breeding Java Finches

	The Java Rice Sparrow

From Colony Breeding To Cage Breeding Java Finches
I have tried both methods and only one works best for me.

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HAVE YOU GOT A PAIR ?
As we know Java's are not an easy bird to sex at all. To be 100% sure you have a cock Java you must hear him sing or you can tell from the beak, but using this method of sexing requires a bit more experience. I have received e-mail's from people saying they have two Java's and they have built a nest but never laid any eggs Why? If two cock Java's are kept together, some times only the dominant one will sing leaving you to believe the other one is the hen. If you are unsure split the birds into separate cages. See sexing page!
More on sexing To hear the cock Java Click here

Here are some points to consider before breeding

Now you have sexed your Java's another important part of breeding is, the age of your Java's. It's most important that the hen is twelve months old or older. If the hen is to young she will be inexperienced and will probably not incubate her eggs, also the number of eggs she will produce will also be smaller and are often clear eggs. The dangers of using a young hen is egg binding, this is were the hen can not pass her egg which will cause a lot of stress to her, it is a very serious condition and can kill her, another thing about using a young hen is the chicks will also be weak. If you do want to breed Java's successfully wait until the hen is old enough. The cock Java is a bit different, you can start breeding off him from around ten months of age.
I personally stop breeding from my Java's when they are four years old.

If you can, keep the two sexes apart until you want to breed from them, this way when they are put together with a nest box the cock almost starts instantly to begin making the nest, eggs should start to appear after 10 to 14 day, if they don't lay with in 20 day of pairing then split them up again and try pairing them in eight weeks time.

		Java's will not breed for you unless they are in good breeding condition, if a bird is showing any signs of moult wait until the Java has finished moulting. Bringing Java's into breeding condition is done by feeding the birds on a good diet before pairing. Conditioning foods are soak seeds or greens, egg food, millet sprays, mealworms.
		This Photo on the left: Is showing a Java with good signs of moulting. I know the colour is a different and the angle but, the cock photo above and this photo are showing the same cock bird. Now you can see a Java in excellent breeding condition (above) and a Java out of condition (left)

Just before I start on the cages and nest boxes. I mentioned above about colony breeding
and cage breeding, having used colony breeding over the last two years I can honestly say,
cage breeding will give you much better results.

Photo on the left: Taken in my bird room. See my Bird Room

One of the biggest advantages of cage breeding is you have full control over the pairings, this way you can keep accurate records of the Java's off spring. Also when you are conditioning the Java's for breeding
you can also control the food.

The cages I use all have a sliding partition to increase the size of the cage when the Java's have young, if they only have one to three chicks then I will not have to take out the partition, if they have more than three chicks then I can remove the partition to make a much longer cage, this is the one big advantage when using a bank of breeding cage.

Cage Size!
The photo on the left is showing the cages I use for breeding my Java's. One of these cages measures
28" long X 16½" high X 16" deep. This is ideal to start a pair of Java's breeding. I have four cages side
by side so I can remove the partitions as my breeding birds need the room. The flexibility I have with this
system is I can remove one partition to give to increase the cage size to 56" this is ample room for a pair
with several off spring, taking out the second partition would make a cage size of 84" long, the removal of the third partition would give me a flight cage of nearly ten foot long. Now with all the partitions removed I can house all the cock Java's on one row, plus all the hens can go on the second row of cages, leaving me eight single cages to pair up more birds. This cage system works very well for me. When its time for cleaning out cages I just pull the partition back a bit to allow the Java's to go next door, while I clean thier cage out, when it's finished just let them back again.

The Nest Box:

The nest boxes I use for my Java's are a good-sized wooden box with one entrance hole and a small perch. The reason I use such a big nest box is because of the size of the parent birds plus if they have several youngsters they will easily fit in, plus there is plenty of air space. Also young Java's when fledging will go back to the nest box at night to roost along with the parents, so you can imagine how full the box will be with all nine birds inside
As you can see from the photo I use a box with a flip lid, these types of boxes make nest inspection and maintenance very easy. When preparing a nest box to go on to a cage, put a good layer of meadow grass in the bottom of the box, at the end where the flip lid opens, I make a nest shape in the grass using my fist, with a bowl shape now in the grass I add some coconut fiber to it, this encourages the Java's nest at the end of the box I need them to, if you put some more nesting materials in the cage with the breeding pair, they will finish the nest off the way they like it. When the breeding is over, I clean all the nest boxes out with disinfectant and rinse out with plenty of fresh water; they are then left to dry out for next time. See how to build one of my Nest Boxes Plus see the measurements of the box

What Kind Of Nesting Materials Should You Use?

