FINCHforum

I have been going through some of the photos i took of my hen cordon bleu and it seems in a lot of them she is gaping... i noticed this during the week but figured it was due to the abnormal heat here and gave extra water and electrolytes.. and now that its cooler shes still doing it.. just a little worried now that shes on a nest and i don't want to disturb her but if shes sick i'll pull the plug on the breeding for a little while and get her right first. she seems active and is eating and drinking perfectly from what ive noted.

has anyone else ever seen this for no apparent reason?

Darren
If she is on eggs, she may be upset that you're taking pics and in the room near the nest. Cordon blues are very sensitive to any distruption when nesting. They easily toss babies with even simple things like giving them food and water for feeding babies. I always had to keep them high up in the room and use my tip toes to reach the bottom door to place food and water daily.

If she's not nervous due to a disruption near her nest, I'd put a heat lamp on one side of the cage, so she can get away from it if she is too hot. Then, if she sits under the heat lamp, she may not be feeling well.

My Gouldian hen does that if any other birds get close to her nest or I get to close.....Hopfully that is all it is.....

If she's still active, eating well, and there aren't any other obvious signs of illness, it could just be a nervous reaction. My canaries and javas do this at times - usually when they're agitated. Bob

One of my zebra hens did this when she was nesting and I got too close. I assumed it was stress or she was sending me a message...

Birds often gape when in stress. If you get to close to the cage, a skittish bird may do it. It can also be a sign if mites but I dont think that is the case here.

Thanks guys, my i feel a lot better knowing its not a health issue.

I think it is just because she wants to protect her eggs/chicks. Try to disturb her as less as possible. Everything will be alright.

She did it before she even had a nest which is why I was worried, but right now she's been sitting on the nest since yesterday without moving the cock has still been jumping around singing his heart out I'm delighted and seriously hope that she has eggs under her it would be fantastic to have some form of success so soon.

Try adding foliage to the cage after she is done with her clutch, it will make her feel more comfortable

well, its been a few days now and nothing.. seems like nest building has stopped and the hen is siting away from the cock almost all the time. I went in to check them tonight after leaving them alone for the last few days and i think she is in the nest again but i havent been able to view them properly for any further mating activity due to being in work.

ive increased their intake of eggfood and will be etting some mealworms over the weekend hopefully and hopefully noce ive started the mealworms breeding and have a steady supply it will take off.

well i hope anyway..

I've also seen my parrrot finches gaping on occasion over the first few days and have been following this thread, i think it was just stress as per above members comments and i havn't seen them do it recently.

With regard to the mealworms, if your starting a culture it will take a while to get going. Mine was started about 6 weeks ago and still no sign of any baby mealworms. I had pupas within a few days and beetles within 2-3 weeks.

Good luck with the breeding, i might try some waxbills next year.


Padraic

Cheers Padraic,

I've started my own culture now as-well, i'm no sure which ones to keep and which ones to feed just yet as they seem to eat the pupae over the actual meal-worms..

at present i have two tubs, one with the ones im keeping and one with the ones im feeding the birds i only got them on Friday but still it looks like they aren't as excited about having meal-worms as i thought they would be... based on what ive read here i was expecting to have a massacre on my hands, its not like they don't know what to do with them th breeder i bought them from fed them meal-worms himself once a week and he sad they loved them.

the cock seems more interested in them to be honest i haven't seen the hen near them at all.

From what i've read about waxbills the mini mealworms are the preferred food especially the white ones which have just shed thier skin, also waxworms are supposed to be good along with thawed frozen pinkies ( i havn't found a local source for these yet ).

I'd quiz the breeder you got them from for more information on what live foods he feeds them while breeding and there's also information on finch information centre ( link on top left of forum ) about red cheeked cordon blues.


Padraic