Eating alot of grit

[trljr14]

My female gouldian is nesting but comes out and eats alot of grit.She also bobbing her tail alot,thanks tom.

[franny]

My female gouldian is nesting but comes out and eats alot of grit.She also bobbing her tail alot,thanks tom.

Hi trljr14,

By "grit" I hope you mean oystershell? Not gravel I hope? Finches need calcium, usually in the form of crushed oystershell, but not sand/grit. If she's nesting that's normal I think... she knows she needs the calcium to lay strong eggs. Not sure about the tail bobbing. Could be she's just been sitting in the nest a long time and needs to "go" when she comes out and this helps? Not sure, but my GB hen does this tail bobbing when she first comes out of the nest, too. Usually poops shortly after! Or could be your hen is just trying to get the cock's attention? Someone else with Gouldian experience will probably be able to answer for sure, but that's my thought.

[sean]

i hope that i'm not arising undue concern here because i'm not 100% sure of what i'm about to say.

but, i've heard it been said that tail bobbing can be a sign of respiratory distress. Crystal mentions this briefly here in the middle of the page: http://www.finchinfo.com/general/mainta ... inches.php

perhaps it would be a good idea merely to just observe her carefully to make sure that there are no other symptoms to be concerned about?

[L in Ontario]

I think recommending careful observation of our birds (all the time) is not out of order. I think sometimes I take them for granted thinking gee aren't they pretty and this one sounds nice and don't actually 'observe' my birds as carefully individually or as often as I should. Thanks for the reminder, Sean.

[sean]

no worries man. its not easy, especially when you have a lot of birds.