Zebra finch (Taeniopygia castanotis)
Zebra finches came to my breeding in 2014, three years after the first aviaries were built. What bothered me about the birds I had bred so far was that they were mainly for breeding and subsequent sale and that I had no set goal. At the time I was thinking about this, a series of articles on show zebra finches was coming out, which is how I got into them. The first birds I purchased I would not now call show birds, but that would not have spoiled the fun at the time and I set about breeding all the mutations I liked. From four pairs I gradually got to about 30 breeding cages and several aviaries. The mix of mutations and combinations also changed over time, and I began to look for a direction I wanted to take. The decision fell on natural - grey - zebra finches, which form the basis of the breeding and are further supplemented by various mutations and combinations in the black and red range. Often I get excited about a new unknown mutation that I desperately need in the breeding and try to improve its quality. In the future I would like to specialize even more on only certain mutations and have more pairs from them.
Mutations in my breeding
- grey, CFW, lightback, blackface, palecheek, greycheek, blackbreast, blackcheek, orangebreast, yellowbeak
What do I feed them?
- mix Slaats for zebra finches, egg food Witte Molen, granules Perle Morbide, granules Serinus, calcium powder, Natur Humac, grit
How do I breed?
- I breed in cages 45x45x70 cm oriented to depth, I use plastic nests with 15 cm edge, I provide coir and jute as nesting material
- the pair sits on up to 8 white eggs for 14 days, after another two weeks the chicks fly out of the nest, weaning is possible when the chicks eat on their own (I only feed a mixture of grains while sitting on the eggs)
- for weaned chicks I use cages 80x80x80 cm or aviaries 1,5x2x1 m (h x h x w), where they have time to get soft and moult, then I divide them into aviaries according to sex
