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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:00:51 GMT -6
FinchG on 29th October 2011, 11:58 am I got 2 pairs of Gouldians on June 7, 2011 from a lady on craigs list. They are all normal green backs, one pair are black heads and one pair red heads. The black heads started a clutch on 7/21 and laid 5 eggs but they didn't sit and the parents tossed the eggs, one by one I would see them on the floor of the cage. There nest is a deep wicker basket that I cut the handles off of, I used this deep basket so they couldn't toss, I would really like to have seen how they got the egg out of the basket, do they pick it up in their claws or roll it up the side of the basket and over? I also have another deep basket in there for the other two Gouldians, red heads, but it seemed that were not interested. But after I covered the tops in more greenery they liked it. I saw eggs again in the black heads nest but this time they took turns sitting, so I kept trying to watch and try and catch both out of the nest for over 2 weeks but they didn't budge. The females sat at night while the male slept across the cage. I check the floor of the cage all the time to make sure I didn't see eggs or babies laying there. I kept thinking its been over two weeks if they were going to hatch they would by now. Today I thought I would take a chance and peek and I got to see my first two fat gouldians in the nest.  Now I will be really worried and watching them constantly, they still have eggs in there and the babies looked like they were two days old, but it was a fast look so I can't be sure . I have not peeked inside the red heads nest because the male is so protective of it, but I may try later today. Heres hoping and  that they all survive.  FinchG |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:01:38 GMT -6
29th October 2011, 12:19 pm I just thought of something, if I peek, which means scaring a parent off the nest, to see if the chicks are being fed I run the risk of the parents not going back to the nest. If I don't peek how will I know the chicks are being fed?
All the reading I have done I should know this but at the moment I am having a "hatchling fog" from just seeing the two new ones. |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:05:05 GMT -6
The fog is clearing, since the two I saw in the nest look like there being fed, I should not worry as much until I see the parents staying out of the nest or see a tossling.
Comments are welcome. 29th October 2011, 1:20 pm I can not believe that I just saw a dead hatchling on the cage floor. After just writing that I saw the 2 babies and not 30 minutes later I see this one, it looked older than two days, it was a little smashed, this is so sad.
After I seen this I looked in the red pairs basket and saw tiny babies but I still couldn't see that good to see how many were in there. It didn't look like they were as big as the tossed one.
I thought I was being so smart in getting those deep baskets but they out smarted me.
The next ones I get will be the boxes that hang on the outside so I can look in better, and this is still the issue once you look you spook the parents no matter what kind of nest you get. But with these I could get a better idea of what's going on inside. 29th October 2011, 4:52 pm I just checked the red heads nest and there were so many I couldn't count them fast enough, they all had there mouths open looking up at my flash light. From the looks of it the tossed one had to be the black heads because it was bigger than the red heads. I didn't look long enough to see if their crops were full, the parents went back in as soon as I left from the cage. on 30th October 2011, 12:38 pm Today I had to take the red head male gouldian out of the cage. For some reason this morning the female red head was chasing him out of their nest and chasing him all over the cage, but he would keep going back and she would come out charging at him. I kept watching them all morning and finally was afraid to leave him in the cage.
So he is in a cage by himself and she comes out to eat and then goes right back in the nest. I did get a better look this morning while she was out and it looks like 5 babies and all had their mouths open.
The black heads are ok but it looks like only baby that I could see and its bigger than the red's babies, there are eggs in there but judging from the size of the baby they will not hatch and I know this was there baby that was tossed yesterday.. |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:06:13 GMT -6
1st November 2011, 8:11 am  My red head female gouldian is taking care of the hatchlings by herself. She comes out of the nest and eats fast then goes right back to feed the "kids" and I can hear them begging. There begging sounds different than my societies. She took a bath on Sunday in the water dish, her whole body went in, up to her breast and went right back to the nest wet, that worried me with the babies getting wet when she went back in. Monday when she took her bath she at least took time to dry a little. She seems to eat a lot of the collard greens and goes in the nest, wondering why she would just feed this to the hatchlings. Then her next trip maybe just seeds, then some oyster shells, than later in the day egg food. It looks like egg food is her last choice. She doesn't seem to miss her mate and he isn't calling to her, yesterday she started chasing the black head male not sure why, maybe he got to close to her nest. The black head female is fine with her male and they are taking turns in the nest but I think they only have two that I can see. My black heads are a lot more calmer than the reds, the red male was always chasing somebody when he was in the bigger cage. |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:07:16 GMT -6
4th November 2011, 7:39 am My red head gouldian would not sleep in the nest last night. The babies are about 6 days old, I do not know the exact day of hatching, but when I checked the nest they looked maybe a day old. I removed the male on Sunday,10/30/11 and she has been feeding and sitting until last night. Thoughts:  Will the babies be ok during the night?, they are in a flight cage in my house, I have the heat set at 65 in the house, I also have a towel hanging behind and on the side of the nest. This morning when lights came on she went in to feed them and I heard the babies, will this work even if she is not sitting at night? Not sure why she would quit sitting, I heard her call to the male twice yesterday but she can't see him and he is in another room plus he did not call back. Nothing has changed as far as food supply. The black head is still sitting on her two babies and they are older, the male hardley goes in the nest the past few days, so she is probably on her own now. I have a pair of societies in the same cage but they don't have a nest in there, after their last clutch I removed it. They don't go to the side of the cage where the gouldians nests are. How would I get the societies to take over if needed. Would I have to move the babies and their nest to the societies side in order to even get them to notice the babies? Would I have to take out the red head? Would the black heads feed them even though their two babies are bigger? I thought about putting the red head father back in but he doesn't sit in the nest at night, but he did sit during the day, or would this cause a bigger problem? FinchG  |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:12:17 GMT -6
