Waxbills

[laurab]

What is the best time of year to put Waxbills out in to the aviary? I guess it is govourned by temperature

[Waxbillman]

hello Laura

yes you are right in saying the weather dictates when we can release waxbills into the aviary.
it depends where you live, and how sheltered the avary is.
all succesful breeders who have birds out side cover part, or even most of the flight with glass or plastic this cuts out the wind and the rain, though when it is warmer you can remove most.
what you must consider is not just day temperature bit night-time temperature before releasing your birds. i live in Yorkshire and always release my birds at the very end of may/start of June. this is when night temperatures usually exceed 8-10oc this is very import, because some waxbills stop brooding when the chicks are still young so if the temperature plumits the chicks may perish. also any early fledgers may be left outside, if the temperature is very low they would suffer.

matthew

[laurab]

Thanks Matthew, luckily temeratures in Bournemouth are not too bad, even so I will still watch the temperatures. :D

[laurab]

I am currently feeding my waxbills a mixture of foreign finch seed, mealworms an insect based food and the occasional green food. They also have access to cuttlefish, is there anything else I should be giving them?

[Waxbillman]

that diet is good, you can also provide wild seed mix, oyster shell grit (which i'm i'm sure you do) and come the breeding seasom limit-less wild seeding grass, thats is the secret many would say of good breeding. also give plenty of spray millet especially red anjou throughout the year.

matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

Matthew I'm very happy to meet with a fellow fan of Red Anjou Millet sprays :D & Wild seeding Grasses for breeding Waxbills, but can I also add a tip in soaking Pannicum, Anjou Millet sprays & the basic seed mix, with the valuable addition of Fruit Flies? :D

This worked very well for my Orange Cheeked Waxbills, I built up a small colony of these Birds from 2-3 pairs which produced a good number of young, which I moved on to a friend who intends on building a good strain from his & my Birds.

Paul.

PS Laura I know you wrap your Aviaries well each Spring so with that in mind as long as you are not giving your Birds any heat I see no problem in putting your Birds outside.

[Waxbillman]

Thanks Paul thats another idea,

yep Red anjou millet sprays are far better then that chinese rubbish, birds will always go straight for the Anjou and strip it down to nothing in a day, where as the chinese stuff takes longer to eat up.
Black-crowned waxbills go phyco for it, and will breed well with just seeding grasses, they don't tend to bother as much for livefood as other waxbills do.

matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Matthew,

I agree that many Waxbill Species tend to ignore Livefood in the form of Mini Mealworms, Buffalo Worms etc, but have you tried your Black Crowns with Fruit Flies?
I use the larger Flightless Fruit Flies & I have been surprised by some of the Bird Species that have taken them in my collection over the years, among the Birds I've seen feeding on Fruit Flies includes South American Seedeater Species from the Sporophila Family (Birds I have believed for many years to not to require Livefood), Golden Breasted Buntings, Cinnamon Breasted Rock Buntings, Grenadier Weavers, Jacarini Finches, Rhodospingus Finches, Scaly Crowned Weavers, Red Crested Finches, Pekin Robins, Long Tailed Tits, Grey Silky Fly-catchers & the one that surprised me Japanese Waxwings.

Paul. :wink:

[Waxbillman]

hello Paul,

wow you have a right old mixture of some unusual birds. i have not fed fruit flies for a few years, but i am go to get some cultured this year so i will see how it goes down.
if they they breed without livefood it is in a way all the better for me, as it saves time and money.

matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Matthew,

The list of Birds above are some that I have kept over the years, I only have some of the Species now.

Paul.

[laurab]

Taliking of fruit flies my Zosties go mad for them!

[hippocroc]

i gave mine meal worms for the 1st time today and very suspicious they were about them too. do you know if you can cross breed weavers, i have a red billed m/f dunno which it is yet. but it's not weaving at all in spite of being in a well planted aviary. any ideas

[laurab]

Hiya

Weavers can be crossbred but if you are wanting to sell them later not many people are interested in hybrids.

