Trying to breed goulds in aviary

[Ricardo Ronsini]

Hello.

I have an aviary here (about 3 meters high, 4 meters long and 2 meters wide), and lately i have been attempting to breed gouldians, by themselves.

Well, in the begining the things were fine, pairs bonded, they were showing interest about the nests, and the femeales started laying eggs.

But after that, the problems started, they seem confused about what to do. I'm providing coconut fiber, but the males don't show any interest in building their nests, actually they don't even settle in an specific site, wandering between the nests.

It seems like they want to breed, but they don't know how to.

Anyone has tips or advices that could help me with this guys, since i'm new with gouldians?

It is important to mention that in the same aviary i have some zebras and canaries, and they can be really nosy some times, would this be a problem?

Thank you.

[lovezebs]

Ricardo Ronsini

Hello from Canada, and welcome to the Forum.

Although people definitely have success with colony breeding, that has not been my experience.

My Gouldis do best, when I take bonded couples and place them in a large cage by themselves.
I provide them with a nest box, with nesting materials already inside the box (seeing as a lot of Gouldians are not great nest builders)
Supply them with good quality Finch seed mix, Canary seed, spray millet, lots of greens, veggies, and hard boiled egg mix (very important).
*Also crushed egg shells for Calcium, and crushed Oyster shell grit for Iodine.

I have found personally, that this way they concentrate on each other, on breeding, laying eggs, incubating and raising their babies. This way, they don't have to worry about protecting their nest, nosey neighbors, or any other distractions.

Just sharing what works for me

Good luck, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
We would also love to see some pictures of your birds if you'd like to share.

[isobea]

Ricardo Ronsini - Hi and welcome to the forum.
I have bred gouldians in my mixed aviary for years but always just had two pairs. My aviary is about 5m long, 2m high and almost 2m wide. I've never had zebras in there and only one pair of canaries at a time. Don't know if the zebras or canaries might be part of the problem but I've heard from others here that zebras can be pushy and disruptive. How many pairs of each kind do you have?
My gouldians never used coconut fiber (even though it was available and other species used it) but mostly dried grasses. Like Elana I sometimes put a little grass into the nest boxes to get them started.
Where do you live? Is it winter or summertime right now? Don't know if that might have anything to do with it, just trying to get more information.
Iso

[Ricardo Ronsini]

Thanks for the welcomes!

I'm from Brazil, and we are at the end of summer, starting autumn, my breeder friend (from whose i got my birds) told me that this is the time to breed gouldians here.

In this aviary i have 11 gouldians, 6 males and 5 females, about 7 zebras, all females, and appoximately 12 canaries.

I apreciate the tips you gave me, and i will try to isolate one bonded pair in a single cage to see if it works out, also i'll offer dry grass and hope that they would start using it.

Here is the star of my aviary, she is a halfsider, this video is from my mentioned friend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omk508l54Zw

Maybe tomorrow i will do a video of my aviary, so you guys can take a better picture and give me more advices.

Thanks once again.

[lovezebs]

Ricardo Ronsini

Hi Ricardo,

Would love to see your Aviary set up, and of course your birds

Yes, the half siders are fascinating, aren't they...
One of our members in Australia has one, and even her head is 2 different colours.

A quick question...
How come only female Zebras?

[wildbill]

here's my opinion as I specialize in gouldians too

looking at the size of your aviary i'd run 3 pair of gouldian and nothing else. get rid of the zebra finches and canaries or you will end up with air sac mite and if not treated - the gouldians and all the others will all be dead! now as to the zebras they are more a nuisance finch in a mixed collection. they look alright but interfere all the time. if you want to breed zebras go cabinet of a colony of zebra only. if you want to breed gouldian...breed gouldians

so lets say you have 3 pair of gouldian. sometimes to get them going you place 4 cock birds in with 3 hens. this gives the cock birds something to think about...competing for the hens. make sure all birds are rung with different colour rings too.

after they settle down and choose their partner remove the odd cock bird out of the aviary and all should be good.

