Gouldian shared nest

[D0NKEY]

I've just encountered a very strange thing so wanted to maybe ask anyone if they have experienced anything similar ....

I have three pairs and a spare hen in a mini aviary, they were spares so I put them there just in case.

I have two pairs on eggs and one pair with a nest of 5 young. And what of the spare hen you ask? Well, it appears the spare hen is sharing the nest with pair and the 5 chics. I thought both hens were incubating the same nest a few weeks ago and then thought I was seeing things as have never encountered or read this anywhere. Yesterday one hen did a nest swap with the other. So one cock breeding with two hens in one nest. Has anyone experienced this before ? I still find it strange as I'm typing this.

To make things more interesting the cock with the two hens is a yellow head ( the other two are red heads - I thought they would have been dominant over him )

[werty]

Completely normal

I had 2 pairs..2 males and 2 females raise 15 chicks in one nest

Looks like gouldians love to share

Gouldians have to be the easiest bird I have ever bred. .bloody champions

[matcho]

Yes,

Having similar, 1 nest 1 chick, 1 nest 4 chicks, both hens are feeding all 5 fledglings. Have one nest with 2 hens taking turns sitting on eggs at the moment, he must be a stud!

Must admit though he is a good looking yhgbpb.

Having the same with with painteds, the whole colony is feeding 2 fledglings, eight adults feeding 2. Pretty sure they won't starve!

Don't be worried, the more the merrier.
Ken.

[Masterfincher]

Well that verifies my suspicions - My male YH seems to be the dad of most of this years young - seems to be popping into one nest after another. interesting, the males we have mentioned seem to be all Yellow Headed - seems they are quite virile

[matcho]

I am not so sure that the male head colouring is the dominant thing as females are the ones that accept a mate, be it yellow, black or red. I read somewhere that it is fairly common in the wild that more than one hen will share a nest, mainly because of the shortage of breeding hollows. Food for thought though.


I will take whatever but the only downside is trying to work out who is who in a mixed nest especially if the two hens are different head colours like I have, bhgbpb and yhgbpb.

Just hope for healthy chicks.

Ken.

[Tiaris]

Can never be sure who is who (or who is fathered by who at least) in a colony aviary anyway, no matter how many hens occupy each nest.

[iva]

I posted my story in a topic called "what to expect" after seeing 2 female gouldians with one male in one nest. They raised 3 chicks (I have photos in the mentioned topic) in a very small basket nest. I have 2 pairs but second male is not doing anything. Now I see one pair back to the same nest. Have to observe if second female gets in.

[finchbreeder]

I have notice that yellow headed cocks are frequently dominant. Perhaps this is because yellow is in fact dilute red and behaves like red? If you are using small cane nests for Gouldians I would suggest replacing them with bigger wooden boxs and you stand a chance of getting more chicks.
LML

[iva]

Hi Finchbreeder, there are many unused wooden boxes in the aviary. They choose cane nest instead.

[finchbreeder]

Iva I have had the same problem with my Java's, give them a nice big nestbox to use and what do they do? Use a too small box and pack them in like sardines. Solved the problem by changing the types but not sizes of boxs. Found that they liked a smaller entry hole. Don't know what else to suggest with the Gouldians, I just give them as wide a selection of nests as
possible and hope they use their brains. Good luck for the future.
LML