Aussie Finch Forum

Hi folks,

Like I said in my intro post, I've had my Gouldians since April and they have not wanted to go down for me. I originally had 2 pairs in a 6 foot by 3 foot by 6 foot aviary with special nest boxes designed by Mike Fidler. They didn't even look at them. I've now transferred them to individual breeding cabinets inside my Princess Parrot aviary and will be giving them a nest box soon.

There are 2 cabinets, both situated low to the ground in the aviary. I have also installed a fly wire screen in front of the cabinets for extra privacy. Does this setup sound like it could work? I can take some pics on the weekend if anyone is interested in having a look.

I'm not going to give up on these birds. They are so beautiful and it would make my day if I can successfully breed them. Some people say they are easy but I have not had any luck so far.

Can anyone share any good tips that might help me to cater for these birds a bit better?

Also, are they able to breed through spring/summer? I heard they love the heat.

Cheers

Tony

Tony,some birds prefer the same boxes they were breed in.I prefer an avairy situation for breeding,gouldians dont do well in shaded, draughty areas.If you have them in a sunny draught free area there no reason why they will not breed.it depends on the individual birds and the condition they are in aswell.They will not breed from about November through to Febuary roughly around these parts.As this is thier yearly moulting period.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm starting to think the cabinet position in the aviary is not the best. It's in the back corner, not much light and fairly low to the ground.

I'm tempted to let them out and live with the Princess parrots. They were with them for a while when I first got them and they seemed to get on well. There was no fighting. The Princess parrots are very placid.

Do you think they could breed in the same aviary?

Cheers

Tony

could not see why they couldnt.you would need to keep an eye on them though.

If you have only had them since April, let the poor guys settle in.
Birds really aren't that different from people, some settle in very quickly and some take longer, it's all a matter of personallity.
When you have had them in the new situation for 6 months I would start to worry but not before. And yes give them a selection of nests and nesting material. And if you want to you could start a nest in one of the boxs for them as some finches are a little lazy.
LML

Yeah, I'm a bit of an impatient bugger.

I might let them out into the parrot aviary and let them settle in over spring/summer then try again next year.

I still have my zebs in the other aviary and my budgies to setup before spring.

Has anyone here successfully had finches and parrots breeding in the same aviary?

Cheers

Tony

yes i have got plumheaded finches with scarlet chested parrots
and a old mate of mine had parrot finches in with 28 parrots but the avairies were 6mx2x2.4high and there was a caged off area that only the finches could get through but the 28s never did bother the finches and there was only one pr of each in the avairy.and the parrot finches were breeding like zebs

OK, I have come to the conclusion that mixing Princess Parrots, gouldians and zebras is not a great idea. I'm letting it go until the end of the year as they don't actually fight with each other but I understand that they stress each other out. I will be looking to offload the Princess Parrots and Zebs in exchange for some Scarletts to put together with the Gouldians. I've heard this combo works well and I have a mate who has this in his aviary and they breed very well together. In fact he has 1 Scarlett cock that feeds the baby gouldians. How cute!

If anyone is after some Princesses, let me know. I have a blue pair and a green pair. I have new nest boxes for them as well.

I found my gouldians did not breed well last year (their first year in a new aviary) but this year I have not been able to stop them, they are starting to make the Zebs look lazy. They seem to need more time than some other finches to settle down to new enviroments.
Tanya

Stop it - you're making me jealous