24/5/20
The three cock birds in the picture from the previous post were sold last week as were the four birds in cage 7/8 and Cage 9/10.
All these birds were Normal Gouldians and generally 12 months old, so should be good for breeding next year with their new owners.
10/5/20
We moved the hen bird from Cage 9/10 yesterday into a hospital cage as we suspected she may had had a chill. We are keeping her inside at present to see if the improved temperature helps.
We removed 7 eggs that had been laid sporadically by the hen in Cage 7/8 today. Clearly being close to the house does not suit this pair that were previously in Aviary 3.
A pic of the three Normal cock birds in Cage 11/12 are below.
20/4/20
In Cage 7/8 we added a Normal Gouldian pair from Aviary 3 after they abandoned their two hatchlings during the week. The pair who were previously in Cage 7/8 (a pair of split Blue/Yellow birds), have been moved to Aviary 2 for now to see if that improves their prospects of breeding this season.
In Cage 9/10 we have the Normal Gouldian pair we moved from Aviary 3 last week and in Cage 11/12, three ‘spare’ Normal Gouldians.
All these birds are likely to be sold when social distancing rules are relaxed here in Melbourne.
11/4/20
Not so good news from the pair in Cage 11/12 with three dead hatchlings as per pic below. As a result, we have moved the pair into Aviary 3 where we think they will be less stressed and inclined to abandon their day old hatchlings (which they have done twice this season). We now have three Normal Gouldians cock birds we swapped out of Aviaries 1 and 3 in Cage 11/12.
The pair in Cage 7/8 are likely to find themselves ‘swapped’ into a cage in the backyard in the next 24-48 hours as the hen bird in this pair has never settled since we purchased her in early Jan of this year. Clearly the position of Cage 7/8 being close to the back door of the house has not worked for this pair.
In Cage 9/10 we now have a pair of Normal Gouldians we moved today from Aviary 3. We are not that concerned if they breed any further this season as we already have more than enough Normal fledglings this season!
6/4/20
We found an eggshell on the cage floor of Cage 11/12 today. In this cage the birds are incubating 4 eggs in NB12 which are due to hatch this week, so we suspect we have a hatchling already due to the eggshell we found.
3/4/20
In a bid to get something ‘going’ for the hen bird in Cage 7/8, we replaced the cock bird, a Normal split Blue with a spare SF Pastel Green split Blue. We may have hit the jackpot as the pair were in NB8 earlier today.
The news gets even better with the pair in Cage 9/10 who have both been in/out of NB9 the last few days.
Meanwhile in Cage 11/12, the pair of Australian Yellow birds continue to incubate the 4 eggs in their second brood (the first brood ended with a couple of dead hatchlings).
28/3/20
Still no eggs with the pairs in Cages 7-10 which is disappointing.
In Cage 11/12, the Australian Yellow pairing have started a new brood currently consisting of 4 eggs.
21/3/20
Still quiet in Cage 7/8 while we have seen a bit of ‘movement at the station’ with both birds in NB9 in Cage 9/10 – this was only noticed today for the first time and as she is a Blue Gouldian, this is quite good news. The entrance to NB9 is over the cock bird’s right shoulder and you can see nesting material therein.
In Cage 11/12, the Australian Yellow pair have started laying again and have three eggs as of today, so all good.
14/3/20
The good news was scarce in the previous post with this set of cages and it is even more scarce in this post as the pair in Cage 11/12 either threw out the 1-2 day old hatchlings they had and one of their unhatched eggs or killed a hatchling still in the nest box.
Below are some pics of the ‘devastation’. The pic with the hatchling in the palm of a hand is the bird from the unhatched egg thrown out of the nest box. Part of the shell was cracked and the baby bird emerged from the rest of the shell while in the palm of a hand. We placed the hatchling back into the nest box, but it was dead 24 hours later.
Below is the same bird amongst two of its kindred that were thrown from the nest box.
There was one hatchling left in the nest box (pic below) after the drama with the other three per above. 4 hours later it was also dead after being unceremoniously thrown around the nest box by its parents.
Meanwhile we changed the birds around in Cage 7-10…new pairings are pictured below.
4/3/20
The only good news in this range of cages is in Cage 11/12 where the pair of Australian Yellow birds are very close to having their brood hatch.
In Cage 7/8 the pair of birds are still becoming known to each other after we introduced the hen to the cage the other week.
