FINCHforum

Well the gouldians fledged, and I thought, as soon as I see each of them eat on their own, I'll take this filthy box out and clean the cage completely.

I was too late. Now she's sitting tight on 5 more eggs. Grrr....

OTOH the fledglings are doing awesome

With gouldians you can pretty much take the nest right away. They hardly ever go back after fledging.

I had that happen once and I cleaned it and put the eggs back, but with gouldians that would not be advisable.

So it looks like your stuck with a dirty nest.

I too remove the nestbox the same day the last Gouldian chick fledges. Clean and disinfect it and put fresh material in. Leave it out a week then replace for clutch #2.

I just did that here and am 2 days late in putting it back on the cage - today I found 2 eggs on the floor of the cage - how did I miss seeing the first one yesterday?! The new nestbox is now back on the cage.

You can put a handful of fresh nesting material into the cage and the parents will re-line the nest to give the new eggs a fresh surface, but you can't do that AFTER the eggs are already laid.

if you plan on leaving a nest there after this clutch of eggs maybe have a new nest ready so that as soon as the last baby fledges you can switch the old nest for the new. if the birds are to quick & are laying again it may mean losing an egg or two. some nests in the wild though are used year after year seemingly without problems

After this bunch they are taking a break whether they like it or not . I'm already unsure of what to do with my 3 current fledglings

send them over I'll have them, I wish

kittani79 wrote:After this bunch they are taking a break whether they like it or not . I'm already unsure of what to do with my 3 current fledglings

Think yourself lucky...some on here are struggling to raise any.

I have always replaced the nest 1-2 weeks afterwards infear that the parent gould will go thru a molt if the nest was removed longer. Has anyone experienced this?

Also what about leaving the chicks in with the parents while they are with a new clutch? I find that they get too curious as to what is going on and am afraid the new clutch won't get the attention it needs in incubation and especially when the chicks are hatched. Any thoughts on this??

Chris

I will leave chicks with the parents if there is no sign of aggression from the parents.The cock will usually be the one to feed them while the hen incubates.Each case is different though...some chicks will try to roost in the box and disturb the sitting birds...best removed if you are absolutely sure they are feeding themselves.

I'm kind of with Poohbear. If the fledglings are spending the night in the nest I pull them when they're eating on their own, otherwise they scramble the eggs. But if they're roosting outside of the nest at night I'll leave them for awhile - can't hurt for them to see how good parents behave.

Regarding nests, if it's not the first (ever) clutch for a pair I change the nest when I band the chicks, which is usually a couple of days before they fledge (no chasing them around the cage). If it's a first-time clutch I may or may not get a chance to give them a clean nest, though I try to switch it out for the newbies right after the kids hop out.

Congrats on the fledglings and new eggs!

Everyone is pretty happy together for the moment. The fledgelings sleep on a perch outside the nest, and though i have seen them all eat, if they're still happy with parents i think i'll just wait.

poohbear wrote:I will leave chicks with the parents if there is no sign of aggression from the parents.The cock will usually be the one to feed them while the hen incubates.Each case is different though...some chicks will try to roost in the box and disturb the sitting birds...best removed if you are absolutely sure they are feeding themselves.

Have you ever remove the chicks when the parents are on new eggs? Must be traumatic catching the chicks to remove from the cage. I sometimes wonder with this type of change will it cause the parents to abandon the new nest?

You may have noticed in previous posts of mine I advocate cages have a divider fitted to the middle of the cage.
This type of situation is an example where a divider is a godsend...with a bit of gentle encouragement the young birds can be shooed up one end and removed without the adults being upset by the process.