FINCHforum

I bought a house pair of gouldians that had just laid eggs. I bought the whole cage with everything in it hoping not to disturb the nest. I covered the cage before transporting it. The nest has 6 eggs in it. I have seen them go in the nest but only briefly. They hop in and then back out. I would assume they would be incubating and sitting on the nest all the time now. My concern is that the transport (45 minutes) might have been too much and they have another the nest. Any thoughts? Anything I should do? Other than be patient?

Thanks,
Ken

KWeyer

Hi Ken,

Usually when birds are moved and disturbed to such a degree, they will abandon that clutch.

They may start another clutch in the near future though, once they settle down.

If you happen to have a pair of nesting Societies, you could slip those Gouldian eggs into their nest. If those eggs are fertile, they may hatch and raise them.

Good luck.

My guess it they may have abandoned the nest in the disturbance of the move.

Give them a few days and LOTS of good food, to see if they settle down.

All you can do is watch and wait.

Fingers crossed.

It does not take much to get gouldians to abandon their nest. And many times we don't know why they abandoned the nest.

I would consider moving their cage, from one house to yours, to be a major disruptive event for the birds.

If they are not back on the eggs in a few days, they abandoned the nest.
Remove the eggs, and let them settle down and try again.

You've gotten good advice already, I just wanted to welcome you to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier for members to help you.

Well not sure now.

They are still not sitting on the nest.

But...

This morning there were 7 eggs instead of 6!

Guess I will just have to wait and see.

Just wondering how long I should wait before discarding the eggs?

Thanks for all the replies.

Ken

hmmm interesting
Either the hen is still laying (you might be OK), or just had 1 in the pipe before the move.

That she went into the nest to lay another egg is a good sign. Maybe she has not abandoned the nest.

After the last egg, and if they are not sitting during the day and she does not sit at night, then wait about 5 days. At that point, I would remove the eggs.

OK. Thanks Gary.

Sorry to hijack the thread ,but I have the same problem.My gouldian pair has 5 eggs The hen was sitting tight for two days but since last Friday I.e 9th June they are occasionally hopping even not sleeping inside at night.I have not transported them any where .Sudennly they have stopped sitting.The male and female alternatively go in to check and sit for 2 mins each.
I have 3 society finches on standby but they have not layed any eggs.My question is shall I try the eggs with society or how long shall I wait.It's already 3 days they are not sitting tight.

Good luck Ken

athens/Ken,
Did the hen ever sleep in the nest overnight?
From your post, I think for 2 days, then stopped.

IF the incubation started, the eggs may be dead from the 3 days without SITTING.

At this point, I would move the eggs to the societies, and see what happens.
- If the eggs are still good, you may have chicks.
- If not, nothing is lost.

What you NEED to figure out is what scared the birds out of the nest. Because that may prevent them from mating again.
Was it a dog or cat that you have, people traffic in the room, noisy kids, is there light shining into the nest, is it noisy, or . . . ???