Aussie Finch Forum

This week I had 8 Gouldians fledge from the one nest. This is a record for me.
What is the most others have had?

Dave

That is a fertile pair. Have not got that many at once.
LML

had a pair that had 13 eggs ,all fertile ,raised 11,took to much out of the hen ,cheers garyh

Wow Gary that was a fertile pair.
LML

Once had a pair of Black Throats (or Parson Finches as they're known in the UK) attempt to incubate at least 9+ eggs. They built them into a pyramid of eggs. Wish I had taken a picture as it was a wonder to behold.

JP how did they go as far as hatching was concerned?
LML

finchbreeder wrote: ↑07 Sep 2020, 10:49 JP how did they go as far as hatching was concerned?

I stopped them attempting to hatch, replaced with dummy eggs (they had bred before & I had too many birds at the time).
Quite how they would have successfully incubated such a large pile of eggs if all fertile I don't know.
Also there would be an issue with chicks being crushed within the nest if all hatched.

That is what I was curious about, chicks to space ratio. Some birds just go overboard. When wanting to breed the birds, it is sometimes possible to ring the young and relocate them to the nests of others of their species. Or, dare I say, similar species. But this is not very often a viable option, as many do not have more than 1 pair of a species they particularly wish to breed.
LML

finchbreeder wrote: ↑08 Sep 2020, 09:27 was curious about, chicks to space ratio. Some birds just go overboard.

This pair had always been particularly broody I swear they would have tried to hatch a golf ball if I gave them one. Also successfully used them to foster Gouldian eggs from abandoned nests. As for nestbox size, always gave them a normal square finch sized nestbox so space would have been an issue either with excess chicks not being fed or crushed. Thing is I always give my Gouldians double sized nestboxes (two standard sized ones taped together) but they still only create the same nest size either in the front or back so not sure my Black Throats would even create a larger nest if I gave them the option.

Know what you mean. Had a pair of Javas a while back who insisted on using a plastic float nest that they could just squeeze through the hole. It was the 6" float too not the 8" or the 10", both of which were also available. They had 8 chicks in there and yes I did have to haul them out bodily and put them into another nest while I cleaned out the dead ones. They managed to raise the 5 remaining ones after I put them back into the 10" in the same location, with less nesting material.
LML