Gouldians and Picking Mates

[rcharrod]

Hi All,

Happy New Year to everyone! And a new year brings new thoughts about Gouldian breeding! I think we are ready to go for another clutch with a pair from the four other adults we have. The question is which pair!

We have two males - Gizmo (RH.WB.DFYB) and Cheeto (YH.WB.GB) and two females - Bella (BH (YTB).PB/WB.YB) and Lucky (RH/YH.WB.YB). Both females likely split for blue as well. I keep hearing you all talk about letting the birds choose their mates. But in our cage, both males seem to prefer Lucky, and Bella doesn't get much male attention. In situations like this where it's not obvious who prefers who, should I put a nest in the cage and see which pair chooses each other and snags it? Or maybe two nests? I worry a little about the two males fighting over Lucky in the presence of a nest, but I guess I won't know what will happen until I try. The plan then would be to pull the compatible pair out and into a breeding cage.

Thoughts on how to identify the most compatible pair? Thanks as always...

[debbie276]

How big is the cage they are all in? Is there room enough to leave them together? Why do you only want to breed one pair and not both? Are you prepared for 3 clutches from a pair because trying to stop their cycle is not going to be good.
If you put a nest or two in with them and a pair decide to go to nest, pulling the nest and them out to another cage is going to be very disruptive.
If they are not in breeding mode they will not go to nest whether you want them to or not. When did they have a clutch before? Mine molt in spring and breed after. What cycle are they in?

[rcharrod]

debbie276

Thanks for the response. None of these birds has ever had a clutch before, and we've had them for less than a year so I don't know their cycle. They have never bred nor molted since we've had them. Although Lucky has laid a few eggs here and there, they have been random and neither of the hens has ever had a nest in her cage. We only want to breed one pair because two sets of babies would be too taxing on my mom, their caretaker.

But I did take note of your comment regarding stopping their cycle. When we bred the black heads that we have in another cage, I just removed the nest after the chicks fledged, and there seemingly were not any further issues. I suppose it's possible that we just randomly hit one clutch at the end of their cycle. Are you saying that the breeding cycle, once begun, will continue for clutch after clutch until it's over? How do people who only want one clutch breed their birds then?

The cage is a prevue f030 aviary flight, the white one with the roof top, very spacious. But my thought was to have the breeding pair by themselves, as we had good luck with that approach with the black heads. I guess I could put a nest in the cage, see who occupies it, then pull the other two birds into another cage we have ready (with no nest in that cage).

[debbie276]

Are you saying that the breeding cycle, once begun, will continue for clutch after clutch until it's over? How do people who only want one clutch breed their birds then?

Normal cycle of health birds will be 3 clutches in a row before they go out of breeding mode. If you remove the nest there is no guarantee that they will stop laying eggs. Reducing the protein level of their diet will help them come out of breeding mode but continually disrupting the natural cycle isn't good. I don't know many breeders that only want one clutch a year, maybe someone can jump in here and explain how they do it.
They should molt before they go into breeding mode. Seeing how these birds are new to you and your routine etc are new to them I would suspect they are still getting to know you and settling down. If you've had them less then a year and they haven't molted in your care yet I think it's safe to say they are not ready to breed.

The cage is a prevue f030 aviary flight, the white one with the roof top, very spacious. But my thought was to have the breeding pair by themselves, as we had good luck with that approach with the black heads. I guess I could put a nest in the cage, see who occupies it, then pull the other two birds into another cage we have ready (with no nest in that cage).

If you are putting nests in the flight and a pair set up shop I would leave them all alone. Unless they are very aggressive with each other they should do fine all together. Even catching the other pair is a big disruption and probably should only be attempted if you have to.
It's going to be very hard for you to visually tell if the hens are in breeding mode because they are Pastel and the beaks will not turn black when ready though the red and yellow color will look a lot more smeared then just at the tip.

[ac12]

Too late for now, but for next time, this is what I do.
I put the males and females in SEPARATE cages where they cannot see each other. This makes pairing up the birds easier, as they cannot pre-select their own mates. But even so, there is still no guarantee that the birds will bond quickly, some still take a while to bond to the mate that I select for them.