the first round of chicks is unlikely to damage the second round eggs. The breeding cage feeding


arrangements comprises a large dish of a budgerigar mixture that is strong in millets and weak in canary seed, a small dish of panicum millet, egg food, a mixture of mineralized and oyster shell grit plus clean drinking water. Once chicks are out in the cage the small dish of panicum is replaced by a large one. Zebra finch chicks love panicum and consume twice as much as they do the budgerigar mixture. We do not offer millet sprays at this stage because the parents would shred them up and use them as nesting material, possibly on top of incubating eggs. Many zebra finch breeders assume that when chicks have been seen feeding themselves it is safe to remove them from the breeding cage. We do not agree. We prefer to use the calendar as our measure of maturity. We set up nursery cages with batches of youngsters removed from their parents at the same time. So, on a given day, usually a Saturday or Sunday, we remove every chick that is over five weeks old.


The reason for this approach is that when there are chicks of different ages in the same breeding cage it would be easy to remove a chick before it is fully self-supporting. Since adopting this method our losses of chicks during the weaning period has fallen to less than one per cent. Our nursery cages are, in effect, flight cages formed by removing dividers to form triple or quadruple cage units. Such a cage will comfortably house 20 to 30 youngsters. Zebra finch youngsters seem happiest when in a large group at this stage of their development. This is the point when millet sprays are added to the diet that they enjoyed while in the breeding cage. The sprays provide plenty of activity as well as nutrition. One of the most enjoyable experiences at this period of the zebra finch year is watching youngsters take a bath. It is then their individual characters can be seen at their best. Some plunge straight into the water without a moment’s hesitation, others merely dip in a toe and a few skirt all around the dish hardly getting wet. It is a lovely sight to see.


One of the most enjoyable experiences at this period of the zebra finch year is watching youngsters take a bath. It is then their individual characters can be seen at their best. Some plunge straight into the water without a moment’s hesitation, others merely dip in a toe and a few skirt all around the dish hardly getting wet. It is a lovely sight to see.


26 BIRD SCENE


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