Nests
The Nests module keeps track of the nest boxes in each cage. It is designed for aviaries with several pairs — finches, parrots, any bird — but works in any type of cage: you number the nests of the cage, say which pair (or which hen) each one belongs to and record its clutches in it, one after another.
The structure is Cage → Nest → Clutches. The pair or the hen is an assignment of the nest, not another level: aviary V01 has three nest boxes and N1 is used by macaw pair 3.
It is an optional module and comes switched off.
Enable the module
- Go to Settings → Modules.
- Turn on Nests.
- Open Nests from the side menu, or look at the Nests section of any cage.
If you switch it off later nothing is deleted: nests and their clutches are kept and reappear when you turn it on again.
Create nests
From Nests → Add nests or from a cage's page:
- choose the cage;
- say how many nests you are adding: the app proposes the free numbers (
N1,N2,N3…) and creates them all at once; - optionally an alias ("Big box", "Left log"), the type (nest box, open nest, log or other) and notes.
Each cage numbers its nests on its own: V01 and C02 can both have an N1. The full code is V01/N1.
Assign the nest to a pair or a hen
On the nest page, Assign pair offers the active pairs of that cage first. If in the aviary you do not know which cock a hen goes with, use Assign hen: the nest is kept in her name. The sheet offers the hens of that cage first and, below, the rest with a search box and species and year chips.
- A pair or a hen can have several nests (many parrots choose their box); the app warns, it does not prevent it.
- Assigning a nest does not move anyone between cages.
- If the pair ends or the hen leaves the aviary, the nest warns you and you can clear the assignment.
Record a clutch
Tap New clutch on the nest (or create the clutch from the pair and choose the nest in the form). It is the same clutch as always: eggs, incubation, hatching, ringing and independence.
If the nest is assigned only to a hen, the app asks which cock she bred with (cocks of that cage first and, below, the rest with a search box and chips) or offers to reuse her active pair. If you do not know the cock, choose Unknown father: the clutch is recorded with the hen only and the chicks will have no father. The app never invents a cock or creates a pair; see Clutches with unknown father.
A nest houses one clutch at a time. When you make the last chick independent (or all the eggs are marked as failed), the nest becomes free and can house the next one. The nest's clutch history is kept.
Release the nest early
If you move all the eggs to the incubator or to a foster, or remove the clutch, use Release nest: it records that the clutch is no longer physically there without touching the eggs, the lineage or the reminders. If you make a mistake, Occupy the nest again undoes it while the clutch is still alive.
Aviaries with several pairs
With the module on, aviaries accept several active pairs at the same time. Breeding and individual cages still house a single pair.
Close, archive, move and delete
- Close: the box is shut this season; it cannot be used for new clutches.
- Archive: the nest is no longer used but you keep its number and history.
- Move to another cage or renumber: from Edit.
- Delete: goes to the trash; old clutches keep showing that nest as origin.
None of these actions is allowed while the nest has a clutch in progress: release or close it first.
When merging or splitting cages, nests travel with them (if two nests clash on number, the second one is renumbered) and undoing the reorganisation puts them back exactly where they were.
QR and labels
Each nest has a permanent QR (it identifies the box, not the pair or the clutch): scanning it opens its page even if the number or the cage changes. From the list or from a cage you can print labels in batch with the nest number, the cage and the alias.
Backups and sync
Nests travel in the backup, in the aviary CSV/XLSX package and in the sync between devices. If two devices create the same number in the same cage while offline, none is lost: one is flagged as a conflict in the cloud and you resolve it by renumbering.
When another device changes something
A nest is never moved, renumbered or deleted behind a live clutch's back: if another device tries while there are chicks in it here, the change is not accepted and the app tells you.
If a clutch still ends up without its place, it is flagged under Cloud sync → Sync status, with the reason and its way out:
- Its pair was deleted on another device: restore it from the trash if that was a mistake.
- Its nest was deleted on another device: the same, by restoring the nest.
- Its nest is now in another cage: tap Accept location to accept the new cage, or release the clutch from its record if the eggs are no longer there.
If a pair or a female assigned to a nest is deleted and the 30 days of the trash go by, the nest becomes unassigned: it stays there, with its number and its history.