Photo on the left: Is showing one of the nest boxes with the flip lid open, as I said before, these boxes are very good for nest inspection.
Medow Grass: I use grass in all my nest boxes.
Coconut Fiber: Is very good for nest building material becaues it is very fine for the birds to shape with.
Tissue Paper: This is another good material to use, just cut it into thin strips.
Shredded paper: Can also be uesed, make sure any ink on the paper is not easily rubbed off.
News Paper: My Java's rip up the news paper off the cage floor and use this as well.

Java's will use any bits off the floor to build with, like feathers, stalks off millet sprays ect.

just watch they don't start using their fresh greens to build with, becaues this will go
mouldy in the nest and the spours off the mould will do no good to the birds,
also it makes the nest smell

Tip for the Nest Box
I use a small plastic wallet to hold my nest box breeding record card. If you stick to the plastic wallet and the nest box two small pieces of self adhesive velcro. The wallet can then be easily removed when cleaning the nest box, also the plastic wallet keeps the card clean and dry. print off some of my record cards					Record Keeping If you keep and breed a lot of Java's you must keep accurate records of all the breeding pairs and off spring, so you know who is who and you don't breed the off spring back to their mother or father also to brothers and sisters

Keeping Records

If you are going to keep records for your breeding pairs plus your flock of Java's then you will need to ring every bird with a numbered ring, this will be a unique number for that bird. I use plastic split rings with consecutive numbers engraved on each ring, the ring size for Java's is (Size K closed rings) or (Size XB split plastic rings) to order rings |click here|
Now all the Java's have unique rings on, you will need to keep track. The only hand written records I keep is the nest box record cards,
all the information off these cards are entered on to the computer using a software especially designed for keeping track of all your birds. By entering any bird ring number, it will give you the family tree history of the bird in one click of the button.
I got this software sent over from America. I must say this is the best piece of software on the market, I am not just saying that because I us it, I have tried three other record keeping software, but this one wins every time. You can download a fully working 60 day trial off their website |click here| to see for yourself, it's very user friendly and you will be keeping accurate records in no time at all. If I can do it so can you.

Putting Plastic Split Rings On

				All the Java's I keep will have two rings on, one ring carries the ID number the other is for sexing, pink for the hen and blue for the cock. This way I can look in to the main aviary and pick out cocks and hens at a glance
This is how the rings arrive in sets of 10 with a free applicator. Numbered for ID and coloured for sexing	Take a ring and slide it up the applicator until it splits with the number facing the right way up	Put the leg through the split as I am showing you hold on to the ring and pull the applicator away	Job finished to remove a ring just push the applicator up the leg and the ring will open

A Java like any bird needs to be in good condition before you expect them to breed. You will not get anywhere if your
Java's are out of condition.
How can you tell if your java's are in good breeding condition? The cock java will be singing his heart out, the cock and hen will be jumping from branch to branch with excitement also their beaks will be much brighter then usual, their eye ring will also be bigger and brighter; and their plumage will be in first class condition.

Why do they need to be in good condition?
When two java's start to breed it's asking a lot from both birds especially the hen to produce eggs and feed chick for two rounds of eggs, don't forget when you pair two birds up in breeding cages the whole process for one round takes approximately 77 days From start to finish see table below, so after two rounds the hen is extremely worn out and needs a good rest

These figures are for the cycle of one egg. See more on eggs below.
0 to 14 days for eggs	18 days of incubation	31 days to fledge	14 days to separation

How to condition Java's?
		One of the things that is very often overlooked is bathing, Java's love to bath, this helps the birds to get their feathers clean and in good condition, also when the Java's are breeding it's a good way of getting moisture back to the nest of eggs, especially if you live in a hot country.

Seed's

There is no need to change their seed diet at all, just keep using what you have been giving them all year round.
You can see what seeds I use
The only alteration I make to their seed is to offer cod liver oil soaked seed once a week.
More on cod liver oil

Egg Food

Start offering egg food on a daily basis, two or three teaspoons. Egg food is loaded with proteins and vitamins. I like to make my own egg food! With added oils and bread crumbs, I also add crushed shells for calcium intake. More on how to make egg food.

