Hi All,
I have just noticed that one of my male gouldians has died. It was ok 3 hours ago. I'm thinking it could have gotten into a fight with one of the other gouldians. It had young in the nest. My question is will the young survive from just their mother being around and feeding them or will they die as well? Also if I got another male gouldian, will the hen pair up with it, or will she be finished for the season?
Cheers
Daniel
Male Gouldian has died.
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matcho
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Daniel,
First things first,in my opinion do NOT put another male in. She will desert the chicks because he will want to do the biz as soon as possible and he will distract her. Depending on how old the chicks are you may be OK. If you get them to fledge and become independant then introduce a new cock. Sorry for your loss of the cock bird at this stage of the breeding. Not too sure that killing by another gould is the cause. I have dominant cocks that assert their authority but have never had a death. What was his condition when you found him? Do you have any butcherbirds/miners/cats around? 3 hours seems too short, usually see birds start to look unwell..fluffed up etc etc for a couple of days which is normally an indication of some problem.
I hope you do well
Ken
First things first,in my opinion do NOT put another male in. She will desert the chicks because he will want to do the biz as soon as possible and he will distract her. Depending on how old the chicks are you may be OK. If you get them to fledge and become independant then introduce a new cock. Sorry for your loss of the cock bird at this stage of the breeding. Not too sure that killing by another gould is the cause. I have dominant cocks that assert their authority but have never had a death. What was his condition when you found him? Do you have any butcherbirds/miners/cats around? 3 hours seems too short, usually see birds start to look unwell..fluffed up etc etc for a couple of days which is normally an indication of some problem.
I hope you do well
Ken
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Daniel
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matcho wrote:Daniel,
First things first,in my opinion do NOT put another male in. She will desert the chicks because he will want to do the biz as soon as possible and he will distract her. Depending on how old the chicks are you may be OK. If you get them to fledge and become independant then introduce a new cock. Sorry for your loss of the cock bird at this stage of the breeding. Not too sure that killing by another gould is the cause. I have dominant cocks that assert their authority but have never had a death. What was his condition when you found him? Do you have any butcherbirds/miners/cats around? 3 hours seems too short, usually see birds start to look unwell..fluffed up etc etc for a couple of days which is normally an indication of some problem.
I hope you do well
Ken
Hi Ken,
Thanks for reply, I was going to wait until the young are independent before I done anything. Should be roughly 10 days before they should fledge. I'm not pointing any fingers at any of the other birds in there. I've noticed that they have been a bit wild with each other over the last week. Theres 2 pairs in this aviary. They seem to be trying to get into each others nest boxes. I did notice that the male that died was the main one trying to get into the others box. Both pairs have young. There was no blood or anything. It looked in pristine condition, except for the dead part. I'm thinking a broken neck. When I picked it up of the ground its head was sort of lose. It was under the other pairs box which are at the back of the aviary. I've never seen any butcher birds around here, Not to say that there isn't. There is indian miner birds and no cats that I can think of.
Cheers
Craig-
matcho
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Daniel,
That is normally the go with a dead finch in regards to the loopy neck, don't know why but they always seem to have a "broken neck" because of the floppiness. Actually when I think of it dead birds that I have seen in the wild and in captivity over the last 50 years when dead always have that floppy neck thing. Anyhow keep an eye on things. I really cant help you with the cause, maybe could have been a fight and an unfortunate collision . My goulds are really going at it, defensive of anyone near their nest box. 10 days till fledging should get you through as they are starting to not depend on the body warmth of the parents as they are starting to feather up.
Hope you do well, plenty of sprouted seed and greens should get you through.
Ken.
That is normally the go with a dead finch in regards to the loopy neck, don't know why but they always seem to have a "broken neck" because of the floppiness. Actually when I think of it dead birds that I have seen in the wild and in captivity over the last 50 years when dead always have that floppy neck thing. Anyhow keep an eye on things. I really cant help you with the cause, maybe could have been a fight and an unfortunate collision . My goulds are really going at it, defensive of anyone near their nest box. 10 days till fledging should get you through as they are starting to not depend on the body warmth of the parents as they are starting to feather up.
Hope you do well, plenty of sprouted seed and greens should get you through.
Ken.
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KENTUCKY
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A Hen should rear the youngsters by herself, providing there are no more Eggs yet to hatch,
as for introducing another Cock bird, wait until the youngsters are independent and then release him,
and hope for the best, as a rule Gouldians will not except another mate until the following Breeding Season, at least thats how it used to be with Wild caught Gouldians many years ago but, because our Gouldian Finch has been domesticated for some time, there is a good chance that the Hen may bond with another Cock bird for the rest of the Season, as I said earlier on, hope for the best,there is no guarantee it is certainly worth the try.
as for introducing another Cock bird, wait until the youngsters are independent and then release him,
and hope for the best, as a rule Gouldians will not except another mate until the following Breeding Season, at least thats how it used to be with Wild caught Gouldians many years ago but, because our Gouldian Finch has been domesticated for some time, there is a good chance that the Hen may bond with another Cock bird for the rest of the Season, as I said earlier on, hope for the best,there is no guarantee it is certainly worth the try.