Gouldian father beating up dark colored chicks?

[gf3]

My pastel blue male will feed/finish his yellow and silver back chicks after fledging, but has killed his blue and green back chicks. His hen and his mother are yellow backs. For some reason, he perceives the dark color chicks as intruders. Has anyone every had this issue before?

[ac12]

When did he kill the non-yellow chicks, in the nest or after they fledged?

If he does this again, the only option that I can think of is to remove the male either before or soon after the eggs hatch (if he kills them in the nest) or after they fledge (if he kills them after they fledge). But that could be tricky/dangerous, as the hen may then abandon the nest while the eggs are still unhatched or soon after hatching. So you will need to have fosters/societies standing by.

I have had zebra hens attacking their white fledglings.

[debbie276]

Can't say I've ever heard of this behavior in gouldians before. How many clutches has this happened with? Seeing how it is after fledging I would just remove him if he shows aggression to the chick's again.
Is he actually attacking them or just not feeding them?

Strange that you are getting Green and Blue chick's from a Pastel Blue (visually white bodied) and Pastel (visually yellow bodied) pair, unless you mean a SF Pastel Blue and your Pastel hen is spilt to Blue. Then you'll get every color

Hope you can get it figured out soon. That's a nice pair to have for variety of chick colors

[gf3]

He is killing them after they fledge, not in the nest. And he is actually attacking them. I have not attempted to let a single parent raise the chicks after fledging. So if I understand correctly, the hen can complete the process without thim?? I am trying to get photo up but I have forgotten how --

[MariusStegmann]

gf3 You have to reduce the size of the photo to less than 256kb. Paint works well to reduce the size.

[gf3]

The bad boy himself--with chicks.

[gf3]

Her is the male with the hen.

[gf3]

Thanks Marius with the photo help=-
Gene

[Babs _Owner]

gf3

He's just beautiful. Are the parents laying eggs in the nest at the same time the fledglings are running around? If so, possibly taking out the nest and the eggs may help dad properly focus.

[gf3]

This pair will indeed start a new clutch while the chicks are fledging, so I did remove the nest after the fledge. I might just have to pull him from breeding, which I hate to do as he is a YTB Yellow Head. I do like to let he Gouldians raise their own chicks, but the Society back-up might be the solution also.

[debbie276]

Your male is a BlackHead.PurpleBreast.SingleFactor Pastel Blue (BH.PB.SF Pastel Blue) and the hen a YellowHead.PurpleBreast.Pastel (YH.PB.Pastel) If you are getting Blue chicks the hen is also split to Blue.

The hen will have no problem caring for the chicks on her own. If he is attacking the chicks your going to need to remove him.

[gf3]

Yes, I do know the genetics of these birds (finally have that all figured out). I am glad the hen can go it alone - so that is really an easy fix. I do prefer the green back birds so am very disappointed to have lost them.

[debbie276]

which I hate to do as he is a YTB Yellow Head.

Oh ok, sorry, didn't mean to butt in. I didn't understand why you said he was a "YTB Yellow Head"

[Sam007]

One of my yellow back male gouldian used to chase his green back chicks after they fledge but he never killed them. His hen was yellow back. He never chased any of his yellow back chicks.