| As the name implies, this diet is used during both breeding and molting, is MUCH higher in protein and approximates the fruitful wet season in the wild. It gives the birds the much needed protein, vitamins and minerals required to lay eggs, raise chicks, and replace feathers. This diet will last approximately 6 months out of the year - 4 breeding, 2 molting. But again, it will depend on your birds. I only allow my birds 3 clutches per season, and sometimes if I feel they aren't able, will not even allow them that many. You'll have to pay attention and "listen" to what they tell you! They may take longer to molt, or may have chicks in the nest longer than other pairs. Adjust accordingly! I usually start the breeding diet October 1st - again, giving or taking a week depending on what I see from my birds. I don’t pair the birds at this time, but give them the breeding diet in same sex flights to allow them to build their stores. I keep them separate until I have given them a full month of this diet. In most cases, I am able to pair my birds by November 1st. However, I still do not give them a nest box. I use this period to observe my birds and make certain they are compatible and accept each other well. I want perfectly compatible pairs. This will ensure good breeding results. This also gives both the hens and cocks time to "ramp up". The breeding hormones will come into full swing, making them readily breed once I introduce a nest box. Right around December 1st, I finally introduce the nest boxes, again paying close attention to how they respond to both the box and each other. They typically "breed" here until about late March mid April. Figure 65-70 days per clutch, including weaning, which puts us at about mid to late June when I pull the last of the nest boxes. My birds typically molt from early June to late July - occasionally longer depending on when they finished breeding. Chicks from the last clutch of the season are often the last birds molting. They remain on the breed/molt diet until they are fully colored - usually by the time they are about 4 months of age. Once weaned, they are moved into juvenile same sex flights so that I can continue offering the molting diet without affecting the parent birds. Some birds go directly into the molt after breeding and therefore stay on the breeding/molting diet. If they do not immediately begin to molt, I will give them the Austere diet for 2 weeks to drop them out of condition and attempt to induce a molt, then place them on the resting diet until they begin to molt. Once they begin the molt, I return them to the breed/molt diet. |
| Meadowlark Farms Avian Supply, Inc. 2006-2012 © All rights Reserved. |
| Having problems viewing this site? Contact the webmaster and let us know. |
| Meadowlark Farms Gouldian Breeding Schedules |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |
| Regardless of what foods and supplements you feed, Gouldians and other Australian finches have 3 very different seasons. Each of these seasons performs a function which will be described below. Should you choose to follow these schedules, you must adjust them to your own aviary. Each new cycle or season will begin at a different time for any given aviary and dependent upon environmental factors such as the amount of natural light your birds receive, the time of year they were born, when they last went through a full molt, etc. It will also depend on the nutrition they've been given up to this point. There is no such thing as instant gratification with Gouldians. Everything you do with them must be slow and sure. Patience is indeed a Virtue with these birds, so go slow and convert them carefully! Read on to see my schedules and how I go about getting them there! |
| Austerity is designed to emulate the severe conditions in the wild during the dry season. It serves a distinct function both in the wild and in captivity. Because our captive birds do not receive the same amount of exercise as birds in the wild, our breed, molt and resting diets leave them a bit tubby after all the rich foods. Austerity helps to remedy that situation. It drops them out of condition, helps them to drop any extra weight they may have gained during breeding, molting and resting, and shrinks their reproductive organs so that once the breeding diet begins, they come into condition all at the same time. Here, I typically begin austerity immediately following the end of the resting period, and immediately prior to the breeding season - which for my birds is right around September 1st - give or take a week or so. Austerity lasts approximately 4 weeks. I say "approximately" because on occasion 4 weeks is sometimes too long for birds who were not bred the prior season and don't have all that extra weight, or not long enough for those birds who put on the chub during breeding. I adjust this diet to meet the needs of my birds. A fat bird won't breed well (and may not breed at all), while a thin one won't have enough stores to handle the rigors of breeding. During this period, the birds receive NO supplements, NO greens or wet foods - nothing but plain Austere seed, water, and mineral grit. No, it's not cruel and no, it won't kill them. They won't like it and may fluff a bit, but if they are genetically and physically sound, they will get through it with nothing more than perhaps a ticked off attitude! Your seed mix should consist of canary grass seed, rye grass, white millet and/or Japanese millet – or similar seeds with low protein and carb content. Again, they may not like you very much at this point and may hang on the cage bars begging for their richer diet, but don't pay any heed! Stick to your guns unless you feel something else is wrong. Mixing the resting seed into the austere is like changing dog foods – you want to mix the two kinds until they are completely on the seed you want them to be eating. You are slowly weaning them, so to speak. No worries, they may not like it, but they’ll survive! |
