Long Tail / Shaft Tail Finch Breeding Guide

[@corrinjessen]

I just acquired a pair. The male starting sining the minute I put him in the aviary 😂

[@dodgecoffman9794]

I had 2 shaftails once but after 12 eggs in the nest I knew both were female. Beautiful birds though. An older breeder I knew suggested buying six or more birds and let them pair up and figure it out, but I was a teenager and my source of income was from mowing lawns. At $60 a bird that was beyond my measly income, lol.

[@birdnerd]

If we only had more money then we could buy what we wanted haha

[@ballistic350]

I had few pair with no luck idk eggs never hatched ,I went by the bib size and beak color nut then they were $120 for one. With today's prices idk ..lol

[@GiangLe-yi3wo]

I really enjoy your videos! Keep up the great work!

[@birdnerd]

Thank you

[@gouldianuk9875]

Nice vid Chris, I kept Hecks grass finches/shafties some moons ago but as you say they are really hit and miss when breeding, always a complication I found and just like your own experiences each loss was devastating so in the end I pulled them from my breeding program unfortunately but they are very pleasant active birds and do miss them to be fair. Keep up the good work friend 👍🇬🇧

[@birdnerd]

Yeah I have had them in the past and decided to take a break from them for a few years. Now we'll try it again and hopefully have some success in the future.

[@layers85]

Perfect. I’ve not raised any Shaft Tails yet but got hold of a bonded pair last year. This year they hatched 2 chicks, both were thrown from the nest within a couple of days. Then early last week they hatched another 5. I went away for a few days on holiday, so they were given privacy in my bird room and when I came back, they’d tossed all 5 chicks. Looking at the size of them they were older than just a couple of days. I give them seed, fruit and dried meal worm. I left with plenty of food so no idea why they keep tossing the chicks. I will try with them one more time

[@layers85]

I’ve bred Canaries and Love birds in the past. I keep numerous finches but never tried to breed them before. I did give them egg food with the first two chicks they tossed but observed them going for the dried meal worm and ignoring the egg food

[@birdnerd]

Yeah they can be tricky. Mine are in eggs right now as well. I will try to give them plenty of fresh egg food daily and see if that helps with them not tossing.

[@luckyajnar5633]

i appriciate your video's and that's my pleasure to see your video

[@birdnerd]

Thank you

[@moe5520]

Great video...Thanks.

[@bertieboys669]

I’m getting heck flinch Is there anything I need to know

[@nightslasher5055]

Thank you so much!

[@masoudhadadi874]

Hi Chris. My birds do not have access to sunlight, my hen has an overgrown beak, which I trimmed about 2 weeks ago, but again is appeared, I searched the internet and found that the problem is caused because of vitamin D3 deficiency, which leads to poor absobrtion of calcium. Now, I wanted to know what approches you take in your in-door birds. Do you use UV lighting? vit D3? If yes, how? Thanks for your time.

[@birdnerd]

Great questions, In the past when I keep the birds in the house I would give them a vitamin supplement to help them. Also when it would warm up I would take the cage outside and let them soak in the sun for little bits at a time.

[@donspets6893]

What kind of lights are you using?

[@birdnerd]

Right now they are LED lights inside the shed and the birds in the aviary get sunlight.

[@suharsono2279]

How easy is it to distinguish males and females

[@birdnerd]

They are a little more difficult to tell. Males will have a wider black bib under their beaks. Also most males tend to have a darker beak color than the females.

[@tammyroot5417]

Can you record the male song?

[@russelllachovsky8083]

my shaft tails their eggs are infertile every time. Do you think I should switch males?

[@omarwilliams780]

What type of finch

[@juliekelly6313]

Why don’t you feed them egg food all the time? I’m asking this for gouldians. Thanks so much for your videos. They’ve helped me a lot!

[@masoudhadadi874]

That would put extra weight on the bird.

[@birdnerd]

I try to give them a dry season so that they can rest and shed some of the weight that they put on during the breeding season. then when spring comes I will start giving them more egg food to simulate the springtime in the wild and it helps bring them into breeding condition.

[@hawbir95]

Soon i just bought male and female the male quite but female singing and not building nest

[@birdnerd]

You bought a shaft tail pair?

[@hawbir95]

@ i just choose in a group

[@LisaRucker-x8k]

Do you sale your shafttail?I bought a male at a auction last weekend.i need a female.im in Ohio.

[@birdnerd]

Yes I do sell them. I’ve got a few chicks right now that just weaned. Not sure if they’re male or female yet.

[@masoudhadadi874]

I forgot to mention that this hen, layed just an egg which did not hatch and ended up with a dead fetus inside,in previous season. Just to tell you the bachground guiding me to tell that her problem is what I mentioned in previous comment. Thanks.

[@Froghill666]

Oof

[@dchubad]

sorry had to coment, your title says breeding guide? hecks grass finches 'shaft tails' are not cage birds and should never be kept in a cage not even for breeding, they are far too active to be in a cage. Enen an aviary is too small for this type of finch. Hecks grass finches are far too intellegent and need mental stimulation along with lots of flight space which is everything a cage can not provide. these are colony birds and do better in a group breeding in a large aviary. They are like chimps because they are really that smart. They learn first time, never forget and can remember far more than you think. No disrespect but I doubt I will learn anything from this video so I am not going to watch anymore of it. thanks