what should i do to my gouldian pair?

ilmillu · Post by **ilmillu** » Fri May 20, 2011 9:56 am

They started perfect with male building nest, then 1 day he invited the hen to the nest. from then the hen helped him building it even saw some courtship dances. Lately the male is looking agressive towards her he makes a hissing sound too

. someone has any idea of what went wrong? the hen has a dark beak so i think shes in breeding condition.

CandoAviary · Post by **CandoAviary** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:04 pm

Could be she has fallen out of breeding condition. Possibly frustrating the male which many times they react with aggression.
Maybe seperate the hen to another cage and see if this will help. She may be needing to molt and not wanting to breed right now. However she may just not be quite ready, a few days to a week seperated may make the heart grow fonder

She may be an older hen?? or possibly too young and not mature enought to nest? do you know much about their history?

ilmillu · Post by **ilmillu** » Mon May 23, 2011 3:13 pm

bought them on end of march from a breeder and he told me they are from last year's clutch so i calculate 3 months to become independent, 8 months to grow full colors... maybe they are about a year old? i will post their photo later on. I'm noticing that they are still building although hes aggressive, because everyday i notice the nest growing.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Tue May 24, 2011 4:46 pm

If you don't want to separate them (side by side with a divider) then all you can do is give them more time.

ilmillu · Post by **ilmillu** » Wed May 25, 2011 4:32 am

here is their picture

nixity · Post by **nixity** » Wed May 25, 2011 9:21 am

Her beak doesn't look dark enough to be in breeding condition in my opinion :/

lstyles · Post by **lstyles** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:58 pm

That brings up an interesting question. Does the hen's beak HAVE to be dark before they are ready to breed? Will they not breed until it is? My yellow back hen had four babies when I got her and her beak wasn't black in any way.
thanks,
Lori

lovemyfinch · Post by **lovemyfinch** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:12 pm

A Yellow back hen`s beak will turn red.

lstyles · Post by **lstyles** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:20 pm

Thanks for the clarification! That explains the yellow back hen but is it still true that a hen won't breed until her beak is black? Can putting her with a male stimulate her to enter a breeding period? Learning so much here!
thanks,
Lori

nixity · Post by **nixity** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:39 pm

They can/may breed out of condition, but usually the breedings aren't as successful and it can be hard on the hen's body if she is bred out of condition.

Sometimes if you place a hen that is suitable to be bred (right age, hasn't been bred in a year or so, etc.) but just hasn't "come into condition" in with a male, she will come into condition on her own with the stimulation.

I found once I switched to seasonal feeding almost all of my hens would come into condition on their own without needing a male to stimulate them.

debbie276 · Post by **debbie276** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:44 pm

I don't separate my males and females and the hens come in and out of breeding mode so im not sure putting them with a male alone will stimulate her into breeding mode.

nixity · Post by **nixity** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:56 pm

Yeah, but, you're one of the only people I know who has birds (Goulds) that behave this way Debbie

I don't know anyone else who has birds that will come out of breeding condition on their own if left in a mixed sex flight.

I remember this being one of the biggest struggles of having an open aviary with free flight birds between Misty and Donna - I think even Candace has to separate her birds too or they'll just continue to breed and breed.

Mine were the same and I cage bred them.. if I didn't separate them the hens would just continue to drop eggs in the cage even if I pulled the nests. I couldn't get them to stop and come out of condition unless I separated them.

It's actually a problem I'm worried about myself now that I have no choice but to keep my two girls with the boys.

debbie276 · Post by **debbie276** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:04 pm

I'm very surprised to hear that EVERYONE has to separate their birds to get them to stop breeding. Are there no breeders that keep their birds in large aviaries without separating them??
I've had my gouldians for over 10 years and have never separated the pairs even when I used to keep them in large cages before the aviaries.

lovemyfinch · Post by **lovemyfinch** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:43 pm

No Debbie, not everyone

Although I have only been in this for 2 years, this will be the first time that I have separated the males and females while resting.
I have always had them all together in the aviary, and then breed them in cages. However, I have decided to separate them to see if absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

ilmillu · Post by **ilmillu** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:35 pm

her beak is darker now from when i took the photo, i still see them building the nest but he still chase her. will they still breed at some point?

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