Before setting up an aviary or birdroom it is best to visit an experienced Zebra finch fancier to get some idea about suitable layouts. Joining your local cage bird society will put you in touch with other bird keepers, but if you find difficulty making your own contacts, you can take advantage of the Zebra Finch Society’s area representative scheme.
It is best to build up a fund of knowledge before doing anything at all – and there are several ways of doing this starting with books. In our experience, some of the books available on Zebra finches offer very little in the way of practical advice that can be applied to the fancy in the UK today. We are referring in particular, to some publications from the USA. An admirable book, which we frequently recommend is Chris Blackwell’s ‘Keeping and breeding Zebra finches’ These days videos have a great deal to offer hobbyists and in our branch ofthe fancy the best offering is Peter Harrison’s ‘Breeding Zebra Finches step by step.’Other advice is available from the Zebra Finch Society. Then there is the Cage and
Aviary Birds, which not only offers informative articles but also permits readers to keep up to date with what is happening in the fancy. There is a tendency for people who are interested in one particular type of bird to ignore the articles about other species. This is a big mistake. Over the years we have learnt a great deal from articles
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about other branches of the hobby. In an article about budgerigars, Terry Pilkington related how he and his wife’s birds had benefitted from being given filtered water rather than water straight from the tap. We immediately began giving filtered water to our Zebras, still do and we are convinced that they are the better for it. Before setting up an aviary or birdroom it is best to visit an experienced Zebra finch fancier to get some idea about suitable layouts. Joining your local cage bird society will put you in touch with other bird keepers, but if you find difficulty making your own contacts, you can take advantage of the Zebra Finch Society’s area representative scheme. This puts you in touch with someone who not only knows a lot about Zebra finches, but also has local knowledge. When starting up in a hobby, people tend to worry about apparent problems that, to the experienced person, are really not important. Being able to get good advice, quickly, can make all the difference.
Even if the birdroom you first visit
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