FINCHforum

I am attempting to breed my Gouldians for the first time. One or both parents have been in their nest box for a couple weeks. Yesterday, I found an egg with a dead embryo in it on the floor of the cage. So I am assuming the babies are just hatching now and they threw out a bad one.

I bought this pair at a bird store (from a big cage with many Gouldians) so I have no idea if they ever bred before but I doubt these two were ever together as a pair. But they've been together since last September.

I would like to band the babies at the appropriate time - how old should they be? I have size "D" bands ready for them.

Also, are Gouldian babies noisy? Should I hear them begging for food when they are a certain age?

I'm not big on nest inspections and the box is unfortunately hung inside their cage so I can't really look without disturbing them alot. I was hoping I could sort of guess when the babies are ready for banding.

If you're talking split rings...and you only have the one pair....do it after the youngsters are weaned.(Don't forget to keep records for future use)
You should hear youngsters after they are hatched 48 hours.
In future it might be worth seeing if you can adapt your cage so the box can be mounted externally...makes life so much easier with a lid on the box to see what's happening.
Paul.

You should plan on banding the babies on around the 7th day if you are using closed leg bands. If you are looking to guess that would be just after pin feathers break the skin by a couple of millimeters.

The Gouldian babies may or may not make alot of noise, and just depends on the clutch. They usually get louder as they age, and compete with one another to get fed.

Sean

[I have 4 babies in the nest now. They are about one 10 days old. They are begging all the time. In fact I have been a little concerned because I am hearing them so much. Should I worry? I looked at them today when mom and dad were both out of the nest. They look okay except one is really smaller. Half the size of the others. But they sure cry alot.

If they are developing I wouldn't worry. The fourth may be a late hatch, and as long as it is developing it's being fed. It is a bit of a disadvantage to it's siblings since it is smaller, but if the parents continue to feed it well it may catch up.

Sean

Nipper,
In my experience, the chicks can be heard when they are 2-3 days old. You really have to listen for it.

They only seem to cry when they are being fed like any other bird.

I've used "D" sized closed ring NFSS bands and I wait until the 10th day. Again, in my experience, if you do it sooner, then there is a chance they might fall off. But, if you band them at 7 days, make sure they don't slip off. That's what happened when I did it sooner than 10 days.
Make sure you get the numbers right side up!

I checked my Goudian nestbox today - they'd been sitting for ~3 weeks with no baby noises coming out of the box - today neither male nor female were in the box. All I found were cold eggs. I candled them and all were clear (infertile) "duds". Oh well, it was their first time. I am letting them try again.

Immediately after removing the eggs they seemed interested again in the box. So I put a little more nesting material in the cage for "stimulation" and some Calcivet in the water - and I'm hoping for another try. My Green Singers (in other cages) are all singing up a storm and my doves are cooing away so that may also help put them in the mood! (in fact, wild Goldfinches and Mourning Doves from outside are being attracted to my sunroom by all the noise in there! There are all these birds hanging out on my patio now...).

This year is very slow for me too...several clutches of infertile eggs.That's the way it goes, last year I had a job to stop 'em rearing chicks.
Such is life...
Paul.

My Lady Gouldians have laid about 20+ eggs since April. However they never sat on them. After listening to some of you, I removed 6 eggs...checked them out and found that they weren't fertile. I cleaned out the cage and box...and they laid about 10 more! This time they are sitting....sometimes both of them. If they are fertile, the eggs should hatch in about 10 days!

Judith McGregor wrote:My Lady Gouldians have laid about 20+ eggs since April. However they never sat on them. After listening to some of you, I removed 6 eggs...checked them out and found that they weren't fertile. I cleaned out the cage and box...and they laid about 10 more! This time they are sitting....sometimes both of them. If they are fertile, the eggs should hatch in about 10 days!

Yeah!!! Please keep us posted.

Goulds chicks can be heard at about 2-3 days old. Before that you really have to listen and only if the room is quiet you can hear them. There are exceptions to this rule too. I have an exceptionally good pair that feeds the chicks really well and the clutch was small (3) so I really didn't hear anything from the nest box till 7days in which I checked to see if they were still alive. I guess the parents really kept them fed and they didn't have to beg much for food.

Hope all goes well with your chicks and banding.

Chris

Hi Judith,

Being a first time breeder of Gouldians - I just want to mention one thing that comes to mind when reading your initial post.

You mention that you purchased the pair from a pet store out of a large cage with many Gouldians in it. Was the pet store able to tell you if any of the birds in the cage were related to each other and if so, which ones. You do want to make sure you have an unrelated pair.

My experience has been that most pet store cannot tell you if the birds are related, so I would error on the side of caution and assume they are.

Tammy...are you saying that if the birds are related, the eggs might not be fertile?

Judith McGregor wrote:Tammy...are you saying that if the birds are related, the eggs might not be fertile?

Not always the case Judith..but as with any animal or bird it's better if they are unrelated to avoid interbreeding problems.
Paul.