Soak Seed

Soak seed or sprouted seed, both the same thing, offer this as well on a daily basis,
one-tablespoon full pair Java this is one of the best nutritional foods you can feed to birds.
More on how to make soak seed

Greens

Daily greens, each breeding cage has a fresh lettuce leaf a day. More on greens

Calcium

Calcium is needed every day of the year but more so when Java's are starting to breed, they need this to make good strong eggs and for feeding to chicks. I use cuttle fish bones in all my cages; also I use oyster shell grit in small pots along with mineral Grit, if you use my egg food this will have crushed chicken eggshells in it as well, More on cuttle fish and oyster grit

Millet Sprays

Millet sprays are given twice a week

Mealworms

Mealworms are offered to my Java's but not all of them will eat them. Mealworms are not an essential part of conditioning Java's,
but they are loaded with portent. More on mealworms

All the above will help to bring a Java into breeding condition, I also feed this diet all through the breeding period, so the youngsters get the benefits as well. Each breeder you talk to will have his or her own way of conditioning birds, some people breed javas on just seeds alone. This is the way I feed my Java's and receive excellent breeding results off them. The same conditioning food also helps Java's through a moult

One of the biggest e-mail questions I get asked is

"What time of the year do Java's breed" If javas are in breeding condition they will breed any time of the year for you.

Photo on the right of the two eggs is showing one java egg against the smaller zebra finch egg to give you a better idea of zize

As you can see Java's eggs are white all over and about 20mm long and
12mm wide. Javas lay one egg a day usally in the morrning, so if you are going
to inspect the nest leave it until the evening time so you will not
disturb the hen. Javas will not start to incubate their eggs until the third egg
arrives, each egg takes 18 days to hatch, so on the eighteenth day you can
have three eggs hatch together.
I have got an 18 day hatch chart you can view or print one off
it will give you a hatch date depending on what day the egg was laid
18 Day Hatch Chart

If you have kept the two sexes apart for a few months before you pair them up for breeding then you should
start getting some eggs anywhere between 6 to 14 days time.
When the eggs start arriving jot down the day they where laid on your nest box recourd card.
Javas lay anywhere between 1 to 10 eggs pair round, but the average is about 6 eggs.
Now you know why I use big nest boxes

Now you have eggs, unfortunately this does not guarantee you chicks, there are a few things that can go wrong, there may not be enough moisture in the nest box and the eggs just dry-up. To help over come this you should have a bird bath attached to the cage at all times, this way when the java's bath they will take back moisture to the nest. Another problem is where the nesting pair sit to tight on the eggs and kill the embryos inside, what happens is they starve the egg of air or the eggs over heats. If you get one or two infertile eggs in a nest of fertile eggs leave them in because this can help the chicks from getting squashed by their parents if they are sitting tight. Java's are very good at laying infertile eggs; I have had many rounds of eggs where every egg is infertile, even on the second round of eggs. I don't know why this is; I have paired them with proven cock birds but can still get clear eggs.

Candling

Taking a closer look at eggs: should you or should you not pick eggs up? I try very hard not to pick eggs up, also a lot depends on the breeding pair, some java's will evacuate the nest box when you tap on the side, then you have no problem, others will not move when you tap and open the flip lid on the nest box. I have no reason to touch the eggs unless on is cracked. I always look at the eggs to see if they are fertile or not (candling) if the round of eggs are all infertile I will remove all the eggs, so the hen will
start on a second round of eggs. No point her sitting on empty eggs for eighteen days.
How to Candle your eggs to see if they are fertile or not. You don't need any fancy candling lights at all, as you can see from the photo I use just an ordinary torch. I candel my eggs when they are around ten days old,
you can tell straight away if they are fertile or not at this age. There is no need to touch or lift the eggs out of the nest to candel them, I just lower the light into the nest box and hold it just off the egg you want to look at. See the photos below

	If you click on the photos you will get a close up of the eggs
	Photo Left: will show you what an infertile egg looks like, this egg has transparent look about it, no shading at all. The spot on the egg when you look at the close up is just muck on the egg
		Photo Right: This photo is showing a fertile egg, look at the red veins and the over all look of red about the egg, also you will see the eggs next to this one are looking red as well