Similarly, things are tracking very slowly in Cage 9/10 where we have a Blue Goudlian hen and two Normal split blue cocks. They all seem a bit stand offish still (if that’s possible with birds!)
23/2/20
No luck in Cage 7/8 where there were only two eggs in NB8 in the end after both parents abandoned the nest box some days ago. We decided to therefore remove the hen and place her in a new cage with a different cock bird and added a new hen bird to this cage as a replacement. The new hen has yet to lay any eggs so far this breeding season and is a SF Pastel Green Split Blue bird.
We are very glad to advise that the pair of Black Headed (expressed as white) Australian Yellow pair have started brooding in Cage 11/12.
In Cage 9/10, we decided to introduce a second cock bird into the cage as the Blue Gouldian hen has expressed no interest in the cock bird she has been with for 4 weeks now.
16/2/20
Since the last post, the pair in Cage 7/8 have started incubating the eggs laid a few days ago, so fingers crossed they work it out this time.
Still no egg laying with the other pair in the block of cages (pic of cages below).
8/2/20
Cage 7/8 continues the drama – we ended up removing the single egg in NB8 per the previous post and now the hen bird has restarted her brood with 2 eggs as of yesterday still in NB8 (and we suspect she has laid a further egg overnight…)
In the other two cages (Cage 9/10 and Cage 11/12), we are still waiting for the birds to ‘get it together’, although there has been some positive activity in Cage 11/12 where the two Australian Yellow birds are.
2/2/20
We reported in the last post that the birds in Cage 7/8 had abandoned the two eggs in NB7, so we removed them today and noticed they now have one egg in NB8 which is a positive move.
Nothing happening yet with the other two new pairings whose pics appeared in the previous post.
27/1/20
We shuffled a couple of birds around this week. We introduced a pure Australian Yellow hen to the cock bird in Cage 11/12. She had previously been in Aviary 2. Pic of the pair is below.
We also paired up the Blue Gouldian hen from Cage 41/42 with the Normal Split Blue cock in Cage 9/10. We did this as the hen bird previously in this cage had laid two broods and immediately abandoned them both, so decided to move her into Aviary 2 where she can get a rest.
Pics of the new pairing below.
The couple in Cage 7/8 laid two eggs in quick successiion in NB7, but nothing since and as we noted both birds inspecting NB8, we believe the pair have abandoned the ‘part’ brood already. We will continue to monitor.
16/1/20
It had been a slow couple of weeks for the birds in these cages, but we can report that egg laying has commenced in Cage 9/10 with 3 eggs currently in NB9.
This same pair were responsible for the abandoned brood of 5 eggs some 3 weeks ago, so we are hoping they remain on point this time around. She is an Australian Yellow and he is a Normal Split Blue as we look to create our own line of birds with the aim of producing an AVB (within a later brood).
In Cage 7/8 this pair finally commenced nest inspections together in NB7. This is quite exciting as he is our only Blue Gouldian cock while she is a Normal Split Blue. All progeny will be Split Blues as a minimum with hopefully 50% being Blue Gouldians.
The other pair in this block of cages are doing fine and we expect egg laying to commence any day now.
3/1/20
All the birds in these cages are going through clear courtship rituals and we hold out hope of them all commencing the egg laying process soon.
As noted in the previous post, the pair in Cage 9/10 abandoned their first clutch of 5 eggs which we have now removed from NB10. They have now set up shop in NB9, but yet ot start egg laying.
A picture showing the comparison in egg size from the abandoned brood of 5 eggs is below.
29/12/19
We checked the nest boxes of Cages 9/10 and 11/12 after suspecting some egg laying may have commenced.
There was nothing to see in Cage 11/12, but in NB10 there were 5 eggs. This is the first lot of eggs laid by the hen bird (she was one of our 2019 fledglings). Initially, we were quite excited by this discovery, but noticed as the day wore on, the parent birds displayed no interest in the nest box and instead were re-setting a nest in nest box 9. This activity has continued today, so clearly they have abandoned the first clutch and are getting ready to start again.
We are not sure what has ‘spooked’ the couple from continuing with the clutch in nest box 10 and hope they have better luck in the new nest box.
The pairing in Cage 9/10 is a Normal split blue cock and Australian Yellow hen – see pic below of the pair.
