Aussie Finch Forum

There were some mixed bags with clutches ranging from 7 down to 2. Overall very happy for a first timer.

Were these normal gouldians??
Because I was gonna say if these were mutations........ Well done.
Either way well done. This is my first year with gouldians and I've only produced 4 babies out of 3 pairs.

Thats alright FMan , my first year with Goudians I got nothing , you know why ? I had two girls ....

I once had 2 hens lay 9 eggs in a hollow log which they raised together...it was amazing to see 9 young being fed by a trio of adults

All normals.

Young should be a minimum of about 6 months to 12 months. The younger the birds the less likely of great success for their first few clutches, just about to contradict myself, zebs and bengos have been sexually mature as early as 3 months of age and have been able to raise clutches successfully, have had them do it in my aviery but I would have prefered them to wait but the young had other ideas. If they want to breed at a young age you can let them if it suits but don't expect all the clutches to he successful .

biggerbills wrote:Thats interesting, I have a similar issue. I'm only new to breeding finches this year and have started with gouldians. My seven pair produced 83 young this season. I have them in a couple of aviaries which both had one nest in each. Both nests have young uncoloured pairs sitting on eggs.

Also I did not separate the adult birds I just took the nest boxes from the aviary. Last week I noticed 2 pairs of gouldians have built there own nests on the floor at the edge of some structure I have for my quail.

Is it normal for the young to want to breed so early, and for adults to nest on the floor when there is no boxes for them?

sorry to go off topic,

well done biggerbills, can i ask what your aviary set up is like? how many? do you have a juvenile aviary? 83 is a great number from 7 pairs in your first yr! are the birds 1st yr birds? your doing something right for them!!

share share share lol

Hi Misso,

My aviary started as 3 compartments x 3m long x .9m wide x 2m high. Colorbond back, 600mm colorbond on front and sides from ground level, wire to the roof on front and sides. The roof is all clear laserlite.
I have clear laserlite sheets that I slide in and out along the front and sides depending on the weather conditions. These sheets cover the entire front and sides so that when there is inclement weather the aviary is completely enclosed and is free from the elements, yet still have full light, and when the conditions are good the sheets are removed and they get the full benefit of natural sun etc.
I have a patio area of 11m x 7m with a number of skylights in the roof. The aviary is set up on the patio facing north, it gets the full benefit of the winter sun streaming in and the summer sun is not too harsh as the patio roof acts as a buffer from the hot summer sun.
I mentioned that I started with a 3 compartment aviary, I quickly had to construct an additional one as the numbers started increasing quickly, I now have an additional aviary of similar size where all the juveniles were weaned to.

A perfect illustration that Gouldians thrive in a warm, well protected aviary which recieves plenty of sunlight. Well done.

Congratulations. Seems to be a very good year for some pairs and not so good for others. Some of my young are looking at nests, but parents won't let them take over. Yes I have just rung the young and not removed them. When the avairy is full they will stop.
LML