We have reached late October, the first cold days avert the presence of mosquitoes, it is time to choose the breeders for the next breeding season, a fundamental phase and therefore the breeder must, based also on experience, focus on this non-trivial aspect since if mistakes are made at this stage we will bring with us various problems and even failures or partial reproductive successes. The advice in the first place is a ‘fecal analysis by an avian veterinarian, who will be able to monitor the health status of possible breeding stock, avoiding future problems.
Only healthy and docile subjects should be chosen as breeding stock and possibly born from trusted breeders. It is good to remember that subjects that in the aviary are constantly fidgeting and“flapping,” subjects affected by health problems, should not be intended for breeding, as they will give us bad results.
Why form pairs in October and not in spring?
The advantage of pair formation in the fall period is to limit possible quarrels between the patners as they are not stimulated by the increasing photoperiod which could affect “agitation” of the individuals. Another advantage is the possession of territory and the formation of hierarchies( especially for aviaries in colony). However, it is necessary, after the introduction of the pair into the aviary, to check them daily ( for the first week) to verify affinity, because if not (quarrels, agitation etc.) it is necessary to quickly replace one of them.
When choosing breeding stock, one should also dwell on size , bearing, plumage, singing, choosing better subjects, and in the case of mutates , one should choose subjects with characteristics closest to the standard.
