Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Breeding Gouldian Finches: The Two Major Methods For Outdoor Aviary Breeding


If you have been keeping a pair or a number of Gouldian finches for a long time and you've successfully kept them healthy and happy, you can start breeding your Gouldian finches. You can make a flock or make some money selling their offspring. Basically, you trigger breeding of this variety of birds by putting them on a protein rich diet. A protein rich diet for Gouldian finches consists of seeding grasses, egg foods and sprouted seeds. During the lean period, you can pick your finch pairs and start introducing this protein rich diet.

As for the perfect time for breeding finches, you can start pairing your birds up at the beginning of summer. The climate conditions in your area will also affect the success of breeding. To stimulate your birds to breed, you can provide them with artificial heating and lighting. You're going for conditions that mimic cooler climates with shorter daylight hours. Aside from the perfect time for breeding Gouldian finches, you also have to ensure that your birds are in the best health. If you notice your birds being active and bright, you can start breeding.

For breeding Gouldian finches, you have two major methods to choose from. There's the selective breeding method and there's the colony breeding method. These are both for outdoor aviary breeding. With selective breeding, you get a lot more control. Basically, this occurs without interference from other Gouldian finches. You have to isolate a pair from the flock. The tricky part of this is that you have to test the pair's compatibility. Observe the way your Gouldians interact with each other. The first sign that they can make a good pair is when they chase each other around the cage and seemed to be fencing with their beaks.

When this happens, it's time to isolate this pair from the other birds. Continue to observe your pair if you want to succeed in breeding Gouldian finches. If the male finch is interested, he will initiate courtship. This is indicated by the male standing tall, and staring at the female. The male can then start with a whistling routine. If your female finch is interested, you'll know when she bows her head, moving it from side to side. If you need any more proof of their compatibility, observe your pair at dusk. If they get along, they'll be roosting beside each other.

With colony breeding Gouldian finches, this method is a bit of a hit or miss. Unlike the selective method, you will have very little control on the breeding. Outside factors like overcrowding, stress and offspring genetics will be just some of the few things you have to deal with. You have to remember that when you breed Gouldian finches in a colony, overcrowding results in a smaller number of offspring. If your birds are stressed, they will also easily succumb to infections and health issues. As for offspring genetics, you have no control over the pair and you might get offspring with color mutations.

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