Question:
As beautiful as they are, gouldian are not best known for their parenting skills. Your best bet would be to foster the eggs to a pair of zebra finches: they are inexpensive (a pair will cost you about $20) and are probably the best breeders and parents in the finch family. It’s not absolutely necessary that the zebras be parents already, although it would help. Trust me, zebras will mate, lay eggs, brood them and hatched with no problems whatsoever. Give it a try with the zebra finches! Best of Luck, Marco, Sweet Chicks Handfeeding Nursery, Jackson, MI – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >My pair of Lady Gouldian finches have just laid a pair of eggs. I’ve read >that they can be fairly poor parents, and that it is not uncommon to use >Society or Zebra finches to foster the eggs. Do the Societies or Zebras >have to be a breeding pair that have already parented? I don’t have either >of these type of birds, so what should I do now?
Response:
Gouldians typically do not even start sitting their eggs until they have laid the majority of the clutch (usually around egg 4). Freshly laid eggs can be safely held for about a week at room temperature prior to beginning incubation so long as the room’s humidity is relatively high (50 – 70%). Once incubation has begun, it should not be interrupted. If you don’t already have societies or zebras that are at least paired and bonded, it is probably too late to consider fostering this clutch, unless you know someone that has a pair that are bonded. It isn’t necessary that the fosters have their own eggs, as they will often start sitting eggs placed in their nest, but it is much more likely if they are already on eggs. Birds that have already parented are even more likely to work out well for you. Even same-sex pairs, or mixed-sex trios often make good foster parents. I believe that societies are a little more stable and less flighty as fosters than zebras, but many have very good luck using zebras as fosters. For a lot of good Gouldian info, try checking out http://www.gouldians.com . If you will look under the "husbandry" section, you will find a useful article on fostering. Bob – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >My pair of Lady Gouldian finches have just laid a pair of eggs. I’ve read
Response:
My pair of Lady Gouldian finches have just laid a pair of eggs. I’ve read that they can be fairly poor parents, and that it is not uncommon to use Society or Zebra finches to foster the eggs. Do the Societies or Zebras have to be a breeding pair that have already parented? I don’t have either of these type of birds, so what should I do now?
Response:
>My pair of Lady Gouldian finches have just laid a pair of eggs. I’ve read >that they can be fairly poor parents, and that it is not uncommon to use >Society or Zebra finches to foster the eggs. Do the Societies or Zebras >have to be a breeding pair that have already parented? I don’t have either >of these type of birds, so what should I do now?
It has been my limited experience that you cannot tell if the parents are tending their young after hatching by observing the crop. I usually end up switching the eggs to a nest of societies with eggs already in their nest. I usually resort to this after a failed attempt by the parents to raise their young.. Kara http://www.angelfire.com/tn/owlfinches/index.html
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