Gouldians covering clutch ?

[smiley]

Hi, Pls. help. It is the se4cond clutch that this pair cover with nesting material after sitting for about two weeks ? I do not have any nesting in the cage, they use the excisting nesting to cover it ?

[bmohan28]

Hi,

I dont know the type of nest you are using for your gouldians , but if you are using a wicker basket or any such basket you can try and replace them with a wooden nest box with a round opening at the top.

Also it looks like they might not be happy with the nest of feel it is not fully finished so they might try and rearrange the nesting materials once the eggs are laid leading in to this issue. You can try and provide them flat bedding nesting materials which cant be easily pulled or rearranged.

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

Hi from California,

Agree with the nest box suggestion rather than an open basket. Are they covering babies or eggs? If eggs, they might be sensing that the eggs are not fertile and just want to start over. If eggs are cold, you can open a few to check fertility.

For a re-start I would offer a new nest box, plenty of fresh nest materials (I put a little inside for starters) and an egg food with a high percentage of hard boiled eggs, (food processed with shells and all) - along with their regular finch seed and fresh veggies. They also need total privacy for 2 weeks. I use an Endocam wired to the nest boxes I want to observe. They cost around $10 each and have a 16' USB connection.
Also, first time pairings often have a hard time getting it right on the first few rounds.

Good Luck!

Paul

[smiley]

HI, Thanx for the advice. I am using the wood nest boxes ment for finch breeding with entrance and lower area for nesting.They are in a cage by themselves ,The cage is 80X40 cm ment for finches.This is the first year they are together and I don't know how old they are,might be first time for them and I consider to swop the male with another breeding male ? Don't know if that will assist the female with incubation ? It is the eggs that they cover.Mabe I should clear the nesting and just give them enough nesting material to make a shallow nest ?

[Sally]

I'm not much help with breeding Gouldians, but I realize that I missed welcoming you to the forum! We have quite a few members from South Africa as well. There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care and breeding.

[smiley]

Thanx Sally. I will follow that thread.Might get some tips there as well
Regards

[ac12]

I had that problem with my last breeding pair.
The male (I think) would move the eggs into the corner of the nest then lift the nesting material to hide the eggs under the nesting material. The problem is, he would NEVER be able to get the eggs out, when he is ready to start incubation. I had to keep removing the eggs from under the nesting material.

When he did that again on their next clutch, I removed almost all the nesting material from the nest, and let them lay on the contoured bottom of the nest box. That way he could not bury the eggs.

In my case, he buried the eggs as they were being laid.
Each day I would see the new laid egg, then it would 'disappear,' to be found later under the nesting material.