Colony sex configurations

[Shane Gowland]

What are people's thoughts on the sex configuration of Gouldians? 1:1 male/female ratio, or slightly more males or females? I've always matched them evenly, but met a few breeders recently who kept slightly more hens in each aviary.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

[vettepilot_6]

I usually put in more hens till paired up then remove ones not chosen.....

[Craig52]

I haven't colony bred gouldians for years, but in those days it was always extra cock birds. When paired up the extra cock was removed.
The reason for this was that the hens are very fussy with the selection of a cock bird and once paired usually stayed that way. Extra cock birds stimulate each other to display so the hen could pick out the one she wanted so once paired the cock she picked became dominant bird and protected her and the nest site.
At that stage the extra wimpy cocks are removed and the season began. Extra hens can become very aggressive to other hens and raid/take over nest boxes and cause mayhem for the whole season imo. Craig

[Tiaris]

Even pairs & not change the mix mid-season.

[Shane Gowland]

Wow, the first three responses have each taken one of the three possible positions. I'm glad I brought this up.

[matcho]

Shane,

My experience is this, more hens than cocks, that way there is selection by choice, not force. Make sure everything is rung so you know who is who in the zoo but even then this doesn't work. Cocks are very frisky and will entice any hen into the nestbox, do the bizz, egg laid and then finally the dominant female will take control and raise all that hatch. Extra hens are a good thing because in my experience because of the breeding time of goulds you are more than likely to lose a hen through egg binding no matter how you try during the cooler months. Extra hens can be a bonus. Another issue I found was they can become very territorial. Try and get as much space between nesting boxes as you can and try and keep them all on the same level if possible because you will find that there will be fights over the highest box, plus try and see that general perches are not close to the nest boxes and visible by the sitting hen as she will dart out and defend the nest, bad luck with new hatchlings as they inadvertantly will be hooked out by her.

It is good fun but in saying that there is no way you can control a "line" breed in a colony situation.

Good luck, getting close to that Gould time of year...for me mid til late Feb.

Ken.

[finchbreeder]

Always try for even sexs. Mum and I swap birds to help achieve this. But sometimes it just does not work out even and we have had seasons with more hens and seasons with more cocks. Mostly it works out OK whatever mix we use. But occassionally something will go astray. As Matcho said some cocks tend to stray. So the pair of OH who raise OH and RH chicks have had a visit from the "milkman" And the cock who merrily puts down hen after hen, just grabbing whoever is in condition and deserting her for the next one as soon as the chicks reach the stage where he does not need to remain on the nest, tends to make things difficult with all those 1/2 sibs.
LML

[Tiaris]

I was brief earlier as I had limited time, but I'll explain why I prefer even pairs. Actually my 1st preference by far is for single pairs as you can know with absolute certainty the parents of all offspring and breeding success per pair is optimum, but in colony situation it is for even pairs where the genotype for head colour (or any other mutation if mutation breeding) is identical for all hens and identical for all cocks (hen genotype may vary from male genotype though). Only matings where the genotype possibilities for all offspring are known are selected. This way the genotype for all progeny produced is known with certainty and they can therefore be useful for future matings where the above can occur in future years. My number 1 preference for colony breeding Gouldians is to make up a colony where all females are sisters and all males are brothers (hens unrelated to cocks of course). Apart form the genotype issue, this also greatly minimises the incidence of conflict compared to unrelated strangers being thrown in together to sort themselves out at the start of the breeding season when sex hormones are already bubbling.
Where extra males are present the result is conflict & competition at mating & at mate selection where dive bomb collisions are frequent when a male is attempting to court or mate with a hen. Where extra females are present there is some conflict at mate selection and more notable conflict for nest site selection irrespective of how many nest sites are offered. Unresolved nest site conflict often results in more than one clutch laid in a nest or other pairs taking over a clutch, both of which reduce the known parents of progeny and rearing success rate. All the above conflict reduces breeding success and significantly adds to stress, hence other health issues.

[finchbreeder]

"in colony situation it is for even pairs where the genotype for head colour (or any other mutation if mutation breeding) is identical for all hens and identical for all cocks (hen genotype may vary from male genotype though) * My number 1 preference for colony breeding Gouldians is to make up a colony where all females are sisters and all males are brothers (hens unrelated to cocks of course)."
100% agree with T, and wish I could manage this every season.
LML

[gomer]

I find single prs per aviaries gives you far better results then colony breeding if possible. I have only read that having a extra cock is better in a colony situation.But due to the fact i prefer single pairing anyway the one aviary I have three pr in they are evenly matched. This aviary I change the pairing around after the season due to poor results and dont breed many more and in fact less then other single pr stocked aviaries.