| Breeding/Molting |
| Austerity |
| Think of it as starting with a clean slate! I do, so this is where I'll begin our journey! |
| Resting |
| Resting is a time in which the birds have come down off of the high breeding hormones and are starting to find waning nutrition in the field. This is when we begin to lessen their protein intake and slow down their gain. The resting diet is similar to the breed/molt, but with less dark oily seed and fewer supplements such as soft food, greens or chit. If they are receiving the BRU diets, they will only receive the soft food, which is sprinkled daily over dry seed. Again, I wean them off the breed/molt diet by mixing small amounts of the breed/molt seed into my resting mix to approximate nature. Only birds who are not molting or breeding will be on this diet. I use it approximately 5 months out of the year and typically start it around the end of June to August - again, adjusting accordingly to fit the birds needs and cycle. |
In the wild -
- Breeding/Molting diet - during and into the rainy season - rich with high protein from milky seed heads, new plant growth and insects.
- Resting diet - seeds head have begun to dry, lowering the amount protein intake, new growth is firmly established but beginning to wane.
- Austerity diet - dry season - dried seed heads are now far and few between. Birds are hard pressed to find food.
In captivity -
- Breeding/Molting diet - rich with both vegetable and animal protein, high in calcium and minerals.
- Resting diet - a "weaning" of sorts to get the birds transitioned off that rich diet and onto a less fattening one in preparation for what
would be the dry season in the wild. - Austerity diet - a very plain diet with little to no protein other than what they gain from the austerity seed.
| When I begin each new diet, I mix small amounts of seed from the PREVIOUS diet in with the new so that the birds transition well. I only do this for about a week, sometimes two depending on the situation. This ensures the birds are slowly moved from one cycle to the next. Nature doesn't just turn on and off, it is a transitional progression. I try to simulate nature and do the same thing here. It's sometimes hard to know when to start transitioning them, but if you are able to "listen" to your birds, you'll know when you should begin to change their diet. |
| Throughout the year, I run the birds through quarterly quarantine procedures. This is modified from what I normally tell folks when purchasing new birds. Here, my quarantine procedures typically run in January, April, July, and October. Because I cannot prove that air sac mites do or do not remain dormant in the birds' posterior air sacs, I give treat them with Moxidectin (Scatt topically, or the water soluble form) and a treatment of Ivermection (either S76 or Iverlux). Because they are seed eating birds and seeds can contain the intermediary hosts worms require to propagate, I worm them at this time as well. Societies and African birds are run through Ronivet. It is my theory that protozoa too can remain dormant in the birds' system and will only present themselves when the birds immune system is lowered. With that said, here are my procedures -
• Wormer - 1 day (the day AFTER I finish the Ivermectin) and repeated in exactly 1 week - Next round is alternated with Moxidectin. • Ronivet – 7 days, but usually only if humidity is high. I always run a crop wash and fecals first to determine necessity. No other medications are given unless absolutely necessary. I don't panic if a bird's droppings get funny. I merely watch them for a couple of days to see if they return to normal. If they do not, I then scope droppings and assess the overall health. If I determine the bird requires medication, I will then only give that medication if I feel the bird will die. Otherwise, I allow the bird to build up immunity to the disease, watching carefully for any changes. Certain disease processes absolutely require medication, but I still try to allow the bird to build up immunity and heal itself. Heat lamps are made available and citric acid in the form of Megamix, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, or Citric Acid Crystals are added to the water to lower the pH of the water making it inhospitable to bacterium and bugs. No cures with any of these, merely a help to allow the bird handle the issue on its own. |
| Supercharging for good breeding results and glorious feathers... |
| Quarterly Quarantine |
| And that pretty much sums up a year at Meadowlark Farms! |