First time breeder of finches

[lem2bert]

Hi everyone,

About a week and a half ago I noticed my Gouldians in breeding mode so I decided to put nest in their bird room. I have one canary, 1pair of goldbreast, 1 pair of orange cheeks , 1 pair of red cheek cordon bleu , and 3 female gouldians and 3 male gouldians, none are related.

I placed 1 small wicker nest, 2 large wicker nest, two wooden finch nests and 2 oatmeal boxes (which I heard gouldians like to nest in) . Two pairs of gouldians have taken over two of the large wicker nests, and the bleus' have built their own nest on the side of one of the oatmeal boxes !!!

It appears as though the bleus and the two pairs of gouldians may be sitting on eggs. I have only bred canaries in the past and am not familiar with breeding finches. If any members have any advice for me I would greatly appreciate it. Thank-you

[Icearstorm]

lem2bert

Congratulations on the eggs!

I have heard that cordon bleus often require a continuous supply of live food to successfully breed, so you may need to provide mealworms 3-4 times a day or set up a container that insects can gradually escape from. You could either buy the insects or breed or collect them yourself, though wild ones may carry parasites or contain pesticides, so be careful.

Gut-loading insects is recommended; before giving them to your birds, feed the insects highly-nutricious food for several days. Crickets are fairly easy to gut-load, as they will eat a variety of good food, from squash to broccoli. If you are raising your own insects, do not feed them any calcium supplements until gut-loading, otherwise they could have problems molting and die. I had a group of several dozen crickets die and was later informed that this was likely the reason. I then cut the calcium supplement, and everyone else was fine.

Reptile forums are a good place to look for information on raising feeder insects. I kept crickets for several years, so I may be able to help with that. Mealworms seem easier to raise, and therefore may be more suitable for aviculture.

[lem2bert]

Icearstorm

Thank-you. !!!

I will check the reptile forum for information also. My birds are in a room in my house so certain live food would not be practical. The mealworms may be the best idea. Good point about the wild insects.

I am sure it will be a trial and error experience but thank you very much for a good starting point !!

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

Hi Betty,

What exactly would you like to know?

[lem2bert]

lovezebs

I read many post that say the waxbills need live food to successfully raise their young. I am not so sure about the gouldians.

I purchased a container of live mini mealworms from my local petstore. They are from a company called Timberline. They are packaged in soft wheat shorts and ground wheat. Not so sure what to do with them now.... . Should I take them out of that stuff and put them in something else ? I remember on one post someone said they put them in bran, but not sure where to get bran.... bran cereal, bran flour ??? I can purchase from amazon a bag of soft wheat shorts and ground wheat, but how often do I change it. From what I read it is suppose to be food for them.....should I feed them something else also ??? Also when would I start to feed the parents the mealworms as I can only go by my calendar for hatch dates, cannot do nest checks.

I have Gouldians who may be sitting on eggs hard to tell....not doing nest checks for fear of bothering them and having them abandon the nest. Is there anything special I should do for them other than egg, calcium , mineral, seed.......they do not eat much fresh food, but they do have a herb salad mix available to them all the time.
Sorry for such a long post, but I would sure appreciate any help, I know you have a wide assortment of finches so you must have a lot of experience !!!

[Dave]

Speaking of crickets, I used to sell peat moss to a commercial cricket operation. They had a warehouse with several hundred 30 gallon plastic totes, with crickets in them. The place was deafening with cricket chirps.

He fed them chicken crumbles. In each tote he had a wet sponge on a plate as a water source. He said that keeping things dry was essential to raising crickets.

By the way, the peat moss was used in the box when he shipped crickets to customers.

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

Hi Betty,

I started a post before, but got distracted .

First of all I wanted to say congratulations on your birdies deciding to nest.

It sounds like you're doing all the right things, and obviously your birds are appreciating it.

Regarding the mealworms...
I would recommend keeping them in the fridge, to slow their growth.
You can feed them some potato, carrot, a bit of apple, and some dry egg food . Give them a day to eat, then remove the fresh food (so it doesn't become moldy) and put them back in the fridge.

To feed them to your birds, just pull a few out, put them in a glass container (so they don't crawl out) and put them near to where your feeding station is. Keep an eye on them to see how your birdies react.

[lem2bert]

lovezebs

Thank-you Elana !! No problem we all have things that come up that distract us !!

Thank-you for the information about the meal worms. I filled a container with oatmeal and transferred them into that (took almost two hours to remove 500 of the little buggers out of the container they came in). I have them out now with apple slice and dry egg food and will give them a few tomorrow. Thank-you so much for your help. Hopefully they will eat them .

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

"500"!!! That's a lot of little worms, lol.

I'd offer a few to your birdies, and see if they take them. I think you will find that the Waxbills will dig in pretty quick. The Gouldians, will be more cautious, but if they see the other guys feasting, they may get into them as well, especially if they're in breeding mode. The Canaries may poke at them, but probably will go "bleh- yuck" .

Good luck

[lem2bert]

lovezebs

I put 6 mealworms in a dish early early this morning and the orange cheeks were the first ones to try them. The female cordon bleu was at the dish picking them up but dropping them back in the dish.....then she sat there watching the orange cheeks eat them , would pick one up then drop it again. I am not sure she knows what to do with them !!! By the time the male cordon bleu had his time out of the nest they were gone , the orange cheeks at all six !!! I want to keep trying but I do not want to overload the orange cheeks with too much protein. Will they just eat what they need or should I put less in at a time ? Any ideas ???

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

All Waxbills will eat them eventually Betty. The OC's are just more daring to try out new things. If the CB's were watching and picking them up, they will figure out what to do with then in no time.

A lot of birds will just squeeze the insides out and eat them, leaving the outside shell behind, sort of like kids eating those yogurt tubes .

If your OC's are so interested (are they a true pair to the best of your knowledge?)they might go to nest soon as well, and you might find yourself running a baby nursery in no time, lol.

I usually throw in a bunch of the mealworms, and let the birds figure it out as to who gets what. They will copy each other and try new things, especially once the instincts of breeding and raising babies kick in. Did I mention the Worm tug of war between two of my Zebras??? It was absolutely hilarious.... I just cracked up laughing.

[lem2bert]

lovezebs

I do remember that tug of war story, that would have made a great video !! Thank-you so much for your suggestions. I will keep trying and hopefully they will get the hang of it !!! I am not sure if my oc are a pair, but time will tell. I would love to have a bunch of babies.......there is not anyone in my immediate area that has anything except societies and zebras for sale. I enjoy the Gouldians and waxbills so much I would love to share some of that enjoyment with others.....unless I find myself unable to part with them !!! Thank-you again for the great information you have provided me with.....now it is up to the birds !!! I am glad I posted the topic before the site went down....

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

Hi Betty,

Good luck with the feathered kids. I hope you do get some pretty babies, to share with people in your area.

As for the Site, no worries, even if it does go down for a few days, we'll be back up in no time .

[lem2bert]

Well as much as I hated those darn little mealworms, I have to say they worked. Over the weekend six little red cheeked bleu fledged. Unfortunately one did not make it. It may have been pulled out or knocked out by one of the other chicks not sure. There are five babies hiding in my bird room . Such good parents feeding them all the time. So thank-you so much for the advice about the mealworms.

[lovezebs]

lem2bert

I am so glad to hear that the mealworms are doing the trick.

Sorry to hear about the one lost baby, but so happy to hear about the others.

Keep them worms a-coming, and order some more before you run out.