Does anyone stop Gouldians breeding

[wayno.fuller]

Mine still want to breed and are on eggs now. ( seem to have a few eggs getting kicked out of nests guessing cause they are getting cold ).
Most things I have read say to stop breeding around now so they can start too moult ??? so confused.

Some of the things I have read say that if allowed to keep breeding it will suppress or stop there moult which will lead to a poor breeding season next year.

If you do stop them breeding the old fella i got some of my brids from said he would seperate males and females ?? . By seperating them he said males would be extra friscky and keen to breed we re introduced. Or do I just remove nest boxes and meterial.

Any opinions as it is doing my head in.

[vettepilot_6]

If you have room you can seperate them after their breeding...I usually only allowed mine a maximum of 3 nests..others will have different opinions, I feel it is best otherwise hen gets depleted in calcium levels etc..

[Tiaris]

After 3 rounds I remove the nestboxes.
This is happening now I've removed some & a few pairs are finishing off their 3rd round before I take their boxes out.
If you don't stop them now & let them go for another month or so the young will still moult ok. Its when you let them go into mid to late spring or even early summer where young are at risk of missing the full moult.
I stop them after 3 rounds for a few reasons:
- 3 nests of young per pair is usually plenty of young anyway;
- all young bred for the season make the current year moult and have adequate time to mature to be solid birds very keen to breed by the start of the following season;
- After 3 rounds of breeding, the breeding Gouldians (hens in particular) are usually quite run down in physical condition from the rigours of 6 months of breeding. This loss of condition coincides with the coldest part of the year so to let them continue breeding enormously adds to the chances losing breeding birds. But to rest them now prolongs their useful breeding life by at least one extra season.
- following from the last point, any young produced after the parents are below their peak condition and in adverse climatic conditions are less likely to as vigourous as young bred earlier in the season which have also had the advantage of having longer to mature.
- by the start of spring my Gouldian pairs are removed from breeding aviaries to allow pairs of other warm weather breeding species to occupy the breeding aviaries without adding to the stocking density of breeding aviaries.

[Diane]

I agree with Tiaris, Im just waiting for four clutches to either hatch or fledge and as they fledge the boxes will be removed.
My main thing is space, its getting a bit crowded now and also if I let the birds continue breeding I will end up having some youngsters that dont quite make the full moult this year. In my opinion if I have to hold onto birds I would rather hold on to fully coloured ones I just cant make a decision about whether to sell or keep rather than hold on to those just because they didnt make the full moult.

[ColouredFeathers]

I agree with Tiaris spot on I do the same as you
cheers flavio

[wayno.fuller]

Sorry been out all arvo. Thanks very much for you advise. This is my first year with gouldians. Nest will come out next weekend