Gould : male not letting the hen feed babies

exoticgouldian · Post by **exoticgouldian** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:00 am

Hi,

I have a RH-PB-YB male and BH-PB-YB hen breeding for the first time. (gouldians). They laid 5 eggs and sat tight and all 5 hatched. They fed them very well for the the 5 days.

But since yesterday the Male doesn't let the hen come near the nest. It eats seed and quickly goes inside and feed the babies. The babies are well fed, but the hen seems to really want to go inside and feed the babies as well.

Whenever she comes near the nest, he chases her away.

They are in their seperate breeding cage as well.

What should I do ? leave them the way they are, remove one, male or female ?

chrischris · Post by **chrischris** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:04 am

If he's feeding the chicks I would just leave the pair alone. In time all should sort itself out. I had a pair where the hen took over the nest but later allowed the male to help in the chick rearing.

Chris

exoticgouldian · Post by **exoticgouldian** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:07 am

I will try that and thanks for the reply.

I think because its their first time, the male got a bit over protective.

But i am worried about the hen ? wouldn't she get stressed ?

chrischris · Post by **chrischris** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:13 am

If she is healthy she'll be able to hold her own. Also with removing the hen it will also change the family dynamics and may stress him out too. Give her/him time to adjust to raising a family.

Chris

bonnies_gouldians · Post by **bonnies_gouldians** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:17 pm

Congrats on getting the pair to breed and successfully hatch chicks on their first try, a lot of people would kill for that fortune!!! Hopefully the male will let his guard down a bit and let the female give a helping beak, but as long as he keeps them fed and he is not injuring the female, I'ld let it ride out its own way.