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Cages to foster Pin-tailed Parrot Finches are all wire, suspended (46cm wide x 36cm high x 30cm deep), [18" wide x 14" high x 12" deep].   

Bottom trays are internal so they can be raised during fledging.  

Seed capacity when not breeding means cages are self-sustaining for a week

Nest boxes are 13cm [5"] half-fronted white plastic cubes

Coconut fibre only nesting material

Lighting is normal fluorescent

Watering is automatic, 6 times a day

All cock trios versus Bengalese duos

Trios seem more reliable than duos especially at the critical stage of the first day or two after fledging 

Previously we resorted to hand feeding newly fledged Pin-tailed youngsters for 3 or 4 days until the Bengalese took over their duty

This appears to have been due to less than totally robust youngsters 

With additional vitamins, probiotics, additives and protein boosted soft food this problem has mostly disappeared, with trios anyway

All-cocks trios are more controllable than mixed trios, which can start laying when the Pin-tailed aren't at their prolific best

Sitting Bengalese cocks have even taken over 2-day old Pin-tailed chicks when the Pin-tailed adults had secretly built a nest and hatched eggs unbeknown to me

Creating 'clucky' Bengalese

Cock Bengalese can be relied upon to go 'clucky' within 4 days

Place 1 china egg daily in nest box for four or five consecutive mornings

Virgin Bengalese

A crucial element appears to be that the Bengalese are young and have not raised any Bengalese themselves

This is probably unnecessarily extreme

I will not raise any Bengalese within earshot of the foster Bengalese

Bengalese as young as 3-months have proved enthusiastic and efficient foster parents

Splitting nests

If the parent Pin-tailed are fully fit and laying their maximum 7 eggs of which 6 will be fertile, I prefer to split the eggs between two trios of foster Bengalese to give all youngsters the best possible chance

In the first few days after hatching the chicks can be moved so that one foster trio has the most robust and the other foster trio the smaller, less robust.  This way the smaller Pin-tailed chicks, given good attention and food, usually have a good chance of surviving

A description of Feeding fostered Pin-tailed Parrot Finch chicks is on the