Aggression Help

[cbert4444]

I have a flight (60inx19inx43in) with two gouldians and two owl finches. The owls won’t stop harassing the gouldians. I did have nests in the cage and have since removed all nests and nesting materials. While that has helped some, there is still aggression issues. Is it okay that I am housing 4 birds together? Should I get two more? I have to water and feed stations on each side of the cage as well as multiple perch areas, etc. While the owls don’t peck the gouldians they seem to chase them around the cage too much for my comfort. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[CathyCraftz]

Separate the two species, as some may just not get along. You may want to do this before the aggression escalates to feather plucking. Putting a third pair in may work, depending on the species, but there will either be more finches getting chased or more bullying the Gouldians.

[Gracie85]

Do you have fake plants in there, so the birds aren't just sitting on perches 'staring' at each other? Sometimes putting in plastic or cloth plants and vines, so that it breaks up the space, can help. Sometimes.

But if the owls are frequently harassing the gouldians, they may not be getting to eat and drink as often as they should, and they certainly will be stressed. Best would be to separate them. Is the cage dividable?

Even tho they're small, and supposed to be a passive species, some owls can be really mean and aggressive. I had some that just could not live in more than pairs, even the huge cage of 4 males, in a separate room from all the other birds, they paired up with a buddy and spent their days trying to wipe out the other pair. Had to separate them, they now live in two small cages, side by side, but those bars between pairs have made all the difference. Another m-f pair ended up in with my dozen societies (for space reasons). Another m-f pair had their own cage, and when one died, the lone one happily paired with a zebra as I could not get any more owls, and quite frankly with all the drama I am done with owls when they pass on. I also have 18 zebras in two large cages, but the owls ended up being more drama than the zebras. Sometimes they just don't behave and don't get along.

[cbert4444]

The flight can be divided so I will just do that. I didn’t want to have to do that because I was trying to give them as much fly space as possible. I do have food and water on both sides.