New to Hobby from Idaho

[Carlisle]

Hey all. New-ish to the hobby. I have had a pair of gouldians for 6 months now and decided to add some more birds to my life. I am unsure as my arrangements so far on which birds should be paid with which birds. If you have any tips let me know. I am all for it.

Gouldians:
- Pair in large flight cage with breeding box. They have eggs in the nest.

Zebras:
- Two pair in medium flight cage. They have eggs in the nest. These will be my first fertile eggs. Pretty excited to go through the hatching process.

Cut Throats:
- One pair in medium flight cage. These are new as of two weeks ago. They are more aggressive than any of the others by far. Im not super excited about that.

Mixed cage:
- Pair of lavenders, pair of owls, pair of cordon bleus. They are in a large flight cage. The lavenders are the most aggressive of the group. They keep kicking the owls out of their nest. All these birds are new as of two weeks ago. The cordon bleus seem less active than the others.

Do I have them in the right mixes for the cages or should I switch things up? Are there some that would be more happy with the others? I have read the compatibility charts and such, but am wondering from those who are experienced what you think.

[lovezebs]

Carlisle

Welcome to the forum.

Regarding your housing arrangements.

Your Gouldians, should do very well in their own flight. Glad to hear, that you already have eggs.

Very smart of you to house your Cutthroats, in seperate accommodations. Cutthroats, particularly a breeding pair, can be extremely aggressive towards other birds. This is not unusual.

Your Zebras, as long as they are happy as two pairs in a flight, should be alright. However once your eggs have hatched and your babies are weaned, you might have to reconsider your housing arrangements for this species.

Regarding your mixed flight.....you may find, that if you wish these little guys to breed successfully, you might want to house these three species seperately. If not breeding, (to the best of my knowledge) they should be alright together.

[Sally]

As far as your mixed flight, if the Lavenders keep kicking the Owls out of their nest, I would move them into their own flight if possible. The Owls and Cordon Bleus should get along together, as both species are passive, though sometimes two pairs in a cage will have some problems getting along. It would be worth a try to have those two (Owl and CB) pairs in a flight without the Lavenders.

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on.

[debbie276]

Sounds like your set ups are working well except the lavender, owl and cordon bleus. I would probably remove the lavender of I could.
Good luck, please keep us posted on how you do.

[Carlisle]

So far, so good. I am waiting for the Zebras to hatch. Once they are old enough I have a local bird store that wants all of them. I will move the owls into the zebra cage to separate everyone out a bit more. Maybe I just need another large flight cage. Im always up for getting another. Just need more room for them. Im in a small apartment. Im hoping the owls, once in their own cage, will lay eggs. No one here has them. It would be great to start the population of them here for the finch lovers.

One of the Gouldian eggs is fertile!!! Im so excited. They are, by far, my favorite finch and I can't wait to have a little baby.

[Spreckles]

Carlisle

Welcome to the forum and goodness your starting out with a bang! i have read that lavenders are more aggressive but have never had any. I do have Cordon Bleu's and if you get them happy they are really darling. the males have a pretty song and their courtship dance is really cute. sounds like you have big plans!!! wish you all the best.

Karen

[Sam007]

Welcome to the forum!

[Babs _Owner]

Carlisle

Welcome to the forum!

[Malti]

Welcome to the forum

[Carlisle]

The Gouldian baby hatched!!!!!! Just got home from work and saw the parents out of the nesting box flying around the cage and I peeked inside. Only one of the six eggs was fertile but I left the eggs together there so that the parents wouldn't stop laying on just the one fertile egg. When do I remove the other eggs without disturbing the baby and the parents?

[debbie276]

I wouldn't worry about removing the eggs. Chances are they will just dry up.