Aussie Finch Forum

Hello. Felt like chatting with people who share interest in Gouldian finches.

I got the first ever clutch of ( 3 ) eggs from a Gouldian pair, after a bit over 2 years of keeping finches.

It seems the female isn't very interested in sitting though. She does some, but her male does most of it with great zeal.

I read she is supposed to do the sitting at night, but dosen't. Maby I got the wrong info?

The previous evenings I went to change water and clean food dish to distract the male hoping the hen would go in and sit before lights go out, but it only got me nobody sitting on the eggs at night.

This evening I made sure to not disturb them and the male just stayed inside the nest after lights went out. He's probably sleeping in there by now.

So I was wondering if experienced breeders here have their gouldian finch male do the night sitting?

Oh and funny thing : The nest the male crafted has no bottom, so the eggs were on the floor of the costumized double milk box.

So I carefully padded the bottom in a nice cup-shape and put the eggs on it while they were distracted by the cage tampering for cleaning + fresh food and water.

The hen went in after eating and pushed the strands to the side to have her eggs sitting on the bottom of the box again. Funny girl.
Any advice regarding that?

I hope I get some healthy chicks ( haven't candeled the eggs ).

I could upload and share pictures if someone's interested ( unspecified = standard colour ) :

2 hens ; one red head, one orange head.

2 cocks ; one dilute red, one black head + white breast (with orange beak).

The breeding brids are the orange ones.
If I understood color inheritence correctly, the male chicks would be orange head, the females black head + orange beak, and chest color depends on possible hidden recessive trait of the purple-chest hen ( if she's double factor purple chest, all chicks would be purple split to white ).

The other two are siblings so no nest for them ( but they do courting and mating. )

I had another normal red head male, but it died of diabetes ( now with more experience he was obviously very obese when I bought it ). Sad. He had a very intense blue and gorgeous sea-green wash on his back.

Salut.

Unfortunately quite a percentage of gouldians are poor nest builders. So many Gouldian owners just make a basic nest for them, and add nesting material for them to "finish the job". Some use canary nest liners to form a base. Maybe your young lady is shy and only goes in once you have gone to bed? Then rushes out when she hears you coming in the morning. Some birds are deceptive about their actions like that. Only time will tell but.

Is it better to put the coconut liner under the eggs, or not touch anything?

Thank you.

(Surely they wouldn't be able to remove coconut liner!)

When I peaked at the room door just before sunrise the male was still sitting. Then a bit later he was eating and the female started sitting.

Neither seem easily spooked.

Forget about disturbing them this time. Once you are sure these eggs have hatched or are not good. Give it 3 weeks - then put the nest liner in.
She is a sneaky one by the sounds of it.

Okay no more disturbing then. They are taking turns, always one sitting, mostly the cock.

I never handled chicks and am a bit scared of hurting them to put the coconut liner.

Put a note on the calendar for expected hatching.

I read that once Gouldians start sitting at night, hatching takes about 2 weeks, but will give it 3 weeks before candeling and throwing the eggs.

If the eggs are fertile but 3 weeks passed, should I let them in longer?

Thanks for the help. I wouldn't have thought of coconut lining otherwise.

Here are pictures of the parents.

Hen :



Cock :



( The other bird visible is a ''red head, single-factor yellow back, purple chest'' male. )

P.S. : The hen now sits on the eggs at night, so good news.

Sounds like she may be one of those that do not sit till the full clutch is laid. Not common, but they do exist. If they were my birds I would replace those plastic perches with natural perches. Some of which I see you also have. The sitting process should not take 21 days, but I tend to be on the cautious side, in case they did not sit firm or as early as you thought. Better safe than sorry is my motto.

About perches ; I noticed the hen didn't have a firm grip on the plastic one at their prefed spot when the male tried to mate, so I put a wodden and a rope one a few weeks ago.

Wooden one at their prefered spot worked fine for their bird fun times. So good advice!

( Also heard the male sing to the female inside the nest with suspect noises, so I suppose they mate in the nest too. )

The male got really dedicated to sitting in the box before I knew there were eggs. I thought it was weird and checked, there were 2 eggs. He probably started as soon as he saw the first one, about 3 days before the female started showing more interest in spending time inside ( which she is doing again tonight).

Thanks again.

Update : When changing the food and water, whichever finch is sitting usually leaves the nest and for a few minutes nobody is inside, so I always peak for a few seconds.

They are busy thinking about getting their favorite food among the mix, they don't notice, so why not.

Well this afternoon one egg was missing for the best reason possible : The first chick hatched, looks healthy, and is begging for food.

Should I stop giving seeds to the parents and only provide the egg food ( a special fortified mix for breeding )?

Or do I keep giving both at will, and let them pick whichever they want? ( They prefer the seeds so it worries me. )

I recall reading "don't count your Gouldian chicks before they perch outside the nest", but still, I'm happy one chick hatched.

Never remove a food type when the chicks hatch. They may decide not to feed the chick/s if you do. But do add green seeding grasses. This is the best "baby booster food" Gouldians are Australia Grass Finches - so that is their natural "baby food" they may take egg mix but many Gouldians do not. Never count your Gouldian chicks till they are fully coloured adults is my motto. Congratulations on the hatching.