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July 28th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Zebra finches and the button quail. We have had (in the past) canaries, society finches, and diamond doves in that cage. We have also had parakeets and cockatiels. One of my sisters has lovebirds. One of my brothers had rosellas at one time. We have also had chickens, rabbits, cats, dogs, and snakes. And of course the fish. The aviary has also been an acclimation cage for wild baby birds that I have rescued. Once they start eating on their own and are learning to fly, they go in the aviary to get used to the "great outdoors". Then they are more prepared when I turn them loose.
Here are a couple pics I took of my finches. They were waiting for me to put the sprinkler in the cage so they could go down and cool off in the water. Their beaks are open because it was so hot. | 
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July 28th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| your finches are adorable 
i used to keep parakeets. They were biters... lol
i want to keep finches some day  | |
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July 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I would love to have a outdoor aviary...unfortunately in a colder climate it is not possible...lol. I do have a parrotlet and a budgie indoors. I also have a spare cage I was thinking of putting a pair of finches into. It is an awkward shaped altho larger cage so it would only work for birds you don't want to handle....love the little quail and the finches are so cute...i love the way finches 'beep'...lol | |
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August 5th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Well, it has been a while since I posted pics of the young quail. I can't believe how fast they have grown. Three of the youngsters are starting to get the male coloring and will be going to the local pet store (Pratt's) on Saturday. So far, daddy quail is still not bothering any of his sons, but I don't want to take any chances. Besides, I don't really need 10 quail in the one cage...after all, it is only 6 feet x 8 feet...oh, and both of my original females have eggs again. So, I gave them a treat of parsley today and took some pics when they came out to pick at the parsley and seeds and fresh turned earth. The males have black and white stripe markings on their throats and a russet red coloring on their wings/flanks/chests. | |
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August 5th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| oh they have gotten so pretty and big! | |
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August 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Hey Gremlin,
Sorry to hear that you have to give the boys up to the pet store.... but I understand. They are really getting big! The coloring in the feathers is beautiful. What a fun pet to watch
Robin | |
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August 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| They are fun. They will take worms out of my fingers. They aren't really super tame, but they can be. The males will fight (to the death) over females and territory so I really do need to send off the young males. One of these days I will have enough space and money to have multiple cages (at least three or four) and then I can have a pair of quail in each cage. I've really been lucky so far since this daddy seems to not mind having his growing sons around - at least not yet. I would rather send them off before there is a problem. | |
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August 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Oh, definitely! I agree, I'd rather send to a good home rather than there be a fight... You must have a lot of land to have the many pets you have now, right? It's like your own little nature trail.
We have a hawk that will come around our back yard in the area of our many bird feeders. If there are birds there, they immediately disappear into the trees! I once drove up the driveway as the hawk had just caught a robin. I thought I could scare him off and save the robin but he only held his grasp and flew into the neighbor's yard. That was heartbreaking to experience. I know they have to eat but I don't like to see it... 
I love the pictures you share!!!
Robin | |
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August 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Actually, I don't have a whole lot of space. It is just a normal city lot with a house on it. My aviary is 6' x 8' and sits between our front walk and the driveway. The fishpond is on the front of the house and only about 5' x 9' or so including all the waterfalls and plants around it. Our backyard is practically non-existent and barely has room for my puppy to run around. I wish I had more room, but I really don't. Maybe some day. I would love to have three separate aviaries set up - one for breeding, one for extra males, and one for extra females. Then maybe a fourth one for the youngsters to grow up in. And of course, I would love to have room for a larger pond too - maybe an upper pond that flows into a lower pond...hmm | |
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August 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Wow, that lot sounds like alot of fun! That's so neat that you keep quail! Do they recognize you? | |
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August 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Well, three of the youngsters are now out to find new homes. Pratt's had quite a few young quail, so my three boys have lots of company until they get bought. I took some pics of them before I took them. Two of them have the pretty black and white bars on their throats, the third one has an all black throat. I had never seen that before and I though for a while that one was gonna be a girl. All three have the pretty russet / chestnut / reddish coloring on their bellies and sides that only the males get, so I know they are all males. The other three from that batch of babies seem to be female. Not bad half and half boy/girl. The one surviving baby from the second batch is still too young to tell. Oh, and there is another nest of eggs... | |
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August 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Beautiful birds Gremlin.... People like you deserve to have more land so they can keep animals, you really love them and take good care of them. | |
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August 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Thank you. I really do enjoy them. If I had the space, I would love to have multiple aviaries. The ideal set up would have (at least) four aviaries - one for my breeding flock, one for the youngsters to finish growing up in, one for the extra boys, and one for the extra girls. | |
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