Prevue F030 -- good for small Gouldian flock?

[Ash]

Hi everyone,

I'm Ash, and I'm new here. Pleased to meet all of you!

I've been keeping a pair of male Gouldians for years. I love them dearly, but they've been in one of those 18x18x30" Petco cages forever, and I have the opportunity now to expand to something bigger. There's a Prevue F030, brand new, on my local Craigslist for a pretty good price.

Here's my question. I'd like to have more birds: ideally Gouldians. I'd especially love to watch them raise some babies. However, if I were to add a female to my male pair in the F030, would that cause pure havoc and chaos? The males get along great, no plucking, no fighting. They cram together into a little nest-thing every night. One of the males constantly sings and tries to court the other male, who just looks at him like, "C'mon, man, this again? I told you, I'm saving myself for Sarah." I'm sure if I had problems I could separate out the bullying/bullied bird back into the cage I already have, but I want to know if this is something I should even try to begin with! (Also, I was hoping to use the cage I already have for babies in the future, provided this works out.)

Long story short: do y'all think I would be able to house more than a breeding pair in the F030? The cage calculator on this site says the F030 is fine for 3-4 birds. Would an extra bird cramp the style of the breeding pair? Or should I scrap the idea of the breeding pair altogether and maybe consider adding another same-sex Gouldian to my male pair? Or... alternate suggestions?

Thanks so much,
Ash

[DanteD716]

Welcome to the forum Ash! Sometimes adding a new bird to a birds already settles may throw off the blanace. Especially if you have two males and one hen. They may bicker of her. Have you considered adding two hens? Or you may want to remove any nests, as they will also cause territorial wars if one of the males bonds with the hen. But then again, it may very well work out. They are normally peaceful birds, and I don't often hear of them fighting. You can try. Would love to see pictures, and looking forawrd to seeing you around the forum!

[Sally]

Welcome to the forum, Ash! There's lots of good reading at the Finch Information Center linked at left, and the members are always ready to answer questions.

I have several of the F030, and I really like this cage. Though it is not normally recommended to keep 4 birds in a cage, because of territorial issues, I think it might work with Gouldians. They are usually so passive, but I am not a Gouldian expert, maybe someone else will chime in. I definitely wouldn't recommend just one hen, as then you might have the two males fighting for her attention. Trios often don't work, because there is then one odd bird.

One thing to consider if you have two male/female pairs in the cage, you will not know the parentage of any babies, as hens have been known to lay eggs in the same nest (I had two females share a nest one time). You would have to consider all babies as possible siblings.

[Musetta]

Just want to say that I have one Prevue F030 and I love it! Mine houses two gouldian hens, two RCCBs, and two OCWBs. The Goulds are the bosses of that cage, but there is enough room for all and they seem to get along. No one is breeding, however.

[Ash]

Thanks so much for all the help and advice, everyone. As to getting more than one extra hen, I'd be happy to do that -- but finding them around here is hard! I'd be over the moon if I could locate some blues especially. The one breeder I could locate nearby has a BH/PB/GB hen she's offered to me. Said breeder is quite nice and patient and I have all ideas I'll end up with at least that hen of hers, but there's no reason I couldn't search for another (blue) hen too.

And a development! The F030 that was on Craigslist was supposed to be reserved for me! However, the jerk who had it went and sold it (after I'd enlisted the help of a family member with a bigger vehicle... I am so embarrassed). I am set on getting a bigger cage, though. So! New question! Is the F030 the best I can do, or do y'all recommend a different kind of cage for 2-5 Gouldians? The 37" length of the F030 was perfect in that I can't really go much longer than that... no place in my apartment to put a 6' cage.

I also want to say that while the prospect of having breeding Gouldians does interest me quite a bit, I haven't got my heart set firmly on it. I will be happy keeping an all-male or just non-breeding flight cage if y'all think that's the best thing to do here! What I ideally want is maybe another bird or two (one of those elusive blues at least!) and plenty of room for them all to fly and get along harmoniously.

I await your advice.

Best,
Ash

[Toddmin]

Ash,

I have several Gouldians and have had multiple clutches this year. Here is something to think about. If you already have 2 Gouldians, and then get two more to breed, then you have 4. Say one breeding pair has a clutch of 5, now you have 9. Will you have room for that? In addition, one of my breeding pairs alone had 3 clutches this year, totaling 12 babies from that one pair!

By the way, years ago I lived in Carrboro, on Jones Ferry!

[wilkifam]

You say you have had your male gouldians for years.... how old are they? Do you think they are still young enough to breed?

[Ash]

I ended up with a F040 that my dad was nice enough to surprise me with a few days ago. For $20 I really couldn't say no.

Todd: that's wild! I live pretty close to Jones Ferry myself! And in terms of breeding the finches, you're absolutely right. After thinking about it a while (and reading up more on Gouldian clutch sizes) I decided on trying out just the one pair. No sense in getting in over my head.

I do have space for the babies one pair would produce provided that pair is a viable match. Lori brings up an excellent point, though: I only know the age of one of my finches, and he's not the one I'm interested in pairing up. The male I'm interested in pairing is at least four years old. I've had him that long. His name is Freddie. He still seems to WANT to breed in that he sings all the time and does the little hoppy dance, but whether he still can remains to be seen.

I found a hen locally and I'll try them together after quarantine. If it doesn't work out between them for any reason, I'll of course separate them and put Freddie back with his woefully unimpressed pal. If it does work out, I'll sell off the extra male (this is the unimpressed guy) to a friend who's been asking after him anyway, and I'll keep just the pair. Either way, whichever two finches I end up keeping will be enjoying the bigger cage.

Speaking of the hen... she and Freddie have been chirping back and forth between rooms, and Freddie crams himself up against the side of his own cage to sing in her direction. Freddie's unimpressed cagemate, meanwhile, is wholly uninterested in everything except stuffing his face and playing with his little bell toy.

Best,
Ash

[Ash]

Here is the cage so far. It houses one hen who is in quarantine. She was crammed into a very tiny cage before with tons of other birds. She doesn't seem to know what to do with all the room, but she loves hopping from perch to perch.



I was agonizing over whether to split up my two males or not, and ultimately decided not to. I then had the unexpected opportunity, thanks to my mom, to pass them to an older gentleman who was interested in giving them not only a bigger cage but a free-flight room with a huge window. I can go visit them whenever I like, but I miss them already:



It's weird to not hear them singing! The little hen chirps all the time -- not the noise I'm used to hearing, though.

I know eventually I need to get her some friends or a partner. I'm still not sure about the whole breeding thing. I have the space to try it out but I'm terrified of tossed babies and failure. I have some thinking to do. I do know that whatever birds I get next, male or female, I want to seek out at least one blueback. I have no idea whether I'll be able to find one here in NC, but I'm certainly going to try!

Best,
Ash