy areas.
 
phoenix said:
mark - no doublebars - just exotics! :)

red-billed firefinch
red-cheeked cordon bleu
saint helena waxbill
orange-breasted avadavat
red avadavat

pretty soon i'm getting some cubans and having a second crack at tri-coloured parrotfinches...
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Very cool, any photos ;)
 
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