weavers

[chris]

hi all,

the so called "pair" of weavers i bought last year have started fighting. they are definately 2 cocks of different species, 1 lesser masked weaver, and one golden palm weaver. the golden palm weaver seems to be the aggressor, however it hates being in a cage (as does the other) so isolating it is a problem.

unless i can get another avairy i'm going to have to sell one of the weavers as they can't be housed together. any ideas?
if i am forced to sell on one of the weavers, then it will probably be the golden palm weaver unless i can find a hen before hand :roll:

[laurab]

Oh Chris!

What an awful decision to have to make. I wish I could suggest an alternative for you.

I think you are right to move on the most aggresive of the two, especially if you plan to house them with other birds?

Good luck.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

I'm sorry to say that the pair of Golden Palm Weavers my mate had are in fact sold. :cry:

I'm also concerned that you need to sell one of the cock Weavers, I can almost guarantee that whichever Bird you sell, the hens will turn up for the Bird you chose to sell. :roll:

Paul.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello Chris,

I know you don't want to sell either of the cock Weavers, so I will offer you a deal mate, whichever Weaver you decide to sell, I will buy it & house it until hens turn up for either cock!

If a hen or hens turn up for either I will help you out as best I can & if hens turn up for the cock you sell me (if this is possible) I will sell it back to you for the same price.

Please let me know if this is O.K. with you, Paul.

[chris]

thats fine with me paul! i was going to sell off the golden palm weaver or house it on it's own in a cage (seems like a bad idea because it will probably go agressive to everything... like my greenfinch did)

i'll keep hold of the lesser masked weaver as he has been plucked slightly behind the neck on on the wing.

only problem we have now is... TRANSPORT :shock: :lol:

cheers, chris :wink:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

I'm sure we will come up with something in the next couple of months, after all we will either meet up at a Bird or Reptile event.

Later, Paul.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

Did you receive my e-mail regarding Masked Weavers at Woodleabirds?

Paul.

[chris]

hi paul,

yes mate i did, i thought i had sent a reply? :lol:

thanks, chris

[chris]

hi,

after going to midland foreign birds on friday, i picked up 3 more weavers :D , 2 hens and one cock. i was told the species name but silly me forgot what they are :oops: i think they're yellow bishops or yellow crowned bishops, i will try and get a picture later on (one hen and cock need there nails clipping as they were kept in a cage for some time, jim told me that was because they weren't in the best shape when he got hold of them, but other than that they're great! i will clip the nails tomorrow as i'm letting them get settled in first)


chris :wink:

[dave85]

hey chris,

Does this mean your selling your other 2 cocks?

Dave H

[chris]

no chance :D

they seem to get on fine, and since i've got an extension coming up the aviary should be big enough to house all of them. anyway, the second i sell them i'll find a hen for sale of the two different species :lol:

so i'm keeping hold of them unless they do cause problems, in that case i'll either split up the aviary, or get another 2 aviaries!

chris

[laurab]

Hi Chris

Well done and good luck, I hope you will be very successful :D

[dave85]

hey chris,

All i was thinking was now you have 3 types of weaver, and with there being hens of 1 species all 3 cocks may build nests & the hens possibly will choose the wrong male or males to breed with?

So you'd be producing hybrid weavers?

Thanks
Dave H

[chris]

hi dave,

i see what you mean but i doubt then hens will cross breed with another species that's nearly twice their size, totally diferent colour, maybe they will use the nests they build, but that's just a bonus on my 3rd cock weaver's part :lol:

chris

[chris]

picture time :lol:

here's the cock weaver:

http://www.ff3.co.uk/cragsipb/mkportal/modules/gallery/album/a_531.jpg

and a mix of the cock, hens and other weavers:

http://www.ff3.co.uk/cragsipb/mkportal/modules/gallery/album/a_533.jpg

[laurab]

They look lovely Chris! :D

[dave85]

hey chris,

I take your cock weaver isnt in full breeding plumage yet? what colour will he be when hes fully coloured?

they look nice! how much did they cost you? as once ive built a new flight which is going to be fairly big probably 6 x 12, i was thinking of adding some.

what sort of nest sites have you provided them?

