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Appropriate Breeding Age (for Society Finches) |
The following excellent response was posted
to the Finchlovers Listserv by Jim.
The Question submitted by Ellen:
I have another question. Someone mentioned that 7 months is too young to breed the birds.
Jim's Response:
Hello Ellen,
I am probably I bit behind on this question, but it did make me think about breeding age for Bengalese (Society Finches) and review the advice I usually give that you should allow your birds to fully mature before you begin breeding from them, this being at around 9 months.
My breeding season and that of most fanciers here in the UK who work to a pattern which really revolves more around the show dates than anything else, pair up in December so our early first round youngsters are ready for close ringing when the current year rings are issued in January, giving us mature birds to show in the later months of the year. This means when pairing time comes around the following December most of the birds retained are at least 9 months old if not older............ Birds of this age generally perform better when paired, being older but by no means wiser in matters of reproduction and these "amateur" pairs present problems but as I said generally perform better. I would not hesitate to pair a cock as young as 4-5 months to an old hen who has bred before if he looked as if he would contribute to my stud, I cannot say the same for a young hen to an old cock, if I get problems in the breeding cage it's usually the hen and the young ones more often than not that present them. I rarely get unpaired hens of any age laying eggs, I guess if you bring them into top condition and provide the opportunity for them to nest by providing a box they would, but on a basic diet in a stock cage it would be unusual but it does happen now and then.
I have kept hens without breeding for 18 months to 2 years and never seen an egg from them. There is no doubt cock birds are fertile as soon as they molt right out at around 4 months, hens mainly take a bit longer, I would chance my arm with a 6 month old hen if I desperately wanted youngsters from her for any reason.......... I have been told that in Japan Bengalese fanciers pair their birds at 4 months old with no problems, and I guess as long as you are happy to do this and you get no problems go ahead, but for me the production of my best youngsters comes from fully mature birds of 9 months or more, but maybe my criteria and requirements are different in that I need the best quality youngsters I can produce to take my stud forward, working to laid down standards.
That's my waffle over. All the Best Jim
[Background on Jim] Jim is in charge of the following websites:Just Bengalese, (Society Finches) All Aspects of their Care & Breeding; A Bird-keepers Guide to Mannikins and Munias (The Lonchura); and The Pages of The National Bengalese Fanciers Association (UK). His sites are widely recognized as the best sites in the world on this species of bird.
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