Not sure if Gouldians are healthy. Need help, please!!

[MCiccosanti]

My wife and I have a male and female gouldian finch. We've noticed recently that the females tail feathers seem to be fanned out. I can't find much information on the internet so I'm turning to the forums. We really love our finches and don't want to bring them back but if we're doing more harm than good, we may have to.

The male constantly does the mating song and dance but we don't have a nesting box set up yet. We are moving into a new house in a week or so and wanted to wait until then so we don't disturb the nest in the move. When they sleep at night, they sleep very close together. The male does, however, chase her every now and then and tried to peck at her and she will peck back but that is the only sign of aggression that we notice.

I've uploaded some pictures *Hopefully correctly* so you can see what we see in her tail. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!!

[finchmix22]

Welcome to the forum. I'll let the gouldian breeders respond, but can you see if her vent is wet? She may be responding to the male's mating dance. I'm not sure from the pics, though. There are many people on the forum who breed gouldians and I"m sure someone with more knowledge with get back with you soon. It also helps to add your location to your profile.

[Sunbay]

Check her vent - for wetness, bulging, stuck poo, etc. Are her tail feathers always like that, or does she do it periodically? If all the time, it just may be they grew in like that.
Otherwise, they look like nice, healthy birds to me! They may be wanting to breed - although the hen's beak does not appear dark in these photos. (the hens beak will darken significantly when in breeding mode).

There is LOADS of good info on here, look at diet and nutrition, housing, breeding, links for some expert advise on just about anything you can think of.

I would definitely wait till the move, and have things settled down before putting a nest in.

The 'pecking' may not be aggressiveness - just sort of love displays. Watch and make sure no feather pulling is going on, or chasing so much one or the other isn't able to eat or drink.

One thing they must have now, in addition to a good quality diet, is calcium/mineral supplements.
I feed Hatched Egg Shell, mixed with F-Vite. All this and MUCH MORE on th awesome website http://ladygouldian.com/

Congratulations on your beautiful birds, and WELCOME!

[Sally]

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at the Finch Information Center, linked at left, and the members are always ready to answer questions. I agree with the others that I would wait till after the move to give them a nest box. I can't tell anything about the hen's beak from the photos, but I am not a Gouldian expert. If it is just ruffled feathers, without a wet vent and with normal poop, then I would say it is nothing to worry about. Some of my birds will get frazzled-looking tails--they often straighten up after a few days of baths and preening.

[MCiccosanti]

Thank you all for the quick replies! You put my mind at ease. Her vent looks dry and clean and the tail feathers stay that way. At first, I thought it was part of molting but they never fell out and that's what started worrying me.

Once I have some time away from work, I will dig deeper into this website and try to absorb as much information as possible. It's good to know we have a place to turn if we need anything.

Thank you all again! It's very much appreciated!

[finchmix22]

Glad to be of help. After they adjust and are comfortable, they should do fine.

[debbie276]

Just look slike she may have been rubbing her feathers against something, maybe the cage wires? I'm sure next molt they will come in fine.
Good looking birds, best of luck

[sarehptar]

I have a very healthy shaft-tail finch whose tail frequently looks this way--I believe his feathers just grew in that way, as he can straighten them by grooming, but poof! within a few hours they'll return to the fan shape. He has no problems at all otherwise and flies just fine.

I've also noticed that sometimes when my birds "help" each other to groom, they make more of a mess than before. No pulling, just can't seem to figure out which way to preen their friends' feathers to make them look as nice as they should. If she's being groomed by the male or she's not a pro-preener herself, that may be helping the messy tail along.