Time to Cut the Baby Loose & Other Rehousing Q's

[GouldieFledge]

Hi all-

• My female juvenile is ...111 days old today! and is still living with her 2 dads in my large cage.

• I have another solitary female in an 18x30 cage who's been there for a couple of months, as she had appeared to be getting plucked and ill (losing feathers somehow, not quite sure the reason) and is now well. (It is not the mother of the juve.)

• I have a new M/F pair in an 18x30 quarantine cage in another room. They're about halfway through or so, but I'm still debating on whether I want to do a more thorough medication quarantine with them.

The ultimate plan is to try and assemble all 6 birds into the original, large flight cage that the dads/juve are in. I'd like to know how I should approach this, and when to attempt. The quarantine period on the new guys currently has at least a couple of weeks to go. But I'm not sure if I should try moving the single female back in with the other 3 first, or just do it all at once when ready.

I'm planning to rearrange perches/items to avoid any territorial issues (I've heard this is what you do). And I'd be keeping an eye on my loner girl for any signs of distress. She had been looking pretty rough for a while there, now she's sleek as ever since being alone.

[debbie276]

From your ID and picture I assume you are talking about gouldians? If so then I wouldn't worry about rearranging the cage so much. Goulds are rather laid back and easy going. Rarely is there aggression that will cause harm to another.
What size flight are you going to put them all in? You may want to move perches around so that there are places for them to get away from each other till they work out the pecking order. Adding a bit of greens will also give them a sense of security.
As for the lone hen I would add her but keep an eye on things. She may stress easier then others and that's what causes her to go bald.
The two in quarantine can be added when they are done. You say you aren't sure you want to continue with meds on them. What have you done so far? Usually I just do a air sac mite and worm treatment and watch for other signs. I personally don't believe, unless there is a problem, in medicating just to medicate.
Here's a good article on quarantining new birds.
https://ladygouldian.com/content/why-qu ... -new-birds

best of luck, please keep us posted and pictures are always enjoyed

[Sally]

debbie276

Thanks for posting that link to Laraine's article on quarantine. It is one of the best I've seen, and it's always good to get a reminder. I used to follow Laraine's old quarantine procedures, which were to give various medications during quarantine. She was the one that convinced me that it is not necessary and may even be harmful to do that, and so I too follow the protocol of only air sac mite treatment and worming.

[GouldieFledge]

debbie276, Sally:

Yes, gouldians. They're either going into an 60x18x36 or an 37x27x68 (if I decide to buy it). Finch calculator says both of these dimensions should hold 4 birds but I think if arranged/maintained properly, they should be able to live happily without the feeling of overcrowding. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yep, I have Larraine's page bookmarked as well . I started them off with some Thrive, did Avian Insect Liquidator, and just finished up the S76 in-water treatment @ 2 consecutive days/3 consecutive weeks. The only thing I haven't done is a separate worm treatment. Is it really necessary? I thought the S76 hit on all the significant worms, basically all but tapeworms. No?

Well, this has brought up a whole other set of questions!
The reason I was debating additional quarantine meds is that I don't really have history on the birds. But then technically, I could say the same for my previous gouldians, since their "quarantine" was only the AIL/S76 as well. And I did lose one female in that cage very quickly, still for unknown reasons. Hmm...

All 6 of the birds, existing and new, seem to be healthy and happy. The only thing I've noticed lately is my original males' beaks are kinda shoddy looking. They're dry, some splits, brittle looking...like the appearance of a damaged fingernail in beak form, ha. Maybe I should be concerned about this? They seem healthy otherwise, I mean they're in molt so they're kinda rough and worn out. But their poop looks okay to my novice eye.

[GouldieFledge]

Will post pics!

[debbie276]

I like to use a wormer to get all the worms they might have. If the beak is starting to look like a honey comb with tiny holes in it you may want to investigate possible Scaley mites. Flaking of the beak happens and you shouldn't be overly concerned about that.
That size cage may be fine for 6 unless your thinking of breeding them. Not sure there is enough territory for breeding pairs to feel secure enough to raise a clutch. Not to mention the inbreeding of father to daughter. ;)
Can't wait for pictures.

[GouldieFledge]

debbie276 Sally

I think everyone looks good except for my normal male. He has a baldish spot that just doesn't seem right. They're going through a molt right now, but it just doesn't look like he's getting pins the right way. I'll also attach pictures of the "chapped/brittle" beak I was mentioning, hopefully it's just normal. Also noticed a couple of strange spots by his nostril.

Finally got around to getting some images, work has been a nightmare.

And there's LOTS of pictures!

[GouldieFledge]

Beak

[GouldieFledge]

Here's the 2 boys and the baby female in the big cage. Does it look like the juvenile is going to be a black head? Maybe just "dirty red"?

[GouldieFledge]

Here's a before and after of my single female in the cage along--when she was looking bad and POSSIBLY getting plucked, to now.

[GouldieFledge]

I'm also going to post some more images of the NEW couple...will do a little later, on my way to an appointment now. But if anyone sees anything troubling on my normal guy, please speak up. Thanks!

[debbie276]

From those pictures it does look like something is going on with his beak.
This link may help
https://ladygouldian.com/node/223

You may want to email Laraine and see if she can help.
Best of luck

[Sally]

It's hard for me to tell anything about the bald spot, it may be plucking or it may just be molting, I'd keep an eye on it. I agree with Debbie, the beak does look odd. Hopefully Laraine can help.

[Sally]

I forgot to mention that on the worming, even though I give Scatt, which is supposed to get most worms, the birds I get are often wild-caught or raised in outside aviaries, or have been fed live food, and so the wormer is an extra precaution.

[GouldieFledge]

Thank you for your responses, ladies. I thought maybe something was a little off looking.

I actually have that link of beak issues bookmarked, I can't quite pinpoint what it looks like by comparison to me. But I am definitely going to try and get in contact with Larraine, hopefully she'll be able to diagnose/find the time to do so. I've bought many products from her.

And I'm definitely going to add a dewormer to my quarantine process, after hearing what you've both had to say. I guess it doesn't matter whether I do it separate or together at this point, since none of my gouldians have ever been wormed--but I'll try and figure out what's going on with my beak guy first, in case he needs isolation and a different treatment.