25/12/19
We think we may see egg laying commence this week in 2 of the cages in this bank of cages with quite a bit of activity in Cages 9/10 and 11/12 with both the cock and hen birds visiting the nest boxes on offer.
Pic below from today of this bank of cages.
18/12/19
The pair featured in the previous post below on 14/12/19 have started nest building and are close to starting their first brood for 2020.
In 2019, they produced some lovely birds (including the 4 Australian Yellow heavily variegated ‘brothers’ featured in Aviary 2), across two broods, so we are hoping for a repeat performance in 2020.
14/12/19
Some pics from Cage 11/12 (Australian Yellow pairing).
12/12/19
Yesterday we placed our Blue Gouldian cock in Cages 7/8 and matched him with a Normal Split Blue hen. In Cage 9/10 we have an Australian Yellow hen and a Normal Split Blue cock while in Cage 11/12 are the Australian Yellow cock and Normal Split Aust Yellow hen.
Pics to follow in later posts.
Note – this page was previously referred to as ‘Cage 2’ only, but has been expanded to include two further cages going forward.
6/11/19
Currently still empty with birds previously in this Cage in the Main Aviary (per previous post)
24/6/19
Unfortunately we lost cock bird in this cage since the last report. We are not overly sure why he died – can only suspect the very cold weather of late took its toll.
He died while sitting in the nest box. All four eggs therein were infertile.
We have since moved the female split blue Gouldian into the Main Aviary to rest.
25/5/19
The goings on in this cage are worrying.
The hen started laying per previous post and the normal process is for the birds to start incubating about 4-5 days after the first egg is laid.
However, in this cage, the birds started incubating just a couple of days ago, which is ten days after we noticed the initial eggs being laid. This suggests they might be just wasting their time as the eggs will be ‘dead’.
We are not in a position to complete any ‘candling’ of the eggs to check for embryo formation as we do not want to disturb the nest.
As this is the first brood for this recent pairing, we will just have to bide our time to see what comes along.
13/5/19
We have been waiting some 5 weeks for this new paring to start egg laying which commenced two days ago.
They are caring for 2 eggs presently, so fingers crossed everything goes ok from now.
4/5/19
Checked nest box again today and still no eggs…wondering if it might be a false dawn with this pair after all.
We’ll give them one more week and if nothing happens, might rest them until next season.
28/4/19
Checked the nest box today and still no eggs, but the hen bird must be close to starting to lay. The cock bird in the meantime continues to build up the nest with nesting material placed in the cage.
22/4/19
We are still waiting for egg laying to commence from the pair in this cage. Are they waiting until the other Blue Gouldian pair in Cage 1 start?
17/4/19
I am repeating myself from the Cage 1 page as I say – we are getting closer to egg laying as the pair continue to show much interest in one another and the right hand nest box in their cage.
13/4/19
All looking good with this pair who are constantly in and out of the nest box, but no eggs yet.
6/4/19
Finally the cock bird has got his mojo together and built quite a sophisticated nest in the right hand nest box.
He has had some success in encouraging the hen bird to join him therein so we are hoping that formal mating has taken place and we will have eggs by the end of next week.
Pic of the new pairing below.
He is the Blue Gouldian on the higher perch and just outside the right hand nest box he has built a nest in, while she is the Normal/Split Blue hen on the left.
1/4/19
Still no action to report on.
27/3/19
No obvious action yet with this recent pairing.
23/3/19
Well it turns out the brood of 5 eggs were infertile after all when we completed a formal check today.
As a result we not only split up the birds, but we also replaced Cage 2 with a new Cage 2. See pic below – new Cage 2 is the middle series of cages.
We kept the Blue Gouldian cock bird in this new Cage2, but moved the Normal split blue hen to cage 39/40 and replaced her with the Normal split yellow hen bird from that cage.
Pics below of the two occupants in their new digs…she is on the left and he on the right.
Potential progeny of this pairing will not be Blue Gouldians, but more likely Silver or Pastel (yellow bodied) birds.
NB – she is the hen that so far has laid 19 infertile eggs this season…some of them are shown in the pic below. She is one of our own home grown birds from last season.
17/3/19
As noted in the previous post, this pair’s second brood should have hatched by now and be around 2-3 days old. As we can’t conclusively check the nest box, we’ll be listening for sounds coming from the nest box later in the week.
