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Feeding
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Breeding
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Blue-faced
do not seem to be at all fussy.
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No
fostering is required with Blue-faced.
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They receive
the same seed mix/ soft food mix as the Pin-tailed Parrot Finches
- Link
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Other breeders
do not report this but I have difficulty distinguishing between cocks
and hens.
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They
are more willing to experiment with new foods and are generally more
inquisitive than Pin-tailed Parrot Finches.
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Cocks are generally
more robust but the main difference is the extent and intensity of
the blue face.
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They
make more use of egg food even when they are not rearing chicks than
do the Pin-tailed.
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Once a true pair
is installed in an adequate cage or flight there is very little to
prevent breeding.
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Grit is available
at all times as is crushed oyster shell
mixed with dry vitamins and minerals.
They make great use of this.
They like water cress.
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Mine nest in
half-fronted 5 in. cube nest boxes
in which I form a nest of coconut fibre.
The birds don't bother to restructure my nests to any great extent. They
are not fussy.
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While it could
be that the birds which I obtained were too in-bred or closely related,
a few seemed to be prone to a rheumatic type of condition whereby
they slowly lost function of the legs.
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The
number of eggs seems to vary considerably.
Seven is my maximum, all were fertile and six chicks fledged.
but....
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In-breeding could
have been involved but a vitamin or mineral deficiency is the more
likely cause.
Such problems seem to arise more readily in birds kept in small cages.
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These birds are
amongst the lightest of sitters that I have ever experienced.Just
approaching the aviary is enough for the birds to come off.
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Apart from these
initial problems, Blue-faced Parrot Finches are very easy to keep
and breed.
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For this reason,
one is sometimes unaware that a pair is nesting.Care
needs to be taken that a pair is not disturbed excessively such that
eggs or chicks chill.
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Apart
from the slightest noise during the first few days after hatching, particularly
in the morning, the chicks seem to make very little noise.
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The overall pattern
is of a very discreet breeder such that on one occasion the first
I knew of a pair nesting was when three chicks fledged.
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The
young learn and wean quickly.
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