Best type of nest for breeding Gouldians

[lovezebs]

Icearstorm

Take the cuttle bone,and scoop some of it out with a spoon. Put the little scoops on top of the mineral grit.

[Icearstorm]

lovezebs

That may work. Though I don't think I'll do spinich again; I forgot that my society finches stuff it in their nest and leave it there to rot.

[lovezebs]

Icearstorm

LOL....

They're just keeping some goodies around, for when they're sitting tight and might get a bit peckish ...

Reminds me of teenagers

[Icearstorm]

lovezebs

That makes me think of when I would hide some of my Halloween candy so I didn't have to share it with my dad... XD

[lovezebs]

Icearstorm

Well, now you understand their point of view, only I don't think they have to worry about you stealing and eating their wilted spinach...

[Vera]

Vera

These are exciting times

Check out the picture below, which will show you the beaks of females in breeding mode.

The third picture from the top going down, is when this girlie was between her second and third clutch.

Thank you for the pictures that is what she looks like now. They are settling into their own cage quite nicely and I put in an enclosed wicker nest. I checked with the lady I bought them from and thats what they used before. So they have their own cage in a quiet room with lots of sunlight, a comfortable nest with nesting materials, egg with ground eggshell in it, oyster shell, seed, green vegetables (they love spinach, cucumber and kale). Dad has gone into the nest a few times but we havent noticed mom going in yet. Is there anything else we can do to encourage this, and how long do we wait to see if she lays eggs? Ive raised societies before and it was a piece of cake. In fact the societies havent had a nest for some time, but they are trying so hard. They are constantly ripping up the paper on the bottom of their cage and packing one of their water dishes. Poor things! I just dont know if its responsible to have society babies, the last time I ended up taking four of them (kept two) to a pet store with a large aviary. It was a good place but I didnt know where they would be sold to after that so it didnt feel quite right.

[ac12]

You need to just let nature take its course. Some pairs mate immediately, other take months to bond. If you know of how to make them bond fast and mate, a LOT of us will want to know the trick.

Be VERY careful on nest checks. Some gouldians spook easily and will abandon the nest. Wicker nests are DIFFICULT/IMPOSSIBLE to check, unless you have a clear view of the inside of the nest. This is one reason many of us use outside nest boxes. And you cannot do anything to the wicker nest without removing it from the cage. But now that they have it, don't change the nest. Do that next time.

You are proper in your handling of the chicks. If you cannot keep or home the chicks, don't breed.

I have used societies as foster parents for my gouldians, when they abandoned the nest and eggs or chicks or tossed chicks. But they have to be setup with a nest in advance, and you don't want them raising society chicks at the same time they are fostering gouldian chicks.

[Vera]

Thanks Gary. I was wondering if I would be able to peek in there but I dont want to take any chances of disturbing them. I guess I just have to wait now. Ive seen dad go in there and I can see pieces of nesting material so hopefully that is a good sign!

[ac12]

Vera, we are all curious.

But nest check can cause the gouldians to abandon the nest.
The problem is we just do not know what triggers them to abandon the nest. Was it the nest checks, was it the noise in the room, was it the traffic in the room, ?????

For the first few breeding clutches, I would leave them alone as much as possible, so they feel comfortable in their environment. IOW don't give them a reason to abandon the nest.

I solved my curiosity, by putting a nest-cam on my outside nest. Then I can watch what is going on in the nest, without disturbing the birds. But that is a double edge sword, the nest-cam is also a huge time sink, when I just sit and watch and watch and watch and .... 2 hours later.

[GouldianGuy]

Vera, we are all curious.

But nest check can cause the gouldians to abandon the nest.
The problem is we just do not know what triggers them to abandon the nest. Was it the nest checks, was it the noise in the room, was it the traffic in the room, ?????

For the first few breeding clutches, I would leave them alone as much as possible, so they feel comfortable in their environment. IOW don't give them a reason to abandon the nest.

I solved my curiosity, by putting a nest-cam on my outside nest. Then I can watch what is going on in the nest, without disturbing the birds. But that is a double edge sword, the nest-cam is also a huge time sink, when I just sit and watch and watch and watch and .... 2 hours later.

I already know which cam I'm going to buy to do this

[Stephanie]

I was just about to post this separately when I saw your thread. I have just had three plump healthy Gouldian babies fledge from a ground nest under the bird bath. Yup.

Firstly, I was amazed to see a Gouldian build a nest. Secondly I was amazed to see a Gouldian build such a spectacular nest. And on the ground?! And within 1" of continually dripping water, and with a drainage area directly under them?

I had expected them to die from the dampness, but they are fuller-bodied than any of my wicker nest babies. This is what their mum and dad built for them:



I clean out that bath every 48 hours = scrub, lift and empty, rinse, lift and empty again, refill. i.e. Big time disturbance. But they were fine.

To get a better view, this is a video of the bath that shows clearly where they actually were - they got in through gaps in the stone! https://youtu.be/wnfYDVzySR4

Crazy, no?!

[Vera]

[quote="Stephanie"]I was just about to post this separately when I saw your thread. I have just had three plump healthy Gouldian babies fledge from a ground nest under the bird bath. Yup.

Firstly, I was amazed to see a Gouldian build a nest. Secondly I was amazed to see a Gouldian build such a spectacular nest. And on the ground?! And within 1" of continually dripping water, and with a drainage area directly under them?

I had expected them to die from the dampness, but they are fuller-bodied than any of my wicker nest babies. This is what their mum and dad built for them:



I clean out that bath every 48 hours = scrub, lift and empty, rinse, lift and empty again, refill. i.e. Big time disturbance. But they were fine.

To get a better view, this is a video of the bath that shows clearly where they actually were - they got in through gaps in the stone! https://youtu.be/wnfYDVzySR4

Crazy, no?!

First of all I love your aviary - and all your beautiful birds. What a lovely birth bath for them. It is crazy that I am working so hard to get the exact perfect set up and then your birds will do that! I guess its true what Gary said, you have to let nature take its course!

[Vera]

Vera, we are all curious.

But nest check can cause the gouldians to abandon the nest.
The problem is we just do not know what triggers them to abandon the nest. Was it the nest checks, was it the noise in the room, was it the traffic in the room, ?????

For the first few breeding clutches, I would leave them alone as much as possible, so they feel comfortable in their environment. IOW don't give them a reason to abandon the nest.

I solved my curiosity, by putting a nest-cam on my outside nest. Then I can watch what is going on in the nest, without disturbing the birds. But that is a double edge sword, the nest-cam is also a huge time sink, when I just sit and watch and watch and watch and .... 2 hours later.

I know I am going to have to sit tight and wait! Next time I will definitely take your advice and use a different type of nest! My societies laid their eggs in a little wide open wicker basket and have a very loud canary in their cage with them. The went to have six healthy babies and they did all the work. But I am encouraged by the progress Robert and Cora are making so far! Will keep you posted

[ac12]

Fitting an outside nest to your cage can be difficult.
- I had to cut the bars to make another opening for the nest.
- Then I made my own nest out of milk cartons. Cuz I wanted to put a nest cam on the nest, which required me to make my own nest. The camera had to be about 7 inches away, so the nest had to be deep.
Also since it is made of milk cartons, it is easy to clean. And when it gets too dirty, I just throw it away and make another one.

There are commercially made gouldian nests also. But you have to lift the cover to peak.

[skyjump100]

Hi guys,

For my Gouldians I use a wooden nest box that has a step down to the nest area inside as this was supposedly prevent tossing however this year a proven pair who raised good clutched last year have so far tossed two clutches of chicks so I agree with Gary that if they re going to toss chicks they will do it anyway.