Marking Chicks

[Diane]

i am guessing your going to try and mark the possible split blues with the white nodules (from a split to split pair) when they are 1-3 days old? before they supposedly change to normal mouth markings?

Thought I would give it a try.

only problem i could see with this, would be the babies being soo small they haven't got toe nails yet, and if you go with a fluro colour, will gouldian parents notice it and want to throw the fluro mark out, hence babies being thrown?

just thinking

That crossed my mind too, which is one of the reasons I don't like to band too early. Ive just been and put some nail varnish on the feet of the normal gouldian chicks I have in the nest. Messy job! Even if these ones stay in the nest its no guarantee the parents of others wouldn't take offence to the colour.

[Niki_K]

only problem i could see with this, would be the babies being soo small they haven't got toe nails yet, and if you go with a fluro colour, will gouldian parents notice it and want to throw the fluro mark out, hence babies being thrown?

just thinking

misso

You just paint the whole toe or part of the foot rather than the nails. You can even paint different toes different colours to further ensure you don't mix them up, as colour on the outside toes especially seems to rub off in the nest. Zebs don't take offense to it and I haven't had any parents throw youngsters out of nest, but not sure about gouldians.