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Our female Gouldian's appetite increased a lot about three weeks ago and she has been eating so much we started pulling the feed tray out for part of the day. She looks like she is getting a little fat. The pair had eggs about 3-4 weeks ago and one of them started tossing the eggs out of the nest. No eggs now and she doesn't seem to want to mate with him at the moment. Could she have finally gone into non-breeding mode and do they eat a lot when they do? We have had the pair since Feb. They were separated for about 2 months, Aug. - Sept.

Hmm that's interesting. Isshevery active during the day? Or does she just sit at the food dish all day? She could maybe have a nutrition imbalance and she's trying to eat more seed to possibly compensate.

When gouldian hens go into breeding mode their beak turns black, unless she is a mutation that can not produce the color black.

I would not remove food ever from the birds, they should have at least seed available at all times.

If she looks like she is getting a little fat she may be puffing up her feathers to get warm. I would add some extra heat to the cage in one corner and see how she reacts. She may be coming down with something or just need to rest.

Good luck

Chrismurdoch3 wrote: Hmm that's interesting. Isshevery active during the day? Or does she just sit at the food dish all day? She could maybe have a nutrition imbalance and she's trying to eat more seed to possibly compensate.

She is semi-active but has also been taking afternoon naps.

Unfortunately her mate died suddenly yesterday. I did observe him trying to mount her a few times 2 days ago and she snapped at him and chased him off. He looked and acted perfectly healthy so I don't know if she accidently caused his death or if it was sudden death. He was fine 4 hours before I found him at about 6:00PM. This pair had a history of not being good parents, tossing eggs and chicks.

I caught her today to trim her nails and she was very lively and hard to catch, and when in my hand she felt and looked normal.

a_gouldian

Sorry about your little boy.

If he died very suddenly for apparently no reason, I would really keep an eye on your little girl. There might be some sort of an illness, that he simply succumbed to first for whatever the reason.

lovezebs wrote: a_gouldian<br abp="648"><br abp="649">Sorry about your little boy.<br abp="650"><br abp="651">If he died very suddenly for apparently no reason, I would really keep an eye on your little girl. There might be some sort of an illness, that he simply succumbed to first for whatever the reason.

We have noticed that she looks like she is starting her first molt since we got her (and him) in February. She has some partially bald spots on her head. We started her on Ronex (just in case, although we did treat all our birds with Ronex in July) and moved her into a larger cage with two Painted Fire-tails so she could have company and wouldn't be all alone.

Since she joined the Painteds yesterday she is eating less (more normally) and is less puffy looking (feathers), and acting more normal. I wonder if she had finally exited breeding mode and started molting, which made her irritable when the male was trying to mount her, and she would get a little aggressive with him. Perhaps she accidentally caused his demise? Have no idea since this is our first pair of Gouldians. Hopefully all this is molt and going into non-breeding mode related and she will be OK when she is done molting.

a_gouldian

She shouldn't really have a lot of bald spots on her head even if she is moulting.

I would offer lots of greens and other veggies, along with a slice of orange now and again. Also, hard boiled eggs, with crushed shells on the side.

Also a nice lukewarm bath daily, or every second day.

lovezebs wrote: a_gouldian

She shouldn't really have a lot of bald spots on her head even if she is moulting.

I would offer lots of greens and other veggies, along with a slice of orange now and again. Also, hard boiled eggs, with crushed shells on the side.

Also a nice lukewarm bath daily, or every second day.

We will start the egg mix again. We were giving it to her on an almost daily basis but when she started eating a lot she really went crazy for the egg, so we cut it out about a week ago because we thought she was getting fat. She has returned to her normal weight so we will start giving it to her again. She seems to be doing better now so I hope she is fine. In 3-4 months we may start looking for a new mate for her.