Thanks
Dave H

[chris]

hi dave,

he's just coming out of eclipse plumage, i'm unsure exactly what he will turn out like but when he has moulted at least i can be certain what species i have. as for housing them, i'd have a 6x6x6 foot flight per species, and have 1 cock to 2/3hens if possible... obviously the bigger the better!

as for nest sites, that's the great thing about weavers! they build there own and no nests are required. i'd use bamboo plants, grasses (inc. pampass grass), and i'm going to be planting a few palm trees in my aviary for the palm weaver :lol:

the diet i feed mine on is foriegn finch seed (soaked), mealworms, waxworms, greens.

what species you thinking of getting then? i'm considering specialising in weavers and the greensinger/canary hybrid, which means more weaver species :D

chris

[laurab]

Hi Chris

another livefood that they enjoy is stick insects and they are very easy to breed :D Not too sure on the nutritional value though :roll:

[chris]

hi laura,

any particular type of stick insect? might be worth me breeding them as it's not just the weavers i need to feed livefoods.

chris

[chris]

as for nutritional value, they are worth whatever you've fed them upto 24hours before feeding to your weavers, so if fed on carrot they will be high in vitamin A, fruit, vitamin C etc etc

[laurab]

Chris

stick insects are very fussy about what they eat, ours will only feed on bramble, privet and ivy leaves. I'm not sure what variety they are but Paul will know.

He gave my daughter 4 of them and it wasn't long before we were over-run with them!

The first time I put some in the aviary the hen weavers were there like a shot.

[chris]

My lesser masked weaver has now constructed a full blown nest and not just the half a dome job he was doing earlier :lol: although both the golden palm weaver and lesser masked don't exactly get on, they aren't fighting, just displaying to each other and chattering :lol:

i also heard the golden bishop (now in full clolour) calling for the first time today, so hopefully it's a sign of possible breeding. who knows, maybe the hens will make use of the other weaver's nests :lol:

Chris

[chris]

well, there was a full blown nest, but alas it is no more :cry: i'm guessing one of the other weavers stripped it bare :cry:

Chris :roll:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

I'm sorry to hear your complete Weaver nest has been stripped bare, but why am I the only one who is not able to view your Weaver pics? :cry:

Paul. :wink:

[laurab]

Hi Paul

I don't know what has happened to Chris' pictures I know I have seen them, I will have to speak to the 'BOSS' :shock:

Weavers do tend to break down their own nests. They use the nest to attract the female, I guess that when it doesn't work they have a little paddy :o They will soon build again.

I have noticed the wild grass is getting taller, soon time to pick some for the weavers to use for nest building.

[chris]

Hi, i can tell you what's happened to the pics, i think. they were originally in the gallery on FF, and i used the URL from the FF gallery. since laus has recently re-done the site, there is no gallery at the moment, and so no pics.

Chris

[laurab]

Phew! Thanks for the explanation Chris. :D

[chris]

finally some good news, the weaver has re-built the nest this time using coconut fibres instead of grasses, i think this may be more permanent as the base of the previous nest was made of coconut fibre and wasn't striped by the weavers unlike the grass dome built over it.

just a thought, what do you think the chances are of breeding golden bishops in a 4' by 18" by 18" cage? it's just an idea as i haven't yet extended the aviary and divided it into 3, so i don't think the chances of breeding them outside are good at the moment. this would just be an experiment and they will be in a 6'x6'x6' flight as soon as i've got it built.

what do you think?

Chris

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

It would be a long shot mate, but give it a go if anyone can do it you can.
I would advise you to provide some Conifer branches at one end for cover for them to build in, and also provide a whicker nest basket or two.

Good luck, Paul.

[chris]

i'll give it a shot then as soon as the canarys are done with the breeding cage, unless i swap them over in a week as the chicks have just fledged.

Chris