Lady Gouldian Finches | Breeding

Meadowlark Farms

Lady Gouldian Finches - Breeding Condition

Before you start breeding your birds, you'll need time to prepare them.
It is imperative, for your birds health and breeding success, that you do not breed them
if they are not properly prepared.

Read the information below to get an idea of how to prepare your birds to breed!

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Maturity is the first thing to consider! Before you get too carried away, you want to make sure you have a very
healthy pair of birds that get along well with one another. For the best chance of success, they should be AT
LEAST a year old, but preferably two years old. Breeding issues all seem to revolve around maturity or lack thereof
in the breeding pair. If the hen is too young, she could experience egg binding - a potentially deadly health problem,
or she might toss eggs and/or chicks. A young cock bird, in his eagerness to impress the hen, may try to continue
building the nest right over the top of the eggs! Young birds may feel there is an invader in the nest once the chicks
hatch, and toss them. If you wait until they are mature, you should avoid many of these issues!

NUTRITION FOR SUCCESS

LIGHT, HEAT & HUMIDITY

CHOOSING A BREEDING SEASON

A diet to prepare for breeding should be high in protein, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Protein can be found in
many of their seeds, but not in the amounts they require to prepare their bodies for the rigors of the breeding season. For additional
protein, they should be offered insects, boiled egg, universal or egg food, and dark green leafy vegetables. Soaked seed and sprouts
also give them the additional nutrients they need - you want to get your birds used to these items as they will then feed them to their
young!

They should be given a multi-vitamin supplement (administered in the water), and ample amounts of calcium and iodine. You may
choose to offer oyster shell, grit, and trace elements in a treat cup.

"In nature, the reproductive season is triggered by a change in the photoperiod (as hours of daylight
lengthen) coupled with the availability of food. Gouldian finches inhabit an area where they usually breed
when adequate grass and seeds of other plants, as well as insects are available..."
Matthew M. Vriends, PhD, 1937

To bring your birds into breeding condition, you'll need to adjust their feed several months in advance. For instance, if
you begin your breeding season in January, as I do, you'll want to begin feeding them a breeding diet in October. The
breeding season usually ends for me here in July as the last of my chicks fledge. At this time, the adult birds are given
their resting diet and usually begin their annual molt.

Light - Lady Gouldians need 15+ hours of sunlight to trigger their breeding instincts. If you use timers on your lights, you can gradually
adjust the lighting over time to have them ready to breed when YOU want them to breed! My timers are set so that each timer goes on
within 15 minutes of each other. The first set of lights go on at 4:45 a.m., the rest of the lights come on at 5:00 and 5:15 a.m. They
begin go off at 8:00 p.m, again at 15 minute intervals. These settings allow the birds to wake up slowly and, at night, find a place too
roost without going to total darkness all at once. Near the end of July to mid August, I being to change the timers so that one goes off
1/2 hour sooner, while the rest stay the same until I've brought them down to a consistent 12 hour day.

Heat - I have always allowed my bird room to acclimate to the outside temperature of my area - I leave a window open at all times
unless the temperature is below 60 degrees. In the winter months, when I first begin to pair them, I use an electric space heater to keep
the room at least 68 degrees. My birds do not seem to mind the cooler temperatures and breed well, even though many breeders will
tell you to keep your birds between 70 and 75 degrees. I have never kept them at the very high temperatures discussed by other
breeders. I feel the normal household temperatures are better for the birds, and for new owners once they purchase them.

Humidity - Here is where we get a little sticky (no pun intended). Goulds do need humidity, but not necessarily the "tropical" humidity
they would receive in the wild. Humidity is important to ensure a successful breeding season. The birds also need it to keep in good
skin and feather. It is also highly important for the eggs. Chicks attempting to hatch in an overly dry environment may have difficulty as
the egg membranes dry out faster while they attempt to leave the shell. For best success, the breeding room should not have less than
55% humidity. You might want to keep a humidifier on hand if you decide to breed your birds mid-winter when your furnace is running,
or if you have no way to keep central air conditioning from drying out your bird room.

If you follow the steps above in the Light, Heat & Humidity section and have a little patience, you can pretty much choose your own
breeding season. You'll want to know the birth dates of your birds, and you'll want to know when they last had a full molt. You can
slowlybegin adjusting them to breed on YOUR schedule, but it takes time, especially if it is different from the aviary in which they were
born.

Australia is nearly opposite in terms of seasons in the US, so it is important that if you attempt to breed your birds on YOUR schedule,
you take ample time to prepare them. It took my very first pair well over two years to adjust to my schedule. Once I began breeding
them, I took additional time to prepare their young. Because of this, I had several breeding pairs raising clutches at different times of
the year. BUT, once I began to use timers, the birds reverted back to their internal clocks. Now I have all but a few pairs breeding on
their own time.

Have patience and prepare them carefully, and you should have no problems getting them to breed and raise one successful clutch
after another (but please limit them to no more than 3 clutches per hen, per season!)

A FINAL WORD

It is so very important that your birds are 1.) Mature, 2.) In good breeding condition, and 3.) Fed the appropriate nutrients to get their
bodies ready for the rigors of the breeding season. If you are not certain of the age of your birds, or if you are not sure what they have
been fed previous to your owning them, give them a season off. In other words, prepare them carefully! Take the time to do it right so
that you have a successful breeding season!

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