FINCHforum

Does anything (like order of birth/hatch) or sex (m/f) affect who colors up first? I have four April 19th fledglings: 2 are showing yellow tummies already. Obviously they are all receiving the same food, light, etc. so what makes the difference in when they color up?

Gouldians molt when they are ready. It's very individual rather than systematic like order of birth. It varies with some even partially molting the first time.

Something I observed from breeding livestock ( cattle, horses,sheep ) was that individuals whose metabolism caused them to mature more quickly than their siblings ( in birds perhaps a quicker juvenile molt ), paid for it at the other end. They had shorter lives, they got old quick too.

I think it is also what they eat.
I have a set of chicks that from 1st to last to complete molt was about 3 months. I think the ones that finished molting fastest ate the egg food, and the ones that did not molt fast avoided the egg food. So the difference in protein to grow the feathers.

In case of fledglings I found another important thing. Males have a brighter breast and tummy colour than females. Dolly, I think the brighter coloured juveniles are male.

Bhatta - that could be true. But does that mean males color up before females?

Bhatta - my g-daughter was recently in Kolkata on a trip; I was born in Kerala, & my two g-sons were born in Bangalore & Pune. I LOVE India

Dolly
In my case NO.
The first to color up was a hen, 2nd was a male, 3rd was a hen, 4th was a male.
The first 2 colored up within a month of each other, then a wait of about 2 months for the last 2. In fact the last male did not fully color up, only part of the head color is in.

ac12 That's so interesting Gary. Evidently there isn't much rhyme or reason to it, huh?

Dolly
Not that I have noticed.
But I had not paid attention to final molt by sex.
I just wanted them all to finish molting, and the 2 stragglers bugged me.

Good luck with your birds!

@ Gary ... know exactly what you mean....those straggler moulters !!!

finchandlovebird

Dolly, thanks for an interesting thread! I've been wondering the same thing with my gouldian youngsters. Some are way brighter in colour than others. I can't wait for them to start colouring up properly!

finchandlovebird wrote: Bhatta - that could be true. But does that mean males color up before females?

It is not necessary that males will color up before females.

It was nice to hear your link to India. If you visit kolkata in future please meet me. I shall show you the largest pet market of India in Kolkata (it should be Sunday).