Well right on schedule my second gouldian clutch has started hatching today!
I haven't looked too closely, but it looks like at least 5 of the 10 eggs are fertile. I guess time will tell.
I was thinking of maybe hand-rearing a couple to keep as tame pets. I've hand reared nutmegs in the past and they made beautiful little pets. Has anyone done this with gouldians and do they make good hand-raised pets?
I know that overseas they seem to hand rear finches to tame them and keep them as more pets than for breeding. It possible would work with real young ones as they will associate you as their mother/carer. Maybe blujay might know about this abit more.
djb78, have no idea why people want to take on hand rearing hatchlings, or young finches.... Probably a persons need to bond with an infant, and have the infant bond with them. I once hand raised a canary, it was as thankless as handing rearing neo-nate, kittens and puppies. The canary, grew just fine, had not issue coping with other canaries. Gave her to a friend whom purchased a male and breed them with out any issue. Once purchased a love bird, lou lou, whom was hand raised, it was awesome, the way this bird attached itself to people, and that was the demise of her. She got lose, and would even stick to the walls, the rotti got ahold of her and ripped her to shreds. From this time forward, I had no intrests in hand raised birds.
Somewhere, is a topic, wherein, Spanna, post his desires to hand rear finches. He would probably be far more able to advise why people want to do this.
Anymore, I let nature, run it's course.
Last edited by BluJay on 12 May 2012, 22:07, edited 1 time in total.
Have never hand reared a finch , there is a market for it as Ive been asked to hand rear Zebs .
Too tiny for me plus I wouldnt know what to do with that straight beak . hook bills I rear throughout the year and love watching them turn into social little companions .
BUT its bloody tedious , you cant go anywhere for more than 4 hours , need a few hundred on hand for emergencies and its messy .
Up to you if you are wanting a companion then go for it .
Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue.
David Brent
Doesn't the monetary gain, from the sale of hand raised birds, offset the costs? Wondering, it appears hand raised birds are pricey compared to parent raised birds.
when you factor in the electricity costs for the brooder, cost of hand raising formula plus 4 hourly (at least ) feeds for at least 3weeks (usually pulled at 2 weeks, and depending on species weaning at 5 weeks to 10-16weeks) I wouldn't say there is a lot of monetary gain in had reared birds.
Sounds like a big headache.
Though om youtube you see alot of hand raised zebs and goulds and they do look quite close to their owners.
I hand raised a canary once when it was abandoned by its parents. It was difficult as has been mention before, I could not go anywhere for more than a few hours. Then the bird ended up getting sick and it died at 3 months. Not even the vet could work out why. If I had a choice I would have left it to the parents to raise.
Breeding Project 2020-2025.
agate mosaic canaries, agate yellow mosaic canaries, red zebs, self bengos and goldfinch mules.