This pair’s first brood of 6 eggs all proved to be infertile.
13/3/19
Our records show that the brood should commence hatching over the coming days for this couple of birds. Will be monitoring the activities of both parent birds.
Success in this cage also means Blue Gouldian progeny as per Cage 1.
6//3/19
We have some concerns with the brood in this cage as the hen bird was not able to visit the nest box for a couple of the days when it was extremely hot.
The cock bird tended to the brood from time to time during the day, but with the hen responsible for the night time duties and unable to make her way up to the nest box, it is possible that for a couple of very hot evenings, the eggs were left unattended.
Our records show they started the formal brood process just a couple of days after the last post and just before the really hot spell that upset the hen bird.
She is fine now.
25/2/19
We suspect this pair have commenced their second brood for the season on 21/2/19 going by the amount of time the hen bird is spending time in the nest box in the mornings and then the constant ‘checking’ of the nest box by the parent birds during the day. They are yet to commence the formal brood exercise however.
17/2/19
Both birds in and out of nest box in the last 48 hours, so suspect they are mating from time to time while in the nest box in preparation for a second brood.
11/2/19
Both birds ‘resting at present’. We expect the cock bird will start making his intentions known to the hen bird both thru his ‘dancing’ and nest building efforts with the end result being a second brood from this pair in a couple of weeks or so.
9/2/19
Still no ‘cheeping’ from the nesting box and a physical inspection of said box has told us why, with the brood of six eggs all being infertile.
We thought something was wrong when we noticed the parent birds had deserted the nesting box 24 hours earlier, after being diligent in their care to that point in time.
They knew that something was wrong as well.
We have removed most of the nesting material out of the box in order for the cock bird to re-make the nest ready for a second brood which will likely take a couple of weeks to start up.
A disappointing outcome with this pair of Blue Gouldians first 2019 brood.
6/2/19
Still not a ‘cheep’….
2/2/19
Well we think we have hatchlings from this pair of Blue Gouldians in the last day or so going by the activities of the parent birds.
We’ll confirm it as ‘definite’ when we hear some ‘cheeping’ coming from the nest box.
26/1/19
As with Cage 1, this cage is also under the house verandah and had the advantage of an overhead fan going during the really hot days of this week.
All looking good with the expected date for the ‘hatchling’s’ stage being the end of the month (or sometime late next week).
19/1/19
We went the early crow with this pair – they actually didn’t start brooding until 15/1 and not 12/1 as first thought.
Things are progressing well – our concern is always with the hen bird in this pair with her damaged wing restricting her flight options.
To overcome this, we have placed extra perches in Cage 2 which enables her to ‘hop’ (versus fly), around the cage to food and water and into the nesting box.
12/1/19
Well it’s now happening in Cage 2, with this pair of Blue Gouldians commencing the brood phase today. We aren’t able to easily check the nesting box in Cage 2 (we have the same challenge with Cage 1), so we can only go on observations around the activities of the birds on a daily basis, but we are confident with our call of noting today as the brood start date.
It can take between 15-16 days for the hatchlings to appear, so mark your calendars for a date in the next fortnight to check back on what is happening in this cage.
8/1/19
Continued positive activity with this pair, with the hen bird spending a bit more time each day in the nest suggesting she may have started laying eggs.
We will see what the week-end brings.
3/1/19
Positive activity in the mating ‘stakes’ still staking place in Cage 2. With tomorrow’s temperature here in Melbourne predicted to hit 42C, we would prefer the birds rest during the day versus worrying about nest building.
30/12/18
Well it’s begun in Cage 2 as well as Cage 1. We placed some field hay in the cage and the Blue Gouldian cock bird set to work to build a nest for his ‘winged’ split blue hen companion.
These two are a little behind our Cage 1 pairing, but look like they are making up lost ground quickly with the hen bird starting to check out the efforts of her nesting partner.
26/12/18
Nothing happening with this pair yet, but note they are sitting together at night which is a good sign they are compatible.
13/12/18
This pair is also in a cage under the verandah…but not so close to the house.
On the right is a split blue hen who was successful with a brood of 3 hatchlings earlier this year, while the blue cock bird on the left dazzles with his purple chest and has done so since his purchase from a breeder Noble Park in August this year.
They are still getting used to just being alone together having shared this same cage with another four birds who have since been ‘paired off’.
Blue Gouldian Finches 