This is the small touch I use to candle eggs with. The photo is nearly the same size
as the torch. I am sure you will get one from any hard wear store.
I got this light free when I brought a padlock, and its still going strong

Chicks
Finely the chick stage, on the 18 day of incubation your chicks should start hatching, when the chicks hatch they are still living off their own egg food, it will take a few hours before the parent bird will start to feed her young. I have had a number of e-mail's asking what do I do! My Java's have babies. Java's are excellent parents and they will do everything for you, so long as you give them food and water.
			Here is the precious Java chick: This photo is showing a Java chick only hours old, you can still see the yellow egg food still being used by the chick to live off. If you look towards the throat, where the big red vain is. This is the crop area that will be filled with crop milk when the hen starts to feed the chick. On to the chick's eye's, you can tell as early as this if your chick is going to have red eyes or not. This chick will have black eyes because of the dark blue colour, if it was going to have red eyes, then the colour would be a dark pink colour. Shortly after taking this photo the chick was feed by its mother, one happy bird keeper! Photo of: a white java chick

Here is a Java chick at 7 days old:
The chicks will grow at a rapid rate, also there's a lot going on in the first few weeks of life. The beak develops into a typical java shape in no time. On this photo you can see the crop stuffed with food, the body shape has changed also the wings are bigger and showing signs of the feather tubes forming.
Photo of: a white java chick

Here is a Java chick at 14 days:
What a difference in just 14 day, wings and feathers developing, the start of a tail, eye's just starting to open, also the hearing holes have opened. This java is now having crushed seeds and some whole seed feed to it, see the colour of the crop has changed from the white milk.
Photo of: a white java chick

Here is a Java chick at 21 days:
As you can see, everything has now developed; the chick is just growing now. It is able to fly at this stage; I don't normally disturb the youngsters in the nest box at this age, because they are very easily frightened out of the nest box prematurely. Another ten days and the youngsters will start to come out of the nest box for a few hours a day.
Photo of: a light silver java chick

Here is a Java chick at 31 days
The fledging day is finely here, the young Java's start to come out of the nest for the first time on this day (approx). They will come out for a few hours a day at first and as the days go on the time spent out of the nest increases as well, but every night all the youngsters will return to the nest box to roost. The young Java will stay this colour for some time now and improve it's flying skills, the first thing you will notice will be the beak changing colour from this dark brown to a coral pink, when the beak has fully changed colour the youngster will start to moult out their baby feathers and start replacing them with adult coloured feathers, during this time the youngster will look ugly and ill, but don't worry everything will be O.K
When the last chick comes out of the nest box, give them 14 more day with the parents before you separate them, just observe your chick for a day or so to make sure they are cracking their own seeds and feeding themselves
Photo of: a Normal Java chick

The chick is about 38 days old here and is still calling for food off the parent Java's; they make a hell of a racket when they call. You will also see the young around the feeding bowl starting to pick at seed for themselves, copying what their parents are doing.
Photo of: a Normal Java Chick

Here is the chick changing, see the beak colour is changing also the eye rings are getting their colour as well
Photo: Normal Java

Its taken 150 days (5 months) to get this far from the hatch date. This is what I call the ugly stage, if you walked in to a pet shop and seen a bird like this for sale, would you buy it?
You can just see the last of the brown baby feathers sill on it's chest, the head has not got far to go before its completely black, the cheek patches are still a bit dirty, but it's now looking nearly like a java should.
At around 4 mouths of age, the young
cock Java's are trying to sing.
Photo of: a Normal Java Chick

From hatch date to finish it has taken between 6 to 7 months to get its full adult plumage.
It could now live up to 9 years of age
Photo: The Normal Java Finch

Genetics: I am sorry I do not know enough about the genetics of colour expectations on Java's, But! Don't be disappoint there is help at hand. On my Java finch group we have some people on there who know genetics inside out and upside down, you are more than welcome to join us and post your questions it's all FREE!!. | Join |

A foot note from Rob
Well it's taken some time to make this new breeding page up, just hope I have covered everything here, a lot of things on this new update is what people have asked about when leaving comments in my guest book, this book is very important to me as the information from it builds a picture of things I am missing on my website, if there is a topic you think could be covered or improved upon, leave me your comments, I promise I do take notice of what people tell me. Cheers Rob BACK TO TOP OF PAGE