Gouldians Hatching!! *Pictures!*

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:38 pm

I will take pictures as soon as I can. It may not be until I pull them for banding as its very awkward trying to get any sort of decent shot of inside the nest, but I'll try.

From the first moment I get up in the morning and put fresh food in the cage, both parents are in and out filling up and feeding. Seriously, these two are blowing me away with how hardy and dedicated they are. I hope that impresses on the chicks and they make fabulous parents as well.

The little baby society is almost fully feathered now, definately a chocolate pied. Still can't tell if s/he is crested or not but s/he's fat, bright eyed, and LOUD.

kiwi & mango · Post by **kiwi & mango** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:37 pm

congrates on all 7 eggs hatching and the gouldians are great parents as well. It will get might tight in that nest soon I would think....

Keep us posted and good luck with them all.

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:05 pm

Yeah, I'm actually a little worried about them all fitting in there when the babies get closer to fledging. It's one of the bigger bamboo nests but even still...

Speaking of fledging, the baby society was poking his head out of the nest earlier this morning. He's nearly fully feathered, with some pin feathers still on his head. It looked like he's going to be non-crested after all, which is fine, though cresteds are about the cutest thing ever. I expect by tuesday when my flight cage comes in *yay!* that he'll be out of that nest and poking about on his own.

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:24 pm

I think you should be OK even with 7 little ones. I use the big ones and had 3 plus the parents bunched together in it. There was still enough room. Remember in the wild they would build a nest about the same size and sometimes have the same size clutch.

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:22 pm

Ok, so things are no longer going as swimmingly. I was working and happened to glance over at the cage and saw Mama Gouldian with the littlest baby hanging from her mouth, beak to beak. She dropped him and I quickly reached in, retrieved him, and made sure he wasn't hurt before slipping him back in the nest. At first I thought it was just an accident. She had been feeding him and he bit her beak and wouldn't let go or something, and she dragged him out of the nest.

But a few minutes later she came back out of the nest with him again, and dropped him again. Could she be doing this because she realizes she has far too many mouths to feed, and is basically 'booting the weak' in favor of the older and bigger chicks? He had little to no food in his crop while the other chicks are all big and fat. This time I retrieved him and put him in the society nest hoping against hope. Immediately, the baby society tried to feed the new chick! Then Mama came in, spotted the newbie, and promptly fed him. So I have high hopes that he'll do fine in that nest. I'll keep an eye on the gouldians the rest of the day and make sure they don't pitch any more chicks, but at least I know now if they do the societies will care for them.

I just thought it was so amazing that immediately even the baby tried to parent him!

kiwi & mango · Post by **kiwi & mango** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:02 pm

sorry to hear things aren't going as well for the little family. Sounds like the society will tend to him/her. Perhaps mama bird thinks somthing is wrong or sick with the little one. Now is he/she was the last to hatch? is it a lot smaller then the brothers and sisters in the nest or is it hard to tell?

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:14 pm

Yeah, this was the last chick to hatch. The egg was laid next to the water dish and I was actually surprised it hatched at all. It's a full two days younger than the rest of the clan and half the size, very obvious even in the puppy pile of babies that its much tinier. It's crop was pretty much empty when the hen dumped it, while the others all had nice fat crops. However it seems energetic enough, and now has a full crop thanks to the societies. They're doting over it and I really am surprised how easily they just accepted it was there.

Unless there's something majorly physically wrong with it, I think it'll be fine now. I just have to keep a close eye and make sure the hen doesn't start pitching more babies.

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:37 pm

She did it again. She dropped the next smallest baby. I put him promptly in the society nest. If she keeps this up they may all end up in there.

*sigh*

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:41 pm

And another.

kiwi & mango · Post by **kiwi & mango** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:52 pm

so sorry and they were doing so well for those few days.... what could it be? are they all in the nest tight? could it be somthing like that?

I hope someone comes along to give you any help but really what else can be done? she is doing it and there really isn't anyway to stop her now is there?

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:56 pm

No, the nest isn't tight. It's rather large and I wasn't expecting it to become more crowded until the babies were near fledging. Something has agitated her, that's for sure.

If she pitches one more I'm just going to take her and the male gouldian out of the cage, move all the babies including the fledgling into the big nest, and leave the societies to it. She was doing really really well...maybe she just got overwhelmed. I don't know. What's sad is my male gouldian is getting upset. He can hear his babies crying in the society nest and keeps poking his head in there. Of course, the societies immediately chase him off.

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:09 pm

Ravyn, Do you know if the goulds have breed sucessfully before? It might be because she is agitated or it is possible she is still "learning" if that makes sense. I know zebras will do this a lot with their first few attempts on raising chicks.

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:12 pm

Well, she chucked a fourth. I called it quits and pulled both goulds from the breeding cage and stuck them in the hospital cage. My flight is supposed to come in tomorrow and I'll move them there when it does.

I took out the small nest the societies were using and put all the chicks into the big nest then hung it in the same place the small nest used to be. The societies immediately went in there and started taking care of the chicks. The ones that mama gould had pitched earlier had such full crops they couldn't lift their heads, including the tiniest! So I think they're in good hands now. I'll give the goulds several months and then see if I want to try again letting them raise a clutch.

Ravyn · Post by **Ravyn** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:13 pm

Hilljack, I have no idea. I know little about their history. They took so well to brooding the eggs and caring for the chicks the first week I was almost sure they were experienced. Then this happens. I don't know if she just got overwhelmed or what. Ah, well. There's always next time.

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:15 pm

Ravyn wrote:Hilljack, I have no idea. I know little about their history. They took so well to brooding the eggs and caring for the chicks the first week I was almost sure they were experienced. Then this happens. I don't know if she just got overwhelmed or what. Ah, well. There's always next time.

Keep us updated on what happens. Could be anything you just never know.

FINCHforum

Gouldians Hatching!! Pictures!