Blue-capped Cordon Bleu Waxbill

Blue Capped Cordon Bleu Waxbill

(Blue capped Waxbills/ Blue headed Waxbills/ Cordon Bleu Waxbills)

Feeding

Initially the mix was that used by Richard Prosser which is -
15kg – Foreign finch; 3kg – Panicum; 3kg – Japanese millet;
3kg – Red millet; 3kg – Plain canary; 2kg – Niger
the Blue-Capped wasted a lot of this mix as they swept through it seeking what they like

Probird's African Waxbill Mix works much better
this is a Belgium mix of 11 seeds but the composition unfortunately hasn't been revealed

the change to this mix of smaller seeds has virtually stopped seed scattering
with much reduced wastage and cost savings obviously

grit, always available, grated cuttlefish no longer given (as calcium and vitamins now in eggfood)

thawed frozen buffalo worms and Pinkies several days a week - daily when have chicks
(too much livefood to pairs without chicks can also induce 'battery-hen syndrome' - described in detail below)
- Pinkies (fly maggots) usually more 'popular'
(UK frozen livefood mail order supplier - www.priorspetproducts or Probird)

volume of eggfood supplied varies - depends upon what birds are up to ie breeding or resting
plus diced chicory

I now use a rearing mix based on that used by the very successful Paul de Nil

Paul de Nil's rearing food

Blue Capped Waxbills generally like this mix but some just pick out the Pinkies
and eat little of the eggfood - others can't get enough

below is the lazy man's guide to making this eggfood

Paul de Nil is one of Belgium's most successful Waxbill breeders
He attributes much of his success to his rearing food
He makes his in the most cost-effective manner starting with white bread and eggs
Although a little more expensive, it is even easier to start with your normal, eggfood

The weights of eggfood given are basd on Gold-label Feast™
If you use a dry rather than a pre-moistened eggfood ie Cede™ it is a bit less dense
Perhaps decrease the weight of dry eggfood added by say 20%

Item

Weight

Volume

your normal dry, seed mix (volume based on foreign finch mix I use)

2Kg

3 litres/ 5 pints

boil seed (with 2 crumbled eggshells?) in tap water for 5 to 6 min's then rinse thoroughly in cold tapwater, drain

add your normal eggfood
my weight is based on Gold Label Feast™ - (BirdCare Co.)

1.2Kg

2.5 litres/ 4 pints

vitamins - ie Daily Essentials 3 - (BirdCare Co.)

8gm

1 heaped tablespoon

add Calcivet™ powder - (BirdCare Co.)

25gm

5 heaped teaspoons

granulated charcoal

20gm

3 tablespoons

probiotic - Bioplus™ - (BirdCare Co.)

6 teaspoons

frozen Pinkies (fly maggots) & buffalo worms (50:50) - 4% of weight of above mix
(UK mail order supplier - www.priorspetproducts.co.uk)

120gm

Summary
to well drained seed, add eggfood with vitamins, Calcivet™, probiotic and charcoal - (plus pollen powder? see below)
stir/ mix - thoroughly
then add and stir in frozen livefood (ie Pinkies and buffalo worms)

seal entire mix in sealed plastic bags and freeze

take as much as you need for 3 or 4 days at a time and thaw
only experience will allow you to judge how much to thaw
if frozen in each plastic bag as a thin layer (1 - 1.5 cm/ half inch) then can just break a suitably sized piece off to thaw
thawed mix apparently can be kept in the fridge and used for up to a week as required
(4 days maximum is probably safer)

The seed mix

If you have several different types of bird then mix the seed accordingly
If you have Bullfinches which consume twice the amount of their seed than
your foreign finches then
mix two parts of your Bullfinch mix to one part of your foreign finch mix

if you have kept the shells of two hens eggs eaten recently you can bake or microwave them
crumble and add to the seed
(if grated cuttlefish or crumbled eggshell is always available this isn't necessary)

Adding 'lead' to the Waxbill cock's pencil/ conditioning

add pollen to the above mix to bring cocks into condition - DO NOT use mix with pollen once laying has commenced

pollen - powdered - (from health food shops)
(UK mail order supplier - www.bodykind.com)

1 tablespoon

Probiotics

I now make eggfood with probiotic added to keep the gut in good condition
I use BioPlus™ (BirdCare Co.) at a rate of 1.5 teaspoons per 500gm (of the initial dry seed)

How often to use the mix?

initially use rearing food with pollen included once a week
then use twice a week - to bring birds into condition (perhaps for about 6 weeks)
STOP using for each pair as soon as eggs appear - for these birds use rearing food without the pollen - daily
give daily to youngsters until they moult

Paul de Nil recommends administering the rearing food once a day at 5pm

Why 5pm?
weaker/ smaller chicks tend to die during the night. This is often due to insufficient food gained versus their sibblings
5pm feed means the chicks get the best food from the fresh, full dish in the evening
this helps get weaker or smaller chicks through the 'critical' night

He mentions another benefit
Bengalese tend to settle in their boxes to roost quite early. This means a long night for chicks
when Bengalese are used to an evening feed they come out to eat
this means the chicks get a later and extra feed than they would otherwise have got

You can overdo the mix - 'battery hen syndrome'

overfeeding of the mix can lead to what I term 'battery-hen' syndrome
eggs are laid every two or three days - fertility is poor - sitting is totally irregular
stopping such a hen isn't easy - most people would separate the pair with a wire divider (not an easy option in my setup)
separating the birds out of sight of each other stresses them badly - moving the pair to a small cage seems less stressful

one hen laid 34 eggs in 99 days - only 9 were successfully foster-reared (24%) - others were infertile or addled

the fact that this hen is alive and well would suggest the eggfood mix delivers enough calcium - but, please try not to overdo the mix
(too much livefood to pairs without chicks can also induce 'battery-hen syndrome')

fostering normally means that 50% of eggs laid will result in independent chicks
(but this includes all the infertile eggs from 2 'battery hens' - otherwise, fertility is ~ 90%)
of fertile eggs 78% should make it to the perch and 88% of hatchlings should make it to the perch
fostering delivers

Go to the next page to see about - breeding - the Blue Capped Waxbill

Interested in Lavender Waxbills

This site has sound files to help determine gender

www.lavender-waxbill.com

If you are interested in parrot-finches please visit

www.parrot-finches.com