one of my gouldian chicks died in the nest

[djb78]

Sorry to hear Nathan, but as the others have said it happens and sometimes to often. As deb said that when mother nature takes over there's no dropping her that's why its called survival of the fittest. There might have been some underlying genetic defect that we can't see but believe me, animals can. When this happens its a total mystery, but make sure if this is going to be a continuous thing then you might have to look into it further but at this time of year its to be a bit more expected, just lost 2 bengos that fledged out of 8 to me I was expecting to lose more.

[nathan morley]

yeah i have had a really bad breeding season this year lost 3 clutches

[E Orix]

This time of the year in particular southern NSW and Victoria you will have losses of young Gouldians when the hen stops covering them at night
from memory day 9 or10. If there are 3 or more chicks they seem to be able to keep each other warm but 1 or 2 really struggle full crops and all.
It is simply too cold for them in particularly in out side aviaries without any heat. What survive though are pretty tough.

[nathan morley]

Ok is Sydney considered southern NSW an what do u mean full crops?
Nathan

[jusdeb]

http://www.essortment.com/digestive-sys ... 49064.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Read the above article , it will explain what the crop does .

If a chick dies it is common practice to check the fullness of the crop . An empty crop indicates the parents have abandoned the chick as in haven't fed it .

A full crop indicates some other form of death as the parents have obviously been feeding the chick .

[nathan morley]

Thank u deb now I know that the crop gives small amounts of food to the stomach