I thought Gouldians were monogamous?!

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Jessica
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Setup: flight cage 6' x 2' x 5'H. 3 sets of Gouldians with four nests.

The Plan:
- The two black head green back would mate (I named them Johnny and June Cash - being green).
- The two black head blue back would mate (I named them William and Kate, being 'blue bloods')
- The two red head yellow back would mate (I named them Jim Dear and Darling).

The Problem: It seems they didn't like that plan. :-/

William and June Cash began building in a nest and laid an egg which they take turns fussing over. Jim Dear and Darling did what I want ... they built a nest and have two eggs. Johnny postures a lot but doesn't want to breed and Kate (beak is very black) wants to breed with all the males but they all are mean to her.

That is ... until today. I caught William breeding her furiously and frantically and repeatedly. If Kate is bred, he can't take care of two nests can he? Poor June Cash is left in a nest with an egg and no father? I have no idea what to do! Ideas welcome!

ps I decided not to name them as a 'pair' in future since they don't listen to what I want OR put them in separate cages. Problem with that, from what I'm reading, is they don't always like the partner they're put with anyway. I want to get another yellow pair and name them Wesley and Buttercup! hahaha!
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Craig52
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If you put a bunch of gouldians together m + f they will take a chance with each other and mate but not for life, first in first serve.
The only way to breed specific prs is on their own.
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finchbreeder
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What Craig said.
Just like if you put a bunch of teens in a share house at the start of uni and assume the blondes will get together and the brunettes will get together. They will get together with who they fancy, not who you think will make the prettiest babies.
As for William, he is obviously the Dominant male and will take his pick first, and just like some human males, may change his mind before settling down for the breeding season.
LML
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Jessica
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Thank you, Craig! Okay, I guess I'll have to split them up but ... there are eggs now ( well, 1 in one nest and two in another). I'd prefer to match William with Kate (both blue backs) and Johnny Cash with June Cash (both green backs). But I'd be giving up on them with the current eggs, right?

finchbreeder, yes thank you! William is the Dominant of the 3 males. "may change his mind before settling down for the breeding season." Ah, yes! So his nest is just his 'living with his girlfriend' and not necessarily a 'breeding season' for him!? He might abandon that nest and take up new residence!

So for the current nest & egg situation, I should just leave them alone and let nature take its course this year, right? I could always switch them next year (in different cages) to get the colors I want. They are all first year Gouldians and we didn't think they'd do anything this year. It wasn't until they began to drop eggs on the floor that I went ahead and put nests and materials in their cage.

Our entire family loves them and I want to do what's best for them. :-). I sure appreciate all you who help on this forum. We're all working hard to learn as quickly as we can, especially me and my mom!
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finchbreeder
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Yes, just let them do whatever they do this season. While remembering you will need to add a little more greens as soon as the 1st egg hatches, and pump it up as the numbers increase.
In about 7/8 months time you then place them in individual pair cages, to give them time to get used to the idea of who next seasons mate is.
Good luck in getting some chicks out of William and whoever he settles for.
LML
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finchbreeder
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If William and June produce chicks you need to put coloured rings on them so you know which green backs are actually split blues.
LML
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Jessica
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Oh thank you so much! I've been just reading about 'split to blue' ... it is all very confusing! And I'm studying banding; that's quite frightening to me. My mom said she'll do it! - I'm afraid I'd hurt them I thought whatever color they turn out makes them individuals and beautiful anyway but, upon reading, that's why I wanted to choose their partners - a bit too late for this year!

We're making more mistakes - I put liquid calcium in their water and crushed egg shells in dish but NOW I read that calcium in the water should only be two days a week! I may end up posting separately about that and other things. But for today, I'll dump out (waste) their special calcium water and I've set up a schedule for that.

Such fun!
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finchbreeder
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If they are getting crushed egg shell and eating it, there should be no reason to give them liquid calcium.
The liquid is predominantly used for birds that won't take egg shell, have laid soft shell eggs, or are on their 3rd round of 4 or more eggs. Others may have different opinions, but that is mine after more than 30yrs of finch breeding.
With anything in their water, they do not get to choose if they need it. So can be overdosed if they are not short of it. However, some are stupid and need to be given what is good for them that way.
Always observe what they are taking the healthy natural way, by beak, and only supplement through water for the stupid ones. That's my motto.
LML
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Jessica
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finchbreeder wrote: 28 Dec 2022, 11:33 ... Always observe what they are taking the healthy natural way, by beak, and only supplement through water for the stupid ones. That's my motto.
Oh PERFECTLY EXPLAINED - consider your motto stolen! I watch them all the time and record them when I'm gone and watch that at night, hahah! I know what all of them do and who is chasing whom and try to figure why - mostly it helps to put up fake plants in front of their nest so they don't charge out at anything flying past them.

I have put pinch bowls in the bottom (away from poop zones) and watch who eats what. All the Goulds almost constantly hit the crushed eggshell dish especially the females. The females also hit the crushed cuttle bone frequently even though I have cuttle bones hanging. They like it ground! And one blue back female who didn't complete her molt (Kate) devoured the kelp granules like she was starving!

With separate bowls, I can see which seed mixes, egg mixes, dried herbs they are eating. I like watching them far more than TIK TOK or anything else! You are appreciated a great deal! :D
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finchbreeder
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Eggshell and cuttlefish both provide calcium. If your girls are all into these then, you should not need any in their water.
LML
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