Aussie Finch Forum

"I thought Gouldians were monogamous?!"
Absolutely not, the hens will mate with multiple males outside the pair bond and at times will even lay an egg in another pairs nest.
So not only do you not know who the daddy is, but occasionally it will be a different mummy as well.
Certainly makes line breeding impossible in a colony situation.

Cheers
Brett

So question is, Brett: do I care about getting exact colors or do I want them in a more natural larger environment? I prefer the latter. So I should use SPLIT bands so I can put them on their legs AFTER their first molt so I know their colors because Kate might have snuck into June and William's nest and laid an egg and, if so, one of the babies might NOT be 'split to blue' because they both ARE blue!

I have a few friends who want babies and they are saying 'I want black head and blue back' etc. Well, I'm not going to go that route. I think I'm going to forget about all of that and just let them AND US be happy with the unique critters we end up with. I again, appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge!

Jess