 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
-
Description
Male: The breast and belly colours are usually used to
determine sex. Males will have a brighter and darker colour of purple on
the chest and the yellow of the belly will be darker and more intense
than the female. The green back colour and the light blue around the face
mask is also darker. Often the face mask in males are larger and clearer
than the females, but is not always the case as their are some strains
of birds that have equal colour in both sex's face mask. The males will
also sing a nearly inaudible song while stretching and hopping on the
perch. They will usually begin this song long before they have completed
their molt into adult colours.
Female: The
female has more subdued colours on her chest, belly and back. The
female's beak will turn from a pearly white to black when she is in
breeding condition.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
-
Diet
The Gouldian has a real preference for the large white
millets and will scatter most of the small seeds in a standard finch
mix, so I offer them a parakeet mix. They can be somewhat timid about
trying new foods but can generally be enticed to take egg food (Roy's
egg food), greens and soaked Japanese millet, though I rarely feed the
latter two. Grit and calcium in the form of crushed egg and oyster
shells and cuttlebone should always be available to them. Many will only
occasionally nibble on the cuttlebone, but I still offer it to them.
Crushed oyster and egg shells are by far their favourites for calcium
intake which really seems higher than most other species. Gouldians also
seem to have a greater dietary need for iodine. Insufficient iodine in
their diet often results in a loss of feathers around their head. Once
the iodine is increased, the feathers will most likely regrow. Most
vitamin and mineral supplements include iodine in their mix, but if you
find that this is insufficient for their needs you can supplement the
iodine through their water. Kelp iodine sources can be purchased at
health food stores or there are other sources for iodine such as the
disinfectant Vanodine V-18. Remember this is dietary iodine and not the
kind used for would care. Potassium Iodine is the source you should be
looking for.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
-
Breeder's Notes
Previous reports on Gouldians [Finches] makes them appear to be temperamental and
difficult breeders that require near hot house environments. The current
state of the Gouldian is such that it can nearly be considered a
domesticated species and by some definitions, is a fully domesticated
species. I believe that some of their previous delicate nature was due
to their breeder's treatment of them. They looked delicate, were raised
delicately and died if treated differently. My Gouldians are in an
unheated bird room that routinely drops to below 40 degrees F in the
winter and up to 100 degrees in the hottest days of the summer. Since
they have not changed their breeding cycle from the wild, they will
breed from October through March or April, with the majority of the
breeding activity in December through January - the coldest months of
the year. They are ready breeders that will raise young in small cages
and planted aviaries alike. I use the same individual breeding cages
that I use for my Zebra finches (Small breeder) (How to build an all
wire cage) with a standard finch box placed inside. The Gouldians like
the box that I use with an entrance at the top (nestbox). This allows
them to get down low in the box and hide. They are not master nest
builders by any means and will use mostly rough materials with softer
materials being ignored or even ejected if it is placed in the box. The
male will take on the majority of the nest building chores by bringing
material to the nest. The female will rearrange the material to her
liking.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
-
Gouldians will lay
surprising large clutches of eggs. They average 5-8 eggs, but larger
clutches are not that unusual. Incubation will normally begin pretty
early with some starting after the first egg or two. The pair will share
incubation duties during the day, but quite often the male will stay
outside during the night. This actually isn't that surprising since
Gouldians are not a 'clumping' species. That is to say the pair will sit
side-by-side or clump together with each other or others of their
species. After 13-14 days of incubation the young begin to hatch. They
are small, pink and lack any fuzz. They are easily identified by the
light-reflecting nodes at the corners of their mouth (see mouth
markings). The pair will take turn brooding the young with the male
remaining outside during the night. After about 10 to 14 days, depending
upon the size of the clutch, the female will also begin sleeping outside
the box at night. This may seem early since the chicks have barely
started to get pin feathers, but they seem to be just fine even if the
night time temperatures move down to the low
30's. I think it is important to have lights on for an active period of
about 14 to 15 hours. If raised outdoors, the long winter nights may be
too long for the chicks to go without food. Especially if it is cold.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
-
The chicks will
fledge at approximately 22-25 days. At this point they will be a dusky
green with a buff belly (see juveniles). Once the chicks fledge, many
will not return to the nest at night, but will stay out with the
parents. This is variable. It seems that if the parents return to roost
in the nest, then the chicks will return with them. The parents will
continue to feed the chicks for an additional 2-3 weeks. During this
time, the female will usually begin to lay another clutch of eggs. It
has always been my practice to remove any clutches of eggs that are laid
before the previous clutch has been weaned. This is to give the parents
a little break to build up some body reserves before they begin feeding
another clutch of young and quite often incubation is sporadic, the
young soil the eggs and the hatch rate is far lower than usual. This
clutch of removed eggs can easily be fostered to Society finches for
them to raise. After the young are weaned and removed from the parents,
the pair will usually lay another full clutch of eggs and incubate and
raise that that clutch normally.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
-
The
young, sometimes referred to as 'greens', can take up to 9 months to
fully molt into adult plumage. Usually though, they are complete within
4-6 months depending upon temperature. Some breeders report higher than
usual losses from their Gouldians as they molt into adult colours and
that this is due to their 'higher' protein requirement. I have not found
this to be the case and suffer no greater losses from young Gouldians
than my Zebra finches. They do have a higher protein requirement than a
Zebra, but this is not that unusual. It is the Zebra and Society finch
that has an unusually low protein requirement. Given the proper diet
which includes proteins and fats as well as the carbohydrates from their
seeds, young Gouldians are hardy birds.
|
-
Purchase AVG
Buy AVG products online in our secure Online Store. Payment methods
include credit card (Visa, MasterCard/Eurocard, American Express, JCB
and Diners Club are accepted), wire transfer, checks and more.
|
 |