gouldians are almost useless at building their nest...even here in australia best you use a budgie style nest box. spray it first inside and out with insest/fly killer to kill off any mite etc. look around and grab yourself a supply of fine soft dry grasses. almost completely fill the nest box then clench your fist and compress it into the dry grass to make a deep nesting cavity

make sure all your nesting boxes are 2 feet apart and all at the same hight from the floor. never place one nest box higher than the other. the dominant pair will claim it and cause drama in the colony.

after that make sure you leave a clear opening to the nest hole. ive watch gouldian for hours not going into the nest boxes then realize the entrance to the nest is partly blocked by grasses. so keep it clear. after that scatter a bit of dry grass around the aviary floor.

that should get you going. also entice the birds with green seeding grasses to help kick them off into breeding. don't forget the egg shells either. the hen well actually both sexes love it. just place the shells in a microwave oven for 3 minutes on high and that should do. prior to serving just crush it up a bit

make sure you have a good quality seed mix. plus extra white millet and canary seed. learn how to sprout seed correctly as it will be important in the young rearing stage. when they start breeding they require either green seeding grasses or some other green feed.

I actually feed mine lettuce and lots of it. some breeders are against the idea and come up with all types of reason why not to do it. I can tell you straight. if I can feed gouldian mutations worth up to $1000 each the lettuce ... I am sure it's not going to hurt your normal birds.

if you keep these hints in mind it will help but unfortunately will not guarantee results. in the end you can do all you want BUT the birds will decide if they want to breed for you or not not much you can do really than wait it out and hope for the best

[Ricardo Ronsini]

Lovezebs, in this aviary i keep only my female zebras, the males are in another. That is because i'm doing a selection to achieve the standard, so i pick the ones i want to breed, and i have them settled in a breeding cage, otherwise they will do as they please, and if i leave them to breed freely in the aviary i will end up with hundreds of birds

Wildbill, thank you for all the information, i'm learning a lot about gouldians.

I already am reducing the zebras and canaries in this aviary, so the gouldians can have more peace and space too.

Today i checked a nest and i found 3 eggs, as the mom seemed upset i left them alone, but i can bet that the others are laying too, lets see what happens next.

[GouldianGuy]

Today i checked a nest and i found 3 eggs, as the mom seemed upset i left them alone, but i can bet that the others are laying too, lets see what happens next.

It's starting.....

[lovezebs]

Ricardo Ronsini

Ok, now I understand,
I thought you had only female Zebras and no males which I thought was rather strange

What colour mutations of Zebras do you breed? And what colour mutations of Gouldians, are you hoping to breed?

[Ricardo Ronsini]

Well, at this moment i'm focusing on size and posture, that are more important than color at the competitions , here in Brazil. But i have plenty of mutations though, as: white, pied, black face, isabel and crested.

About the gouldians, they are relatively new to me, and by now i'm just trying to breed them successfully

Besides my halfsider hen and a yellow orange headed cock, i only have classic ones (green body, purple chest, black / red head), but once i'm used to them i will buy some blue ones, for i love this color

Here they are:

[lovezebs]

Ricardo Ronsini

Very pretty Gouldians

I also see..... is that a pretty Self Chocolate Society Finch (Bengalese) beside the Gouldians? Very nice looking bird.

Regarding the Zebras...
It's hard to get any of the really beautiful mutations over here.
Some of my favorite colors, that I would love to get my hands on, are these in the picture below:

[Ricardo Ronsini]

Thank you, it is a female black grey society, i have a couple of them.

Gorgeous zebras *-* , here is also dificult to find these rare mutations, i have some isabels and black faces though:

[lovezebs]

Ricardo Ronsini


Look at those sweet babies

I like the Isabels. I think that's what the call "Florida Fancy" in the US, but you never see them here.

Usually mostly normals, with a few CWF, and the occasional Whites.

[Ricardo Ronsini]

Yea, isabels and florida fancies are pretty much alike, but some breeders say that they are different mutations, apparently they behave differently in genetic terms, but i don't understand much about that.

It's really a beautiful chick you have there, congrats

[lovezebs]

Ricardo Ronsini

Thanks.

So how the Gouldians coming along?