Surprise surprise!!!

[Foosa101]

I'm dancing around my house right now!! My Goulds got off their nest for the first time since Monday and there are now six eggs!!! They immediately got back on the nest but WoW!! I was not expecting that at all. So very very happy right now.

[cindy]

That is wonderful.....hope they all hatch and give you lovely gouldian chicks!

[L in Ontario]

Very nice - good luck for well fed chicks!

[Foosa101]

Thank you!

I am going to buy the leg banding kit and the hatchling food with syringe tomorrow from http://www.ladygouldian.com just to be well prepared - especially now with SIX eggs!!

Do any of you have any additional recommendations for me, just to be on the safe side?

I am torn on what kind of bands to get. I want to go with the closed and it seems easy enough when described on FF posts but then I have read other articles where people have broken toes. EEK!! So, this makes me lean toward the open.....decisions..decisions..

Anyhow, I am not going to let that fog my happy mood for now. I am just so enthralled by my additional surprises.

[nelloyello11]

Congrats on the eggs! Best of luck for fertile egges, healthy chicks, and good parents!

I think the decision to go with open or closed bands, depends in part what you intend to do with your offspring.

[lovemyfinch]

This is just wonderful news.

[Foosa101]

I would like to trade them for OH and BH but I cannot honestly say for sure. I may be smitten with all of them, under the assumption they all hatch, and not sell or trade any of them. Time will tell but you have to do it before they are 9 days old and I highly doubt I will have ventured as far to think of removing them from their cage.

I think I am just going to wait until I go to purchase my order and then decide...knowing me I will probably get both opened and closed so I will have them both should I have difficulty with the closed. I can always use them in the future or give them to someone else should they need it.

[ac12]

I have and use both close and open.

For me split-banding is easier than close-banding.

I started split-banding because I was afraid of close-banding.

I now try to close-band in the nest, if I can.
But twice I went to band, I found that the foot was too big to fit thru the close band. I waited a day or 2 too long. So NOW I will try to band at 7 days rather than 9 days. I think the extra protein in egg food gets them growing faster than on a seed diet. The ones that I could not close band in the nest got banded later in the nest (4 days from fledging) or after they fledged with a split band.

For new parents, rather than spook the parents by banding the chicks in the nest, I waited for the chicks to fledge then I split-banded them.

It is scary to close band, but as everyone has told me, it does get easier with practice. I have only close banded a few times, and I still bumble around when I do it.

[finchmix22]

Congrats on the eggs. Waiting is hard, but count the days so you know when to look for tosslings or unfed hatchlings. I am now handfeeding two Owl hatchlings. The pair will brood but not feed them.
Gary-I thought of you a few days ago when I close banded my rccb, for the second time because it fell off from day 7! That chick squawked and made such a fuss, I was sweating and fearing I'd kill the little bugger. HE/she survived and kept calling for mom and dad for about thirty minutes. Then, they chimed in on the warning calls/chirps and squawks. Now, every time I go to change their food and water, they all three squawk and get so mad and scared for the little one. LOL I wish they knew I was as scared as they were this time. I was successful, but boy was that one hard to do compared to the others that were basically easy.

[debbie276]

Congratulations on a nest full of eggs!
Like Gary said if the parents are new I don't think I would chance abandonment trying to band with a closed band.
Best of luck and keep us posted

[Foosa101]

Yes, this will be their second clutch and I am taking everyone's advice and going with the open bands. Then I will do them when they are about to fledge. They are not in an aviary with other finches so confusion is not a problem. Ordering today and thank you all again for your thoughts and experience.

[ac12]

Deborah
The first time I close banded, my hands were shaking so much that I had to rest my forearm on the counter to keep from shaking the little guy like a milkshake. Gouldians wiggle around a lot but that is about it, no squawking.

I do the banding in a small bathroom, so parents can't see or hear the chicks as they are being banded. Also for the close to fledging banding, if the chicks decide to try to fly, they can't get very far in the small room.

[ranchnanny]

I have a question regarding the banding soon after hatching. If the chicks are in one of the bambo finch nest how in the world do you get them out of there?? There is so much nesting material you can barely see them.

[ac12]

Sherry
That is one reason why I don't use those nests. I only use nest boxes that I hang on the outside of the cage. This way I have relatively easy access into the nest.

For those woven nests, personally I would wait for them to fledge.

If you really wanted to band in-nest, I guess you could
- slide in a SOLID divider, with the parents on one side and the nest on the other. So the parents can't see what you are doing,
- remove the nest from the cage,
- "pour" the chicks out onto a table, to me this is the scary part.
- band them on the table,
- put them back into the nest,
- put the nest back,
- remove the divider.

[ranchnanny]

Thanks Gary that what I thought I would have to do pour them out onto a soft towel but I am so afraid of hurting them. I intend to get the plastic nest boxes for the next season. Thanks!