cold finches any advice.

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jill
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My Gouldian finches died, I don't know why but I suspect the cold. It is 1 to 3 degrees here at night. So I purchased a ceramic heater and installed the finches in a smaller cage in an insulated shed and they still died. What am I doing wrong.
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finchbreeder
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Location: Midwest of West.Aust.Coast

Where are you located in Australia? e.g. State?
It is generally not cold that kills Gouldians. It is chill winds. So what they need is cafe blinds (plastic covers on the side where the winds come from)
LML
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jill
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I am in Drouin, my Aviary is under a large tree, and this stops the wind. Also the last 2 were in a small cage in an insulated shed with the ceramic heater.

I am thinking of half covering the cage to keep the warmth in.
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finchbreeder
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Covering half the cage is a good idea, no finch, but particularly not Gouldians should ever be kept in a fully open cage.
Heaters are generally not a good idea, unless they are only on for the coldest 10% of the day.
LML
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Shane Gowland
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The stress of being moved and then confined to a smaller space is probably what did them in.

Gouldians are pretty good with the cold, but as finchbreeder says, they don't do draughts. It's probably best to add extra protection to your main aviary over winter and leave then leave them in place.
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Finch Whisperer
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Do your aviaries face north IE: cold winds from the south hit the back (solid) wall. I have fully open aviaries in Melbourne but they are open to the north so they get sunshine from early morning until dusk. They do have a roofed shelter but the flights have a wire roof.
Also water must be clean and a bath provided so they can keep their feathers in top shape.
Don't use heaters, don't use plastic blinds.
I've had gouldians for 30 years and never had any more deaths than any other species.
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Devito2
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Gouldians don’t have under feathers so if you keep them in Victoria you will need to protect them from the cold, if your gouldians are in a cold climate and there battling through low temps means that there a lot more prone in getting sick. strip down to your undies go sit in the backyard in the middle of the night and see how you go. I would suggest protecting your gouldians as much as you can and don’t listen to the rubbish that people say in making them strong.
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finchbreeder
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I class open avairies as avairies with 4 wire walls. If it has a solid back wall it is not full open, it is open to the front. That is what I was advocating you have. Plus the plastic for cold windy days only. Because as Devito more interestingly put it. There is sensible cold evasion and foolish non evasion.
In nature we all use our heads and avoid the fridgid weather.
LML
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Devito2
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I would love to know how everyone’s gouldians held up last night in Victoria with the winds exceeding 100km. God help anyone with open aviaries lol
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finchbreeder
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I believe the weather we had a couple of days ago has just reached you guys over east. Fortunately I am on the northern fringe of the weather front and it has been cold wet and blustery (up to 100kms) this past week. But not up to the 137kms experienced further south. All of my avairies have an enclosed end and an open end. Some face east, some face west. Bad original design in the case of the later.
LML
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