gouldians nesting box issue

[meepmeeps]

i have a pair of gouldians in a 5ft long double breeding cage and in that cage is two nesting boxes, one large box type and a small wicker basket that i couldnt remove without destroying it. my gouldians have decided to nest in the wicker basket and i am worried it might be two small once the chicks have hatched and start to grow??? as we all know gouldians can be particular to nest inspections and she is currnently sitting on eggs so i dont want to disturb them and i was wondering if anyone could offer some advice? they have just reared 5 chicks which have fledged and are in an aviary with other goulds also they are doing well. they seem pretty happy in the wicker basket but those things look pretty tiny to fit a load of young goulds. thanks

[Misso]

i have a pair of gouldians in a 5ft long double breeding cage and in that cage is two nesting boxes, one large box type and a small wicker basket that i couldnt remove without destroying it. my gouldians have decided to nest in the wicker basket and i am worried it might be two small once the chicks have hatched and start to grow??? as we all know gouldians can be particular to nest inspections and she is currnently sitting on eggs so i dont want to disturb them and i was wondering if anyone could offer some advice? they have just reared 5 chicks which have fledged and are in an aviary with other goulds also they are doing well. they seem pretty happy in the wicker basket but those things look pretty tiny to fit a load of young goulds. thanks

my advice is once this nest is done, take the cane basket out, Im not sure what you mean by destroy it? are you referring to the cane basket or the breeding cage??

you cant really do anything now since they have already laid and are sitting, you will just have to see how many young hatch and go from their.

then next time stick to nest boxes, also if you are using a breeding cage is it possible for nest boxes to be put on the outside? this will allow you easy nest checks

misso

[meepmeeps]

i had owl finches in there before and i couldnt get the basket out without breaking it and i wanted to keep the basket. to put external nesting boxes on the cage would mean hacking my new cage fronts which i think makes them look ugly so i put boxes in the cage but there is plenty of room for large boxes and plenty of room for the birds. i guess i should be greatful that gouldians dont sit on their young after a few days of them hatching because they would make things a lot more arkward.

[finches247]

Just keep an eye on the chicks when they hatch for any problems.Throw the nest out when they fledge so don't have that problem again.Good Luck.

[meepmeeps]

thanks

[vettepilot_6]

As the previous have said remove it once young are out...I had a pr of Goulds do same thing in an aviary..just left them be and got 5 young out so all went well...

[fishdance]

Slight side track but if you only have internal nest boxes and want to check on them as unobtrusively as possible, I have used a cheap USB endoscope from EBay effectively for this. Just plug into your laptop to view & record and slide the camera end into nest box. Cost around $25 delivered from memory.

[meepmeeps]

thanks for the tips. i normally use a little mirror and a led tourch but i might invest in one of those little camera's. just seems weird seeing gouldians nest in a little tiny wicker basket

[finchbreeder]

Have just dealt with a similar problem in my avairy. Javas decided to nest in a metal float. Entrance hole = Java plus a feathers width, whole float is only about 12cm diameter. 5 growing chicks. The Bengos have just finished using the nice roomy plastic rat ball. So as the young Javas have reached the 1/2 feathered stage, fished them out one at a time and transfered them. Then put the rat ball where the float used to be and relied on the young calling for food. Well it has worked. So maybe once your young Goulds are 1/2 feathered you could do something similar, from the cane nest to the box. And if you do not want to destroy the cane nest, just pack it solidly with newspaper so they can't get back in.
LML

[meepmeeps]

thanks thats a pretty good idea its something i never thought of doing the shaft tails in my mixed aviary are doing my head in too, there is no nesting boxes and no nesting material so their way of getting around this is feather plucking to get nesting material they have tried everything they can think of to get nesting when they are supposed to be resting. i have a female and male that free fly around my flat but they hen is a little bit more clever than the normal hen shaft tail, she goes around my flat picking up any long bits of grass she is lucky to find and then flys to the aviary then dangles it over the front passing it through to the other shaft tails. i have her on video doing this as i thought it was strange behaviour for a bird. she has been doing this for 3 days now. she flys to the aviary where they all gather and then start making a chattering noise then shortly after she flys off to do her search, she dangles it through the wires like she is fishing or something then the other shaft tails grab it and try to build a nest. i cant split the males from the females as i dont have the cage space. everyday i have to go into the aviary and pull out all the nesting material that she has passed through the aviary. its kinda frustrating really. anyone else had this problem with birds?