FINCHforum

Picked these up from work. Are they true gouldian finches?


cheers
james

Yes they are, two males

Two very pretty gouldians

Oh man. So, I got these from work, I work on the reptile and exotic mammal section, not the birds...there were 4, these two and two more that looked like the red faced one, but nowhere near as colourful and their head was a pale orange not red, and one had a browny/blueish chest patch, the other none, are these going to be the females then?
At the moment I just have the two in a 22x18x18 cage, but I've already ordered a flight cage for them, should I get the other two?
Cheers for your time for this gouldians newbie, I first thought they may be hybrids because I can't find many pictures of the yellow/red headed one.
James

If all four of them are related then you would not want the hens. If they are not related - then I would get them, sure. Congrats on the males - they are beautiful!

Those are beautiful gouldians

I would have no idea if they are related or not, so I guess it's better to presume they are at this point. Any idea of how old the birds might be?
Thanks again
James

Being as how they don't appear to be banded, I would assume almost impossible.

I have six of the red head yellows. They are beautiful birds... one of my favorite!!

Thanks guys, glad I posted here, you lot clearly know your stuff.
These finches that are left at work have bands on, here they are...


They also appear to be moulting, any thoughts on them? You can see why, ad a novice, I picked the other two!
Cheers
James

These are hens and they do look like they are molting.
I can see why you picked the colorful males but without the hens..... well there would be no more
I would go for a pair everytime, myself The breeding ritual and chicks are the best. But being new, maybe it best to just keep the males.
It is a lot simpler.

Do the hens look like they are related? Ie, if they are moulting now, if the cocks were related would they be in moult now?
Breeding wise, Im not too bothered about but i do like to keep stuff in pairs really, I'm just worried about breeding related birds to each other.
As a side note, I'm very suprised how calm these gouldians are, and that the two males aren't hammering each other!

They might if there was a female

Mez wrote:Do the hens look like they are related? !

They very well could be. Without knowing the background and with them having no bands it is impossible to know. I would use caution and not pair them together.
Are they free? Could you swap the hens (once they completed the molt) with someone for different bloodlines?

Nope, unfortunatly not free! I still have to pay but do get decent discount, they're on at £30 each.