Nesting box

[Moshe]

Hi all, hope you all had a good holiday break. I wonder if you could share your thoughts and experience with me. I am housing a pair of Gouldians in a large cage with the intention of breeding them. I have done this in the past and used a budgie nesting box and successfully raising a clutch of five young.Is this still suitable for the birds or by experience and data do they prefer one of the other commercial varieties available? Anything you can offer is much appreciated. Do I place nesting material on the floor and let them gather their own? Finally, I used to feed my other Gouldians dry oatmeal 9porridge) as a supplement to their diet and they seem to love it and it kept them with a healthy build. Any thoughts? Thanks guys.

Regards - Moshe

[Diane]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
You sound like you have already had some success with your gouldians, good for you
I would say if the birds are all ready used to the way you have done this before then keep on doing it the same way.
I usually put some of the nesting material inside the box to give the gouldians a start on the nest and put some nesting material in so they can finish off the nest to their own requirements.
I haven't used porridge before, but I do offer hulled oats to all my birds. I give the basic finch mix, then in other containers I will give them red pannicum mixed with the hulled oats. They also get Johnson grass, soaked seed, egg, Lebanese cucumber and different greens that we grow in our own garden. During the winter here I give them the black seeds, niger, linseed and hemp.

[dano_68]

Hi Moshe,

Any standard nesting box is fine. There are several elaborate Gouldian specific boxes on the market now but most fulfil the same purpose with equal results.
As for rolled oats, this is what I finish my mealworms on. EG. I give them bran until they are about 1cm long them switch them to oats. It is by far more nutritional for the birds than bran.

Also, Diane mentioned Hulled Oates. You need to be careful with these as they will make Gouldians and Parrot Finches very fat and unable to breed. I limit my birds to a teaspoon of Hulled Oates only during winter. For finches, Hull Oates are the equivalent of McDonalds! So only use in moderation


Good Luck!
Ps. Nice to see another QLDer on board!

[Diane]

Also, Diane mentioned Hulled Oates. You need to be careful with these as they will make Gouldians and Parrot Finches very fat and unable to breed. I limit my birds to a teaspoon of Hulled Oates only during winter. For finches, Hull Oates are the equivalent of McDonalds! So only use in moderation

They sure are, I usually put a handful of the hulled oats in with about 5kg of the pannicum. I believe the hemp can have a similar effect and possibly some breeding stimulation too, so that also needs to be carefully rationed.

[finchbreeder]

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your Gouldians.
LML