Aussie Finch Forum

Hello!

First post here from me! I have been reading a lot of topics on this forum lately, researching.
Finally got some gouldian pairs myself and they are going great i thought. A few days after transporting them home
from a breeder, i noticed my black headed normal hen is throwing her head back when ever i am near the cage. She seems to be very nervous!
The cage she's housed in is quite large and the highest perch in the cage is at least 20cm below the roof of the cage.
Her head throwing seems to happen only when she sees me watching her! My question is, is this stargazing or twirling,or just she's nervous still from the move that happened 5 days ago?
Has anyone else experienced this head throwing in their birds? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dalmatino

You say she is only reacting to you. Is she still sitting safely on her perch? Or does she fall/fly from it? If/when you see her fly is her flight normal?
LML

Hi,
My hens flight is normal and she has no problems perching at all. She is not loosing balance or anything like that .
She just throws her head backward 2 or 3 times in a row. She eats, sleeps and exists as a normal gouldian otherwise.
Just hoping she calms down with time.

Only things I can think of are nerves or airsac mite, the gasping looks like throwing the head back in some cases. Perhaps this is one of the rare cases where a preventative dosing of the avairy would be in order?
LML

I'd think carefully about keeping them and send them back where they came from. that is providing you are 100% sure -YOU DID NOT CAUSE ANY DAMAGE TO THE BIRDS. If you did hurt one or two during catching or the release then it's bad luck.
6 years ago I had twirling birds in blue gouldians I purchased in NSW . Actually picked the up myself so no damage on my behalf. I noticed 2 twirling the very next day. I had no experience with gouldians and was surprised to see this dreadful sight.
To put it bluntly I don't think twirling birds have a future and should be humanely dealt with. Plus I wouldn't want to breed from them even if they bred. I think there would be trouble further down the track
Although you only stated one bird If it were me I'd cut my losses and move them all out and buy new stock from a quality breeder. I'd pet shop the birds excluding one. These birds would not be in a quality breeders yard. Personal opinion I wouldn't care if it was blue lime or brindle if the seller was aware of this and he would be -I'd class him a crook and stay clear.
Others may differ so you will have a choice. It will all depend upon if you bought some bad genetic birds or if by chance you hurt any during the release. I think you got bad birds!

Hi dalmatino,did the bird come from a large aviary ,putting a bird into a cabinet type cage can make birds very nervous,when i put mine in selling cabinets some are seen looking around wondering what is going on,after several hours they calm down,maybe she's just taking some time to settle into her new surroundings ,cheers garyh

Put money on the cage being sml or a closed roof. Some Gouldians just don't do well in a cage, it will become permenant if not put into a large avairy

Thanks to everyone for your replies and opinions. I don't think the bird was hurt in transport as it was placed in a carry box on the front seat next to me and the journey took no longer then 15 minutes.
Breeders birds were housed in cabinets in an indoor birdroom and when I brought it home, I released the bird into a large cage.
The cage dimensions are 77cm wide, 45cm deep and 95cm high. The cage has no solid roof or sides and is placed 1.5m of the ground.
I will give the bird some time to see if it will adjust to its present living conditions.

Without seeing a video of bird ..sounds to me like it was used to an aviary...so when you walk into room its natural reaction is to fly up..but with a roof it is probably wondering where else it can escape to.... I have seen some in petshops doing same thing... looking up for an escape

If it is used to a solid breeding cabinet and is now in an all wire cabinet, all be it a slightly bigger one. Then it may be nervous at having no roof over it.
You could try putting something solid on the top of the cage till the bird is aclimatised. I do not have experience with birds that are not in avairys, that I can stand in.
LML