Aussie Finch Forum

Hi folks,

What nest box positions do you use for your gouldians in the aviary? I've heard conflicting stories. i.e. never put them close together/stack them on top of each other like a 3 story house etc. Have a look at this YouTube video for what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xkq0iN4hv4

Does anyone have any pics of their setup? Can you advise what the ideal setup should be?

I only have the one pair which have 2 boxes in opposite sides of the aviary , both with different size holes , they went back and forth for a while but now have settled on the smaller hole .

none of mine use nestboxes. seemed to have a preference for wire baskets stuffed with pea straw.
each basket is approx 1m high and 60 - 80cm in diameter. have had 4 pairs nest in same basket, what a racket the young make though all being in the same area.
heres a link to a pic
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=104

That's a fabulous nest and a great idea putting 2 wire baskets together. Is it stuffed with straw with no space left inside or do you leave little pockets inside for the gouldians to go in? Is it better to hang it higher up or low?

have 3 of tose in the aviary.
the first one I put in was just stuffed full of pea straw, then I poked a few holes in it with the end of a broom handle. the birds hollowed out the position they wanted.
with the other two. they also are stuffed with pea straw. I made 6-8 smaller baskets using 1/4" wire and fixed these inside the main basket, forced the pea straw around them and then put a layer of coconut fibre in each.
the main things I noticed were that RH gouldians always chose the higher nests. painteds prefered to be as low as possible. orange breasts & cordons always made their own no matter what I tried. other species wouldnt use them they continued to use the cane basket type nests or built their own from scratch.

Thanks. I would love to see some pics of the 6-8 mini baskets as I can't quite picture what you mean.

I have my nest boxes on a shelf at the same height, and i have them fairly close to each other, iv seen setups where there side by side and they have had great success. its all trial and error. if you keep same head colors together then all at one level is good, if you had mixed color example red with yellow heads the reads would dominate the nestboxes so having nests at a lower level would allow the yellow heads to nest.

Jarryd

I reckon my goulds are duds. I've had them for 3 months and they have not even gone near the nest boxes I have supplied. I see the 2 males constantly singing. The black head male is a real chirper but the hens just sit there doing nothing. Is it possible they were not parent raised but fostered, hence they don't have the instinct. Might be a dumb question...dunno???

My zebs went ballistic with the nesting as soon as I bought them. All of them made nests within 2 weeks.

they may not of settled in yet so therefore are not ready to breed. or they might not be a compatible pairs. so give them time and have some paitence with them.

Yeah fair call. I'm a bit impatient at times. I have noticed one of the red headed hens give the male a bit of a peck on the side every now and then. Is this normal and what does it mean? The cocks don't seem interested in the hens at all.