Is every one else's gouldians breeding badly

[TheFinchMan101]

This season I have to admit has been pretty bad for my gouldian finches, I have three breeding pairs in a large aviary and yet only 1 pair has had a clutch of 4 babies and thats it, I know one of my males is infertile and I plan on replacing him later on the year, so that gives me some hope, I mean their all in breeding condition as well but the weather must be putting them off or something. So I was just wondering if everyone else's gouldians have been breeding as poorly as mine.

[matcho]

Finchman,
I had a shocker of a start, mainly because of the really hot then wet weather here in Sydney. Had heat, ant, ASM problems etc etc.Chicks kicked out, tried hand raising, ended in tears. Weather settled down so I wormed, ASM treatment and now am going fairly well. 2 nests fledged, weaned so far. Have 2 nests nearly fledged plus two other nest with just hatched. 4 out of 5 pairs active at the moment and I think the other pair have a nest somewhere. It wasn't just goulds, my painteds have caused me a sh..t load of grief this season. Cant count the amount of chicks on the floor, once again tried the hand raise thing but the minie foxie put paid to that. Presently have 2 nests with chicks/eggs. Stars have just started and due to fledge in the next couple of days. Jus Deb has made many comments along the same lines. Some have been lucky, some not...like me and you. I dont think I'll do too bad but not as good as expected considering they have just been rehoused this season in the Hilton compared to last years hovel they lived in.

Dont worry, there's always next year... or maybe another species?

Matcho

[jusdeb]

Just from talking to other breeders and watching what happens in here it has been a bad year for a lot of different breeds this year .
The weather seems to have the birds a bit confused .

[gouldianpaul]

I've had moderate success also this year....3 out of the 7 pairs not interested...hens laying plenty of eggs, but nothing. 2 pairs are on their second round, whilst 1 pair has their second clutch of young...the first clutch were abandoned at 2 days old...i suspect the hen cracked it when i inspected her nest (first year hen)....I know of a breeder who successfully breeds heaps of strong, health gouldians each year...this year has been a disaster for him.....I believe the cold weather (here in melbourne) is stopping the birds from starting their breeding....I have tried taking nest boxes out...seperating cocks/hens for a while...but the 3 pairs who have not gone to nest continue to just not show much interest in breeding....just a pile of eggs....I will perserve, but for those who don't breed I hope to encourage them to go into their moult as early as possible and hopefully start next season by mid Feb....not the second week in March as I did this year...I feel the key is to get them ready and going early, but to avoid the late hot summer period...cheers, Paul

[Misso]

have the other birds just not paired up? or have they laid eggs and there infertile?, or have they hatched and you have lost them due to cold etc? each yr throws different challengers to a breeder, each yr i try new things and learn from them.

i probs started my gouldians too late in the yr, have a few on the perch with some in the nest due to fledge and a nest with 1 babie just hatched today so hopefully more from that nest. i dont like to breed my gouldians through winter so might see how these last few nests go then take the boxes out and give them a break.

if there new birds it may take them awhile to settle in, plus i remember you brought some new gouldians lately, they may have disturbed the current birds in the aviary?

[gouldianpaul]

HI MIsso..I got back into Gouldians this season...so I got all my birds by late December...all birds were in breeding condition by early March, but those who haven't produced any young have just been laying eggs...cocks displaying, but I have not seen any of these cock birds inside the nests...I agree that Melbourne's winter is not a great time for gouldians to breed....I will also pull the boxes on those who haven't started breeding...what time will you pull your boxes out?...cheers, Paul

[Brett]

So what time of year do they breed

[Romanus]

Hi. My year has been pretty bad as well. Lost 2 clutches because of the little heat wave we had here in Adelaide early January. Then 2 out of my 3 pairs produced clutches of 4 and 5. The other just laid eggs and abandoned them. Now all have stopped. I'm putting it down to the weather, although my stars are are about to have their second nest fledge. I've almost given up for the year, but i have noticed the hen checking out one of the nests fingers crossed. I usually put the nest boxes in early January and take them out again June/July.

[cranberry]

Up and down year so far for me. I've had 16 fledge and lost around a dozen in the nest to ants a little while ago when we had a bit of warm weather. There are another 5 in another nest and I'm sure some of the other pairs have gone down again. This year has been way better than last year though and I've also managed to fluke 2 yellows so all in all quite happy. I might let them go until August and then pull the boxes out. They did start in January so I reckon 7-8 months of breeding might be enough for them.

[Jayburd]

mine are singing like mad.

what do you mean infertile? there are a number of ways to reconcile this.