FINCHforum

I hope I am not speaking too soon, but I think I might have successfully managed (for now) my gouldian chick-tossing problem.

I am breeding one pair per cage. Right now I have two problem pairs that toss their chicks. For the first clutch of the season, both pairs tossed the chicks (I have found that usually the cock bird is the one doing the tossing), and despite trying to hand feed the babies (since I don't keep any societies currently), they did not make it. The same thing happened the second time around. (Very frustrating and sad!)

The third and final time around I decided to switch things up, hoping to avoid having this problem happen again in a last ditch effort.

I put "privacy porches" (made of cardboard) in front of each nest entrance, provided more nesting material, and more varieties of food (instead of pellets + egg food + cuttle bone + spray millet, I provided all of those things plus a regular finch seed mixture and avico's bugs'n'berries). They don't seem interested in the bugs'n'berries (though I hear cordon bleus and other waxbills LOVE this stuff and find it especially useful for breeding--note to all you cordon breeders!).

I also made an extra effort not to disturb the pairs at all. I was already being pretty good about this (despite how tempting it is to peer into the nest every now and then to see how things are progressing), but this time I decided not to even so much as candle a single egg, and to only enter the bird area to feed and water the pairs.

Pair #2's chicks started to hatch first. They tossed the first baby, and I immediately rescued him and his half-way hatched sibling, and a third fertile egg and placed them into Pair #1's nest. I ALSO removed the cock from pair #1's cage. So now I had Pair #2's fertile egg and 2 chicks in the nest with Pair #1's 6 (probably fertile) eggs, but only the hen from Pair #1 was still in the cage. Within 15 minutes the "single mom" hen returned to her nest of 7 eggs and 2 chicks.

3 days later I have three babies in the nest (I assume the third baby came from Pair #2's egg), all alive, and 6 (probably fertile) eggs which (if they are still viable) will start hatching very soon.

The hen is being great about keeping them warm, but we'll see if she keeps it up. I really hope this turns out to be a success, because if it does, this method may be something people can try if their gouldian pairs suffer from a similar problem.

Of course I don't plan on breeding Pair #2's babies, but since the hen of pair #1 is being so great, her babies will hopefully (if they hatch and she raises them all successfully) grow up to be half-way decent parents.

Keep your fingers crossed for her!

-Crystal

I hear begging noises today!

I guess momma is feeding them after all. I peeked into the nest (the one time per day I'll allow myself to--when the hen leaves to eat), and saw three vigorously begging chicks, and what appears to be an egg with a pip. I hope this wasn't my eyes deceiving me, and that there really are more chicks on the way.

So far so good!

Of the 6 eggs that hen#1 laid, 4 were fertile. Of those 4, 3 hatched on valentines day.

(The last fertile egg had a fully formed embryo inside that probably failed to hatch because of improper incubation during the last day or two (it looked about a day premature when I did the egg necropsy). This is a feasible explanation for the dead in shell chick because with a total of 6 babies crammed in the nest, it is difficult to correctly incubate the remaining egg(s). Other possible causes of late embryonic death include infection (bacterial or fungal) and malposition at hatch, but this embryo showed no signs which indicated either of those causes.)

So in summary: 6 chicks are currently in the nest, alive, begging, and being fed.

The oldest three actually belong to a different pair but are being fostered to this gouldian hen#1 (making them hen#1's "foster children"). As of today they are 9 days old (hatched on 2/10). Their eyes are just starting to open and the beginnings of pin feathers are showing on their wings. I closed banded these 3 today.

The youngest three (hen#1's "biological children") are significantly smaller, being only 5 days old. I believe they are actually smaller than the older 3 babies were when they were 5 days old, probably because the younger 3 cannot compete with older babies in the nest at feeding time. One of the youngest three is especially tiny; he looks like he's only 2 days old even though he is 5 days old! All 3 of the littlest ones are being fed, however, so hopefully none of them will fall too far behind.

Congratulations on the Babies.

Crystal, how did it turn out?

I came home to find 4 chicks fledged and 2 still in the nest. One of the two in the nest is close to fully feathered, but the "runt" (who has lagged behind for quite some time now) is just starting to get his feathers. The mom is being great so far and feeding everyone, but I am not sure what the fate of the runt will be in the long run. We'll see!

Wonderful news!