The chances are you already own one of the birds you plan to use for
breeding. For best prospects the male should be healthy and sleek, a
good singer, and between twelve months and four years old. The hen
should also be healthy and sleek, from one to five years old, and should
differ from the cock bird in coloring. For example, with the cock a
yellow, the hen could be a lighter colored buff, or vice versa. Pair
yellow and buff, green and white, cinnamon and white, yellow and green,
and so on. Your hens should be vigorous and if not overbred (used for
more than two nests the previous season) it is a good thing to use those
with proved capacity on your first attempt.
Most breeders allow the hens to have flying exercise daily. For this
purpose a flight cage or room is best, and if you intend to mate several
pairs, it is a good investment. Its size can depend on the space
available. A very useful flying cage is four feet long, two feet high,
and one-and-a-half to two feet deep. Place the seed at one end, the
water at the other, and keep the perches widely spaced in order to
insure exercise. Smaller flights can be used satisfactorily, and if a
spare room is available its whole area can be used. Many successful
breeders use attic space divided into flight rooms with hardware cloth
and screen doors. The floor of each flight room is covered with gravel.