Natalie,
I had bought the one female and 3 males and put them in a cage with 3 nest. The female laid eggs right away. I had a few tosslings thrown from the gouldians and I just put these day old chicks on top of the eggs.... they fed and I added other tossling the next day as the gouldians tossed. Their own society chicks hatced and they raised 4 goulds and 3 societies
In the meantime I had added gouldian chciks from a diffentent tossing to a seperate nest in the same cage...One of the extra males started feeding them.
The third nest was given a couple of left over eggs from a pair of gouldians I decided to not let breed anymore..... they had already started to lay their 3rd clutch though. It was these eggs that I put in the 3rd nest and the other male started incubating and then fed them....So I had 3 nest in the same cage and they community raised all the chicks in the 3 nest, both goulds and societies.
Since then I let them have another clutch of their own....4 from that one. Seperating now by the sexes....do not want inbred birds.
I have a pair of older gouldians that are not interested in breeding. I did notice that the female would go brood in the nest...yet never any eggs. I put 4 chicks from a gouldian tossing in there and they are raising them beautifully.... no conditioning necessary...... so I have not used the gouldians for fostering any more.
Many people have their societies get broody by sitting on plastic eggs or their own that they discard
. I have not found this to be necessary. These gouldians seem to see a baby in the nest and feed
Though I do suppliment the chicks also until I know they are begging loud enough and the societies or foster gouldians ard feeding enough to keep me from worrying.
Here's a picture of the cage set up with the 3 nest
