Same-sex aviary? Conflicting information online.

[WildNectarine]

Hello all, I’ve had a growing interest in adding some smaller non-ground birds into my life, and I was looking into society finches. My enclosure would be indoors, and 79”Lx71”Wx59”H, is it possible to have only all females together? I don’t plan on breeding. What are the pros and cons? How many could comfortably be in there? Thoughts?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Yes you can keep only females. Society finches are very social, and usually get along very well. Suggest is 24x14x18 for a single pair. I might start at 6-10 in your set up and see how it goes. Best to always do even numbers if possible.

 

[WildNectarine]

Yes you can keep only females. Society finches are very social, and usually get along very well. Suggest is 24x14x18 for a single pair. I might start at 6-10 in your set up and see how it goes. Best to always do even numbers if possible.

Thank you! If I may ask, my enclosure is a “pop-up” bed mosquito net, and since I won’t have bars to attach perches to, I plan on getting these preserved manzanita trees with bases that are meant for displays to use as perches, they’re maybe 36” tall and 18” to 24” wide, and I’ll get two, one on each side, but would bowls like these work, attached to the branches? How many should I have if I got 6 birds?
https://www.chewy.com/knuti-bird-feeding-cups-clamp-sliver/dp/1690830

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Those should work. I'd try two or three and see how it goes. I might worry about the finches getting their toes caught in the mosquito netting if they should try to land on the sides.

 

[Finchbreeder]

As a long term finch breeder, I am always aware that too many sites recommend too small an enclosure for finches. Yes they are small birds, but they are very active birds. It is better to understock than over stock. I would stick to 4 or 5 finches with your enclosure size.
The good news is that Societies are more tolerant of "crowded houses" than most finches. The bad news is that Societies are wrongly sexed more often than a lot of other finches due to lack of visual differences. Male finches are much easier to source than female finches and Societies are one of a the finches where Batchelor houses work well. I had a group of 5 Society Batchelor Brothers together from hatch to decease and there was never a cross word. A few hormonal passes at that time of life. They are one finch that genuinely loves a nest to share even though indoor finches do not require a nest to sleep in.