[chris]

hi,

i'd try to breed only pure weavers for now, when they are better established in aviculture in a few years then maybe people like yourself can try hybrids, and mutations. but, if you do want to try out a hybrid, it's your choice so god luck either way!:wink:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Sue,

From description of your Weaver via PM I would say it is an out of colour Red Billed Weaver cock, he should come into colour soon (thats if I'm right that you have an out of colour cock:? ).
If and when your Weaver does come into colour I'm sure he? will start weaving nests by the dozen, if you buy a hen this may help to bring him? into colour.

Regarding cross breeding your Weaver, the closest relative of the Red Billed is the rarely seen Russ's Weaver which has the black face mask and throat of the Red Billed replaced with a pale pinky straw colour.
This would be the only Weaver Species that would successfully hybridise with the Bird you have, it would be best if you pair him? with a hen Red Billed Weaver.

I do agree with Chris and Laura though, hybrids are frowned upon by many Birdbreeders who are striving to establish pure bred strains of certain Species.

Last year Laura and I went to see a collection of various Weaver Species for sale with the aim of buying a number of Birds of one Species between us, our intentions were to buy hens if possible to continue Laura's 2004 breeding success in 2005.
When we saw the collection niether of us could pick out one pure bred cock, let alone a hen:?, our problem was that the cocks showed varying colour and pattern variation between two Species, to add even one of the suspect hens to a breeding programme could have been disastrous:|.

Now onto Mealworms, sometimes Birds that see them for the first time are reluctant to take them, given time or when they see another Bird take them they will start feeding on them, some Birds will not take Livefood out of the breeding season at all.
Another option is to offer Mini Mealworms or Buffalo Worms which are a lot smaller than Regular Mealworms, small or medium/small Brown Crickets, Commercial Waxworms (quite large), Lesser Waxworms, Wild and large flightless Fruit Flies are all valuable Livefoods for various Birds.

Paul.

[hippocroc]

thanks 4 the advice all, and judging by the colouring arfur is marfa. so now were off to find a cock bird. she has a charcoal stripe to her head and her bill is going orange. what a crazy mixed up kid. as 4 the rest, the yellow fife hen who made her own nest in the bush, has laid 3 eggs sired by rocky the fife varigated, john lennon is actually yoko ono and is nest building, courtisy of rocky, and the varigated fife (cheerful, spouse of cheap) is also nest building via ... you guessed it, rocky. both sets of zebra are busy building and laying. the 2 silver bills look lovey-dovey but no real action as of yet, and the bengalese are just interfering in anyones action.
The pin tail whydah is minding his own business as of yet and if anything is being told off by the canary's but only when he flits past and screetches as he goes!
The roller cock would love some of the action, but only the green singer will listen to his crooning. will keep you posted.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Sue,

You will have Chris and I excited if your Roller Canary pairs with your Green Singing Finch, to the point we may be asking to buy any youngsters that might result from the pairing, you could have a price war on your hands.:grin:

Paul.:wink:

[hippocroc]

thanks for the offer, however, i'm not sure if the roller is singing to the male or female green singer! if only they wore a badge saying i'm male/ i'm female or in the case of the rabbit i'm gay and proud!

[hippocroc]

www.kenyabirds.org.uk/quelea-f.htm if you click on the link it will take you to my weaver, unless the colour changes again!

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Sue,

I'm sorry to say the link doesn't work, but I hope to help you further and indentify the Species and sex of your Weaver in the next few days.

Paul.:wink:

[hippocroc]

:mad: sorry about the link http://www.kenyabirds.org.uk/pics/quel-f.jpgthis was the picture on the site i tried to put on. my weaver looks like this which apparently is a female. the roller canary has had it the green singer is mated with its mate, sorry to dissapoint.
thanx sue :roll: :-D

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Sue,

From the photo you have posted this Bird is not a hen or an out of colour cock Red Billed Weaver, but I still believe the Bird you have is one of the former.

I will add to this thread later.

Paul.:wink: