In the future I'll thankfully be wiser when picking up new birds (if ever).
I will say, even though I said I was not interested in ever being a "breeder", it would be rather cool to raise finches and actually hand raise them to give away to people who want to start out, that way they have a tame and well cared for bird instead of a farm/factory petstore type which you're right, are probably inbred. It seems almost impossible to find people willing to hand raise finches for obvious reasons... Of course then we get back to the issue of lots of birds out there already in need of good homes. This was just a hypothetical.
On the genetics point, it would be really cool to simultaneously do a Mendel-esk finch study while breeding. Of course I have no doubt this has been done over and over already and at very advanced levels. Also, clearly I would not learn much of anything with only a single generation, but it would be fun to at least read up before hand and attempt to predict the possible outcomes from a pairing of Charlie and Emma. I wonder what traits are dominant and which are recessive in several categories such as coloration (obviously), crest, beak, etc. It might be difficult without knowing anything about their parents, but some predictions could be made before hand.
I will say, even though I said I was not interested in ever being a "breeder", it would be rather cool to raise finches and actually hand raise them to give away to people who want to start out, that way they have a tame and well cared for bird instead of a farm/factory petstore type which you're right, are probably inbred. It seems almost impossible to find people willing to hand raise finches for obvious reasons... Of course then we get back to the issue of lots of birds out there already in need of good homes. This was just a hypothetical.
On the genetics point, it would be really cool to simultaneously do a Mendel-esk finch study while breeding. Of course I have no doubt this has been done over and over already and at very advanced levels. Also, clearly I would not learn much of anything with only a single generation, but it would be fun to at least read up before hand and attempt to predict the possible outcomes from a pairing of Charlie and Emma. I wonder what traits are dominant and which are recessive in several categories such as coloration (obviously), crest, beak, etc. It might be difficult without knowing anything about their parents, but some predictions could be made before hand.
