Aussie Finch Forum

Thanks for the advice. I'll try what you said.

cranberry wrote:Thanks for the replies guys. These birds didn't have mates before being paired up. The 2 hens are from gomer who told me the birds were born in 2010 so they haven't bred yet. Their leg bands confirm this. They are in my garden shed so there is nobody around there except in the evening when I change their water and top up their seed.

There is an overhead shelter on their cages using a piece of particle board. So is it worth persisting with them? If they are compatible, how long do they usually take to settle down?

Here are a couple of pics of my setup:

cage 003 (Small).jpg

cage 004 (Small).jpg

sorry to go off topic but i like the look of those seed hoppers, are those the ones from england??

do they fit the cage doors good?

still trying to work out a good seed feeding system for my breeding cages.

jarryd

Yes they fit on the outside and they do fit extremely well. I like them because they can be topped up without entering the cage. They are a good size for finches/canaries but no good for parrots unless you have a lot of them. I use 2 per pair of Gouldians. You could use 1 but I like giving them an option of where to eat from. I've only topped up once in the last week and even then they weren't empty.

Thanks for the info, where abouts can u get them from?

The website is in this post I think.
http://www.aussiefinchforum.net/viewtop ... day#p20844

edited...looks like the page has been done.....here is the new link
http://www.riverswayonline.co.uk/Rivers ... ducts.html

I would cover them up completly exept for the front, it will give them more privacy and less distraction which they get from all sides, you will notice a big differance almost immediatly, your birds will not be so flighty and much less nervy.
Try that for a few days. Best Wishes Ralph

KENTUCKY wrote:I would cover them up completly exept for the front, it will give them more privacy and less distraction which they get from all sides, you will notice a big differance almost immediatly, your birds will not be so flighty and much less nervy.
Try that for a few days. Best Wishes Ralph

Thanks for the tip Ralph.

I couldn't take it anymore seeing them so nervous in the breeding cages. I released them back into the main aviary and will take pot luck as to who mates with who. My question is, I now have 7 pairs of Gouldians in an aviary 2.4m long x 2.1m wide x 2.4m high, along with a pair of canaries (who don't bother the Gouldians). Is this too many or should I consider offloading a couple of pairs.

Certainly will be a full house once babies arrive ...I would think that for that size aviary less birds would be better however its up to you so maybe just watch what is happening in there and if things get ugly ( territorial fights or nest invasions ) then pull a few out .
The thing also is by moving them around too much you set back breeding time as they take a while to settle down plus they need to reestablish themselves in the pecking order of the aviary .

Slow Gouldians
I do not know if others are finding that their Gouldians are slow getting into breeding mode.
Each year I put my boxes in during the first week of January and generally their are hens laying within the week to 10days.
This year I have not got one(1) egg as yet and they are just scratching around the boxes and forming their nest chamber.
Non of the hens have really dark beaks,infact they all look like the are on holidays and sitting in the sun.
There are two aviaries involved each aviary has 8 pair. I guess time will tell.
To continue on from Jusdeb
Having that amount of Gouldians in the one aviary can be ok if you plan the layout.
Spread your boxes out so the domiinant pairs can't take over too many boxes in an area.
I use the Mike Fidler designed nest boxes with the angle top, I also have verticle pieces of board between the boxes
so one pair cannot see the box next to them.This is when boxes are next to each other.
With all this you may still only get 2 or 3 pairs nesting and rearing young.
Just what your birds