I now have four weanlings in the weaning cage. 30+ young birds are in the walk-in flight with the hens that are finished for this breeding season. Nine second round chicks have been banded and the last hen has been set on a clutch of eggs for this year.

I should end up with close to 70 chicks this year- which is rather a surprise as I had expected considerably fewer. Fertility was very, very good this year.

The birds seem to be weathering the recent radical change in weather quite well- a few weeks ago we had record high temperatures and now we are experiencing record lows (and several inches of snowfall).

The temperature in the bird room has swung between 58 to 72 degrees in the past few weeks, but thankfully no one has begun molting. The birds seem happiest about 65-68 degrees during breeding season, but manage just fine at 62 degrees- which is the lowest that I can personally handle. In order to maintain that temperature, I must use a space heater in the birdroom. The one I use looks like a radiator and circulates heated oil to warm the space by a few degrees- just enough to make it bearable for me. Never use a propane or kerosene space heater as they kill birds - often in large numbers and very quickly.

Breeding this many birds (and keeping them in a healthy manner) is a great deal of work, however. Next year I hope to breed fewer than 40 birds as I would like to be able to dedicate more time to my writing endeavors.

Thank you for your information I just started into birds. I have about 12 canaries and 55 finchs they are all in the same cage which is 25' by 6' by 8' high they all seem to get along but I only have 2 canary nesting and a whole lot of finchs in nest does this work? Thank you and i have enjoyed reading your news Arie.....:):)