18th November 2011, 9:11 am My BH Gouldian baby left the nest yesterday and did some exploring, beofre lights out I put him back in the nest, he is the only surviving BH. This morning he was out again and trying his wings. After about an hour I didn't see him in the cage and I noticed his mom looking and beeping for him. I looked in his nest and in the greenery but nothing. Then finally I looked in the RH nest with 4 or 5 babies ready to fledge and there he was. Their nest is covered with fake flowers so its kinda hard to find an entrance but he found it. I moved some of the flowers so he could see out and his mom could see him in there. Now the BH mom started to feed him in the RH's nest as soon as I moved the flowers, but the RH mom isn't too happy about the BH invading her nest but she decided to let BH feed her chick. I did not know that a fledgeling would go into another nest with other unrelated fledglings, but I guess he was lonely. Will both females feed each others chicks?  I guess I will find out as the day progresses and will the BH chick come back out or stay in the nest with his new friends? Stay tuned for "As The Finch Turns"  FinchG |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:19:10 GMT -6
18th November 2011, 1:52 pm The little BH visitor is still in the RH's nest with his friends. It looks like both the RH and BH are taking turns feeding the one fledgling and the others that will fledge this weekend. The BH female feeds while the RH is eating and sometime the RH chases the BH around if she is still in the nest when the RH goes to feed, but so far so good. I feel sorry for the BH because she wants her chick to come out from the RH nests but he is not budging. I think I will call him/her "Sassy" because he won't listen to his mom to come out of the nest  . |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:19:48 GMT -6
19th November 2011, 7:11 am 11/19/2011 Today Sassy, the BH fledgling came out of the RH's nest but it seems to be causing a big problem with both moms. The RH seems to think that Sassy is hers now since she was in her nest and the BH knows it her chick so the two are chasing each other away from Sassy. The BH is guarding Sassy on a perch and the RH keeps flying over to them and flying away, but she is not going in her own nest, she just keeps flying back and forth. I may have to put the BH and her fledgling in a seperate cage if things don't calm down soon. Update: Sassy went back in the RH's nest and the two moms are feeding them all.  Peace had been restored for now, stay tuned to "As The Finch Turns" for the next episode. Or check your local Fnch listings for the time.  I got a good look in the RH nest this morning I moved more of the flowers back so they could see out better and there are 5 in her nest ready to fledge. and Sassy - black head FinchG |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:21:27 GMT -6
20th November 2011, 8:53 am One RH fledged this morning, 8:30 am, both moms were at the feeder but the RH ignored her fledgling and the BH feed him. Does the RH mom think her job is done once they fledge? BH mom is feeding both fledglings.
The BH is a lot bigger than the RH for fledging 3 days apart. 21st November 2011, 7:33 am RH #2 fledged today and both moms are feeding them. The RH will feed her fledglings now, but not Sassy, the BH. The BH mom feeds all of them, fledglings and the one still in the RH nest.
The fledglings go back and forth to the nest and sleep in there at night with the others that will be fledging soon.
The good thing about taking the males out is that I don't have to worry about them wanting to breed again while the fledglings are still in the nest and I can leave the nest in there for them to sleep in. |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:32:17 GMT -6
25th November 2011, 7:22 am  All SIX RH nestlings FLEDGED TODAY.  (To the RH mom for raising them by herself  To the BH mom for raising her one fledling and help in feeding the six RH fledlings. The last two RH fledlings are a lot smaller than the others, but they are getting fed now that I can watch them since they are out of the nest. I am sure while they were still in the nest the other 4 RH babies got the most food. In my case it worked out leaving the two females and the babies in the cage and taking out the males. The BH really took some of the burden of feeding off of the RH so she wouldn't be feeding 6 fledings alone. Its hard for me to beleive that the RH had 6 babies and then to raise them without the male is amazing. Both females will be getting a nice rest after this.  FinchG |
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Post by FinchG on Mar 27, 2013 12:46:00 GMT -6
26th November 2011, 6:42 am The last two fledglings that came out of the nest yesterday 11/25, are so much smaller that the others, I am trying to get a picture of them sitting with the others to show the difference. They stay on the bottom of the cage and getting fed but I don't think they get as much as the bigger ones. Yesterday afternoon I put them both on the perch of the seed trough so they would get fed more and that helped a lot. I watched while one of their bigger fledglings tried to feed them. The bigger fledgling kept looking into the smaller one's open beak and then I saw it try to feed it. I don't know if it actually got food into the little one but it looked like it was doing it like the mother does. The smallest of the two does not fly yet but he hops around the bottom and can get on a dish in the bottom, it looks like I will have to put him back on the seed trough so he can get fed more. Last night I put them both back in the nest for the night and they came out on there own this morning.
The other fledgings are eating seed now but still begging when they see mom.
I have never handfed before and don't have anything here that I could use but I am so tempted to take the smallest one and try it. I will watch and see how they do this morning. 5th February 2012, 7:46 am All 7 juveniles are doing fine and I am waiting for their colors to come in. They are eating egg food, kelp, oyster shells, grated mineral block & cuttle bone, greens and two kinds of seed. They really eat a lot of the oyster shells which I offer in a seperate seed cup. I have pictures posted on the forum and the story of the smallest one is posted under
"My Name Is Six"
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