Society Family (Dis)Harmony

[rcharrod]

Hi All,

Sorry in advance for the long post. I'm in the middle of a Society family saga. A couple of months ago, my daughter and I purchased 2 Society finches. I didn't necessarily care what sex they were, and we didn't stay at the store long enough to find out for sure. Well, turns out they were both hens, and they got along great. I put a nest in the cage and they laid 10 eggs combined within a week.

Then things got interesting. I was at another pet store shortly after, and saw a pure white Society, a male, and I had to have him. The three of them got along fine initially, but then he showed a strong preference for one of the hens and constantly chased the other one around the cage. I felt bad, and figured that trios aren't the best combination, so I went out and got another male, hoping to give the chased hen a companion.

Again, things were fine initially, but the white male never stopped his chasing, and the new male has also shown a preference for the same hen that the white guy likes (she must be quite a number in Society world!). So my poor hen has been kind of ignored, and continues to be chased. I still have a nest in the cage, and last week for the first time, all four of them slept in the nest together. I was happy to see it, but it happened for two nights only. Now, they won't let her in the nest at all, despite her endless attempts. The males stick their heads out and peck at her aggressively (the other hen is in the nest with them). So she just sits by herself, which looks kind of sad. And I've noticed today that she's started to show a little bit of "sick finch" behavior (puffed a bit, just sitting still in middle of day, sometime closing her eyes).

I'd consider taking her out, but I don't have another Society to pair her with (nor another cage at the moment). I could put her with my two Gouldian males I suppose (they need someone to show them how to take a bath). I just feel bad for her and not sure what would be the best option.

Should I take out the nest? Other thoughts? Thanks in advance...

[MiaCarter]

Woah. Society-related disputes are rare!

Here's what I would do:

I would remove the nest.
That will prevent any hormone-related chasing/squabbling.
I prefer to let the birds bond first before I add a nest to the equation.

Now, I would take the lonely hen and the new male and I would put them in a cage alone for 3-4 weeks.

That will give them a chance to bond together without the distraction of what's clearly a supermodel-hot hen.

That will also give the other pair --- the super hot female and the first male --- a chance to bond together.

Hopefully, that should do the trick!
And once you return the not-so-hot hen and the new male to the cage with the other two, the absence of the nest should prevent the first male from chasing the girl.

Removing the nest will also discourage them from laying eggs. They'll still lay, but not as much. Society finches will literally have clutch after clutch nonstop if you let them. And obviously, all that egg laying depletes their resources, leaving them prone to egg binding.
They need calcium and vitamin D3 in order to absorb that calcium. So make sure you're supplementing in this regard. A cuttle bone, egg and multivitamin is my technique.
I also have Soluvite D and Calcium Plus for birds who are apt to be already depleted.

[rcharrod]

Agree with you - Societies are supposed to be nice to each other and get along! It was worse before I introduced the second male, but the problems are not completely solved.

Thanks very much for the thoughts and suggestions. Despite the fact that all four of them spent like a week making the nest, I'm going to pull it tomorrow and see if the dynamic changes. I may give it a few days before taking those two out (mostly because I don't have another suitable cage right now). They do all get along at times - they eat together no problem and the chasing is not constant. But it's mostly at night that there are problems, when the first three get into nest and won't let the fourth in. Poor girl.

With respect to nutrition/food, they do have cuttlebone (which both hens have consumed aggressively) and a calcium grit mix in a bowl. Interestingly, they seem to like the dried commercial egg food, but won't yet eat crushed up hard boiled egg (even with millet mixed in). They won't eat greens either. At least not yet - I'm still trying!

Everyone is sleeping now - 3 in one nest and a lonely hen in her own nest

[KarenB]

I would definitely pull the nest out. They don't need it to be happy, and it just spurs the aggression in the males. Maybe when you have another cage at some point you could give each pair their own space, and nests.