What are the ways to make zebra finches breed quickly?
The zebra finch, also known as the white-rumped munia, is a new breed produced by crossing the white-rumped munia with another closely related bird. It is easy to keep and very easy to train, and can learn tricks such as flying with people, wearing masks, carrying paper cards, carrying lanterns, skateboarding, and fortune-telling. So how do you make zebra finches breed quickly?
1. How do you make zebra finches breed quickly?
After zebra finches reach sexual maturity, the male and female build a nest together, then enter the nest and 4-5 days later lay the 1st egg, on the 6th day lay the 2nd egg, and on the 7th day lay the 3rd egg. The first clutch is generally 3-5 eggs, and the second clutch can be larger, with the most reaching 8 eggs. After the 3rd egg is laid, the green birds will incubate until the chicks hatch.
2. How do you keep zebra finches?
1. Feeding requirements: zebra finches like to eat seeds with husks, such as paddy rice, millet, broomcorn millet, and hemp seeds. Generally, paddy rice (or millet), barnyard grass seed, and broomcorn millet can be mixed at 6:3:1 for feeding. In addition, feed some washed vegetable leaves, such as rapeseed and Chinese cabbage; for disinfection, soak them in a 1/1000 potassium permanganate aqueous solution for 10 minutes, drain them, and then feed. Oyster shell powder and cuttlebone are also indispensable supplementary feed. In the heat of midsummer, the focus of feeding and management is preventing heatstroke and cooling. Summer temperatures are relatively high, and it is the period when parasites multiply fastest, so they must be discovered in time and killed with medicine in time to ensure the birds can pass the summer safely. In autumn, the birdcage should be placed in a sunny place, the nest box hung well, and padding placed well. On cloudy days, an incandescent lamp should be used to supplement light to stimulate and promote the development of the birds' gonads so that they lay eggs as soon as possible. Winter is cold, with strong winds and snowfall at times, and the bird house must be kept warm. In winter, zebra finches are prone to respiratory infectious diseases, mainly because the ventilation in the bird house is poor. Therefore, in winter it is not enough to pay attention only to keeping warm; attention must also be paid to ventilation.
2. Breeding: the breeding period of zebra finches in China lasts a relatively long time. In the Chengdu area of Sichuan, they begin nesting and breeding in mid-March, while in Guizhou, nests with eggs were collected in April and September respectively; in Guangdong, breeding also does not end until late October; in Fuzhou, the breeding period even runs from February to November. Perhaps they breed 2-3 clutches or even 4 clutches a year. They build nests in trees or bamboo clumps at the edges of fields and near villages, and also nest in trees or shrubs and bamboo clumps by mountain sides, streams, and in courtyards.
3. Keeping requirements: zebra finches inhabit low mountains, hills, and foothill plains below 1500 m in altitude, and are especially common near streams, reed ponds, farmland, and villages. They are commonly seen in low-altitude forest edges, secondary shrubland, farmland, and gardens, and can reach up to 1600 m in altitude. They rarely move into mid- and high-mountain areas and dense forests. The cage for zebra finches varies according to purpose. For an ornamental cage, a canary, siskin, or marsh tit cage is very good. Just hang a pot-shaped grass nest or a small-mouthed gourd directly away from the cage door and near the top of the cage for the birds to rest in. For pair or group keeping and breeding, it is better to use a darker breeding cage. The nest part of a canary breeding cage can be slightly shaded with cardboard or cloth, and the nest changed to a pot-shaped grass nest or a dark nest box. A simple box cage can be made at home from a fruit box. Zebra finches like water baths, so a position for a water bath dish should be set in the box cage. After 9 o'clock every day, pour clean bath water into the dish, put it into the box cage, and it will jump in and bathe by itself. Zebra finches are the easiest cage ornamental birds to keep and breed.
4. Environmental requirements: because of their strong constitution and strong brooding instinct, zebra finches are often used to incubate and raise other caged birds in the Estrildidae family, so they are known as nanny birds. In keeping, as long as there is food and water and sudden heat and sudden cold are prevented, the birds will live normally. The feed of zebra finches is mainly paddy rice, millet, and barnyard grass seed, and mixed feeding is better. During the egg-laying and brooding period, egg millet and green vegetables can be added, with appropriate supplementary feeding of oyster shell powder and bone meal.