JEM Aviary

The Lady Gouldian resides in the  tropical parts of northern Australia.  They are currently endangered in the wild due to loss of natural habitat as well as an infestation of air sac mites in the wild. Fortunately, they are well established in American Aviculture. 

Lady Gouldians come in a variety of mutations.  Head colors can be red, black or yellow.  Breast colors can be purple, white or lilac.  Back colors can be green, blue or yellow and the newest mutation being silver.  Regardless of the mutation you choose,  all are fairly easy to sex.  The males have much brighter colors both on chest and belly. New mutations are being established at a surprising pace. 

Housing:  Lady Gouldians can be kept in pairs or colonies.  The Gouldian is a peaceful bird that does well in a mixed flight. When cage breeding, I would use a 3’ x 2’ cage.  Although they will breed in a somewhat smaller cage, they are somewhat prone to obesity when housed in too small a space.  I like to have my Gouldians in an aviary setting.  I strongly believe that the more flight time a bird has the stronger, healthier and happier they will be.

Basic finch mix, cuttlebone, oyster shell, and of course, fresh water are the bare essentials.  Additionally, I would add veggies, fruit (pesticide free) and soft food to the list.  I consider soft food to be hard boiled eggs that I grind in my cuisanart (eggshell included) or a bird corn bread (recipe can be found under additional items tab).  I sprinkle Morning Bird Breeders Blend or Feather Fast** to the soft food (depending on the season).    I like to sprout seeds most if the year, but especially during breeding season.  The sprouted seeds provide them with nutrients that they do not find in any other form from the other foods listed above (see sprouted seeds tab for additional info).  In my opinion protein is very important to Gould's.  This is not as emphasized by breeders as I think it should be.  I believe it helps birds with successful completion of such stressful things as weaning a chick or going through a moult.  Some Gould's will eat small meal worms but many will not.   The egg food certainly provides protien, but this is were I do something a bit different than most people.  Besides offering mealworms I also offer them very high quality poultry feed that is at last 30% protein.  I found this trick by keeping my button quails in the aviary with my Gouldians.  I found the Gould's constantly snacking on the poultry feed and realized what was going on...they needed/wanted this extra protein.  Since then I have gone so far as to offer cooked ground beef and chicken to all my birds...they love it!!   Another item to keep in mind is that Gouldians need iodine more than some of the other finches.  Insufficient iodine results in balding around the head and neck.  Additional iodine can be provided by adding any of the commercial iodine products available or buying seaweed and grinding it up (I use my coffee grinder).  This can be offered in a treat dish or sprinkled over food.    Lastly, calcium is very important to these little jems, especially the hens.  Make sure they have their cuttle bone, but also provide them with baked egg shells (very inexpensive way for them to get lots of calcium) or add Caliboost to their water 2 times a week or up to 5 times per week during breeding season.   A nice treat and something I offer often to my Gould's is spray millet.  This should not be a main source of food, but is a nice little bonus that I like or them to have available.

**One thing I want to make sure I mention and stress is that soft food and sprouted seeds should not be left in a cage/aviary for more than half a day (some say even less than that).  These items sour and instead of making your bird healthy you could poison them.  If you do not think you will be able to pull the food out of the cage in a timely fashion I would suggest not offering it to them and instead just offering dry egg food that you can buy at pet stores and skip the sprouted seeds.**

Gouldians normally breed from September through March.  When they are in breeding condition, the color on the hens' beaks will become darker.  Gouldians have a reputation for being somewhat picky about their mates.  I have found that by housing the males and females separately until their beaks color, the birds will eagerly accept any mate I give them.  Gouldians are generally poor nest builders.  It is best to place some nesting materials in the nest box to get them started.   I leave extra nesting material for the male to build a nest with since that seems to be part of their ritual.   Soon both the male and female will begin checking out the nesting receptacles.  Once they have found one that meets with both their approval, they will then both retire to the nest box for mating.  The female lays between 4-8 eggs.  Incubation usually begins after the 4th egg is laid.  Incubation is 16 days.  The chicks fledge at 15 days.  Chicks are normally independent 29 days later.  Gould's are rather slow to mature.  They often take 4-6 months to molt into their adult colors.  Increasing the temperature and protein in their diet throughout the early development will not only help produce stronger healthier chicks, it will also help them molt into their adult colors sooner.   

Gouldian's should be treated for worms or parasites on occasion, especially if kept in outdoor aviaries.  Depending on the number of birds or whether they are in an outdoor setting or not will determine how often and what products to use.  Morning Bird has a large selection of products to review.  I recommend that you go to my friends, Michelle Fair*, site http://www.fairestfinches.com/page/page/4453937.htm for she has a very inclusive list of products.  She is also very knowledgeable and will recommend the different products available.