FINCHforum

Hello, I have recently been given 3 Gould finch's, one male his mate and his sister. They are housed in a 36"x30"x24" cage. I have had them for 3 weeks. Two days ago I added 2, 2 month old male owl finch's (Bichenov finch) And the male gould attacks one of the owl finch's if he goes too close. Unfortunatly he seems to often go too close. I was told that these finch's would get along fine together. What do i do? Is this just temporary or have I mnade a mistake?

There may be several things going on here. First, you have three Gouldians that, if they lived together before, may be a bonded trio. The male may resent intruders, especially males. Even though Gouldians are easy-going, they can be possessive about their little 'family'. Second, you have two very young male Owls. Though they should have been weaned by now, they are going thru a lot of stress in a short period of time, and they may seek comfort from older birds.

If you have another cage, I would put the two Owls in it and let them grow up a little. If not, I would take out all five, rearrange perches, etc, in the cage to make it look different, then put all five back in at once. Also, keep a close eye on those two Owls. All of these changes are hard on them, they are still babies, so make sure they get lots of protein (egg food).

Many times on here I see the question of birds being housed together.The idea of a cage with lots of various coloured birds in it is a pretty concept.
But they are not tropical fish.Try to be satisfied with less birds, or if you want more have another cage.
Better a happy little community than a cage full of stress.
Paul.

cant argue with nor add to what Sally & Paul have said. sound advice

I agree with the bonded trio theory. I'd say Sally and the others are spot on.

Sean

poohbear wrote:Many times on here I see the question of birds being housed together.The idea of a cage with lots of various coloured birds in it is a pretty concept.
But they are not tropical fish.Try to be satisfied with less birds, or if you want more have another cage.
Better a happy little community than a cage full of stress.
Paul.

Paul is so right, unfortunately space is a problem for most of us so we will have to be content with housing fewer species. I have success housing mixed species in my LARGE aviary but this is just because I don't overcrowd the cage. According the cage size calculator I can house 55 - 74 birds in my large aviary but I have nowhere near that many (15 at this stage). Even passive species sometimes clash when overcrowded or in breeding mode.