Godulian eggs fostered under societies...

chrischris · Post by **chrischris** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:48 am

Well as you all might have remembered I got a pair of societies from a friend of mine that was going to let them free. So while in my care I placed fake eggs in the nest so the hen won't lay eggs. A week later a pair of goulds abandoned their 6 eggs. I would normally just toss the eggs out but decided to place them under the societies as they were already sitting on eggs.

So the eggs all hatched and the societies were feeding the chicks well at day 4 so I left them alone. Well yesterday there was a decaying smell so I decided to look into the nest. To my suprise 4 of the 6 chickes died. I removed the dead chicks and the other two seem ok and are still being fed by the societies. So here we go again and probably why I really hate to foster good eggs that hatched and died in 10 days of hatching. They probably got diseased as the societies do carry Camplobacter which is harmful to the Goulds. So I think they died of disease. Also the societies love to bath in their water which is always soiled with their poop....YUCK.

Any thoughts here?

Chris

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:44 pm

I parent rear Gouldians and haven't used fosters for years...but to those who do, a constant check should be made on the chicks...Bengalese (Societies)are very tolerant of interference.I take it you were giving them a plentiful supply of eggfood for the chicks.A shortage of food would make the weaker chicks beg less, and the Adults would then tend to feed only the stronger ones.
As for the bathwater...change it more regularly, you are the one responsible for keeping the birds in a confined space where they can't find a fresh supply.
Good luck with the last two chicks.
Paul.

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:01 pm

I agree. My societies love to bathe and soil the water fast. I change it out two or three times a day, whenever I see any poo in it at all, because they also tend to drink out of it (even when I put in other fresh water cups in the flight).

When my societies were on chicks, they couldn't care less about my interference. I put babies in and took them out, tagged, retagged, replaced babies that had fallen and at times removed the entire nest. I even removed the original nest at one point, put the babies in a new one, and replaced it in the cage. It never bothered them at all, each time they returned immediately to the nest and continued to care for the hatchlings. I wouldn't immediately chalk it up to disease. It could be anything, from simply not begging loud enough and being underfed, to birth deformities or accidental suffocation by larger and stronger chicks. Even very experienced breeders lose gouldian chicks, some for unexplained reasons, fostered or not.

Good luck with your remaining two!

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:01 pm

Ravyn and Paul have some very good points. I would also not say your Society's have the disease right away. Is this the first real babies they are fostering? It's a learning curve for them too. Sounds like they are getting the hang of it by taking care of two babies at this time.

My SF's also bathe in their drinking water but they rarely poop in it. I keep watch and only have to change it once a day most days. My SF's are also on their first set of Gouldian babies who are now 8 and 7 days old. I too removed the babies (and the nestbox) for banding and another time for pics. These SF fosters always go right back within a few seconds of my replacing the babies.

There are so many factors that can lead to chicks dying. Every day of survival is a milestone for them. I give the SF's the same wide variety of foods I give the Gouldian adults who I have breeding. Hb-egg, soak seed, vitaseed, charcoal, grit, calcium, dry egg mix, herb salad etc. They can choose what they like and feed it to the babies. I also add probiotics to their water every few days so it gets into the babies too.

Best wishes with the remaining two - keep us posted Chris!

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 12:26 am

fostering is a touchy subject, everyone has their own opinion on it. personally it isn't something that I would do

chrischris · Post by **chrischris** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:08 pm

well the 2 chicks are still alive.

I have removed the nest and change the nesting material as it still has the smell of the dead chicks in it.

As for the chicks that died being smaller and not able to beg loud enough for food I don't think so as the chicks that died are all the same size and even the 2 that are alive are the same size as the ones that have died.

Anyways I hope all goes well with these two.

One other thing to the water situation. Instead of a water dish I've placed a water tube in the cage for them so that they won't poop in the water anymore. Sad thing is that they won't be able to bath.

Chris

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:31 pm

To use a water bottle - the finches must have had prior experience with it or they won't know where to find the water...

chrischris · Post by **chrischris** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:52 am

I was afraid of that too so I placed the water bottle infront of where the water cup was and they have taken to it right away this morning so I think I'll be fine with it.

Chris