My first Gouldians chicks

[MariusStegmann]

Rox you are a grandma. My first 2 Gouldians has hatched. Another 4 eggs to go.

[Smurf]

Congrats, hopefully more eggs will hatch and they make it to the perch, i'm not having much luck with the gouldians so far with only 2 chicks on perch from 4 pairs.

[MariusStegmann]

Smurf I don't know anything about the origin of your birds, but I firmly believe that a person must get strong young parent-raised birds from a reputable breeder. Luckily the birds that I got from Rox are super breeders. They are also healthy non-pampered birds and were bred outdoors. Rox believes in the survival of the fittest, and the birds that survived to breed by her, produced strong chicks. All the birds were parent-raised. I believe that if you buy birds that were tossed by the parents and fostered or hand-raised you are breeding with birds that inherited bad mothering instincts. We see if these chicks survive to fledge.

[Smurf]

MariusStegmann , your right about getting birds from reputable breeders, unfortunately i didn't know of any locally until recently when i started using facebook again, were i found plenty of groups dedicated to birdkeeprs/breeders in Ireland.

All my gouldians are from a single local dealer and as you said it's most likely down to unreliable stock, although it could also be down to myself being inexperienced with gouldians and not having conditioned them right or getting diet right, only 2 pairs have laid eggs, 1st pair the chicks are thriving, the 2nd pair hatched 1 weak chick which didn't survive and parents were then switched around with different partners.

[finchandlovebird]

Marius

[lovezebs]

MariusStegmann

Congratulations on babies. I hope they all hatch close together. I've found, that these guys grow at such a phenomenal pace, that a day or two makes a huge difference in developement, with the youngest ones being at quite a disadvantage.

Good luck, they are darling babies.

~Elana~

[Rox]

Whoohooo!! That is great news!! Look forward to seeing photo's

The only problem I have had with breeding gouldians is the occasional runt which doesn't make it. My birds usually have big clutches, 5 or 6 chicks. Occasionally the youngest doesn't make it but with the hot weather we are having at the moment, it shouldn't be a issue.

[monotwine]

Super! enjoy the new explosion of life in your aviary.

[MariusStegmann]

Rox The cock is sitting very tight, even if I knock against the nest, he doesn't leave. The rest of the eggs should have hatched by now, but I don't want to chase him off. I will rather wait until the hen is sitting, but he doesn't give her a chance to take a turn. Today however it it is a rainy day, and I will not mess about with them.

[Rox]

Marius, I have had to literally pick up a gouldian hen to remove her from the nest so that I can ring the chicks. I still got a few pecks for my efforts, lol They can be quite stubborn but I love it. Very devoted parents

[MariusStegmann]

I checked this morning, 5 chicks have already hatched. Maybe the last one will still hatch and be the runt of the litter. Gouldian chicks look like aliens or like sea-anemones with their heads rotating back and forth.

[steve]

Marius

What type of nest box do you have?

Regards
Steve

[MariusStegmann]

My pair selected a L shaped one. The other pair that I have in the other aviary can still not decide between normal square netboxes and the L shaped ones. It looks like they have settled on a L shaped one.

[steve]

Everybody I know that breeds Gouldians swears by the L shape boxes, they say that they are better for privacy/security.

[MariusStegmann]

I suppose if there are not enough boxes around or if the male is not aggressive enough, they will settled for anything, but I think they prefer the L shapes ones.