How to tell the age of a lady gouldian?

[vienneparis]

Hello, I'm considering purchasing a blue back gouldian from someone who is selling all of his gouldians. He doesn't know the exact age of the blue back, just that she's between 2 and 4 years old. I don't want to get a bird that's too old to breed. Is there a way to tell the age of a female gouldian?
Thanks

[finchandlovebird]

Not really; some say look at the feet.....if they're terribly scaley and long toenails maybe they are older. How does her feather condition look to you? Is the price right for an unknown quantity?

[MiaCarter]

I've never found any reliable way to determine the age finches.

I work with lots of fosters, who are surrenders, abandoned, etc. and frequently there's no info on age. So I've extensively researched an accurate method for determining age. But really, it's just not possible.

Finches don't really live long enough to show the aging in their legs and feet that you tend to see in some other species. I've compared legs/feet of birds with known ages and there's no discernible difference OR the results are deceptive (e.g. a 2-year-old may have legs that look older than a 6-year-old.)

They don't have teeth, which is the primary method used to determine the age in mammals.

Xrays are effective in larger birds who live 20+ years, as a well-trained vet can see signs of wear and even arthritis in the legs, hips and feet.

And the more verbose birds can give it away with their vocab. If you have a bird with a 200+-word vocabulary, it's usually at least a few years old. But again, that wouldn't work with a finch.

The only real reliable hint is during moulting. If you have multiple birds, who all get the same diet and are equal in terms of health, the older birds tend to take a bit longer to complete the moult. But that only tells you relative age and it assumes equality in terms of health/condition.

That's a bummer that it's a female. Anecdotal evidence has led me to believe that females seem to lose their fertility much sooner than males (and for obvious reason. Reproduction is more taxing on females.)

[vienneparis]

Mia, thanks for your input. Guess I'll just have to put her with one of my males and see if she's still interested in breeding.

Dolly, her feet are scalier than my 1 year old gouldians, but not terribly scaly. Feather condition is not the best I've seen, but fair. The price is lower than the going price in my area for a female blue back, so it's worth taking a chance on her.