Questions re: Fire Finches, Goldbreasts, and Cordon Bleus

[mrshorn]

OH PLEASE!!! I know right, we thought the same thing after looking at some of the pictures on the info page. But we have had them since May and no eggs. The lady at the exotic bird store promised us they were both males. But seriously, don't they look just like the "hen, cock" picture on the Gouldian page from the Finch Info site. When we first got them we saw that and laughed our heads off. I would think that if Jeckle was trying to impress a lady, that he would at least let her in the nest. Which he doesn't. Sheesh, now I am paranoid and am going to have to go check, but I am sure I have seen both doing their little va-va-voom dance. Haven't I? Renee, you have given my doubt. Thanks alot. And you other ladies are not helping! To make matters worse, his beak is more grey than red now.

[CandoAviary]

I have seen my females shake their heads and bounce to the males....just without the song Male beaks never turn grey Sometimes they court for a while before getting down to business Tail wires in males are longer then females...how about a picture of their butts?
And what would be the problem with a matched pair? Not chicks They are the greatest things in the world

[lovemyfinch]

I would be tickled pink to discover that I had such a lovely looking pair.

[mrshorn]

Candace & Janine- This is all very funny to me. We just have a great track record of promised males that have turned out to be females. We never intended on breeding, and we don't ever sell our babies. The place we got them from is a very well established exotic bird store. (Not Magnolia like I mentioned earlier. We learned about Magnolia after we got the Goulds.) I guess we kinda scored because they were selling females for $20-$30 more than the males. After six months though, wouldn't there have at least been some dummy eggs laid? As far as chicks being the problem, to answer your question, we just got back from getting them new nesting material. Does that answer it for you? Don't worry they are both VERY loved. I am just a little worried that they will not be good parents, and we would wind up with many dead babies or giving them to our societies who have already had a busy year. When they say not to breed more than three times a year, is that because the egg laying is so taxing? Or is it because caring for the young is such hard work? Our societies have had three clutches already, and I am not willing to put them at risk. Oh well, we could hand raise. Anyhow, as requested, booty pictures from today.

[lovemyfinch]

I am not very good at booty gazing, but from heckle's beak today....well I think she's just about ready to go. Good luck!

[mrshorn]

You really think so Janine? Now I am going to be obsessed with watching them now! You really don't thnk it is at all possible Heckle is a male? This is so not what I was expecting when I posted the pictures last night. This is so exciting. Are they really more likely to start breeding now that it is after September?

[lovemyfinch]

You really think so Janine? Now I am going to be obsessed with watching them now! You really don't thnk it is at all possible Heckle is a male? This is so not what I was expecting when I posted the pictures last night. This is so exciting. Are they really more likely to start breeding now that it is after September?

Here is a picture of my Sweatpea's beak just before she laid her first egg.

[mrshorn]

Oh my gosh. Well, that's that I guess. How did her first clutch go? She is very cute by the way!

[L in Ontario]

Heckle definitely has the blackness of a hen's beak! Congratulations!

[lovemyfinch]

Oh my gosh. Well, that's that I guess. How did her first clutch go? She is very cute by the way!

Unfortunately, Sweetpea is still without child, she has so far laid 2 clutches of 1 egg never made it to the end. She is however an older hen 4 years old. I will still continue letting her try, but she will continue staying with us until the end as a pet - she was my first gouldian ever (her mate Swea is my avatar)

[mrshorn]

Here is Heckle back in June. I'm sorry Sweetpea doesn't have any babies yet. Both Swea and Sweetpea are very pretty birds.

[CandoAviary]

Too funny...and exciting. The tail wires are the two long tail feathers that extend from the tail feathers. The males will be longer and the hens not as..... see the difference
Just because they have not laid eggs yet does not mean that they will be bad parents. It is good for them to be matured. I sold a pair of my chicks from last year and the woman kept calling saying they were not bonded because they had no eggs. They turned 1.5 years old and bingo....eggs, soon to hatch any day now
It is the labor of raising clutches that wear the parent birds down. They need a break from the heavy load and the rich, high protein foods they consume during chick rearing. Societies will need a break just like all the others. Option.... you can take some of your soc offspring and set them up in another cage. That way you can use them as fosters while giving the others a break.......
And then rotate back to the original pair(s) to give those a break. But most gouldians make great parents given the chance. So I am sure you won't need to foster them. Most of the time I find the parents that toss are too immature. Or they are over bred, not fed what they need to raise young, nest messed with too much,or have ailments, etc. Like said, most gouldians are good parents and don't deserve the reputation of being bad parents or difficult birds to breed.

[mrshorn]

Candace-My only other societies that are old enough are the four boys from the last clutch. Go figure... all boys. I am not sure they would even know what to do, as they are only a few months old. I think I would prefer to hand raise if the need arises. When I get home, I am going to post on the breeding thred, but we went and got some nesting goodies for the Goulds. I really want some opinions. Oh, I don't think they would be "bad parents" just because they have not had eggs yet. I just think they may have a learning curve like my societies did. I am hoping that if they even decide to breed, that they will know what to do. But so far, to the best of my knowledge, they do not have any of the problem factors you mentioned. Certainly not the over bred thing! The hubs and I are doing everything in our power to accommodate the pair, but they seem to have a just friends relationship at this point.

As always, your expert advice and tips are GREATLY appreciated!!! If you don't mind, could you check back maybe tomorrow on the breeding board? I'd really like to know what you think of the things we got for them, and our plan of attack. Thank you!