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after a sad ending I thought I would post something positive. its my first try breeding gouldians and I have finally got some eggs! :) I have very low expectations of this going well, but I would like to give things a go. 

I don't believe these ones are fertile, and the pair only laid 2, but first time parents I am not expecting a lot. if nothing else its practice for them, and learning for me.  I am not able to candle these as the nest box is too high and I can only open it, hold my phone above my head and take a quick photo. I don't want to disturb them anyway so its okay. For now its just a practice run anyway.  my first pair I often find in the nest box together, but they do come out when I am in the shed. 

I do have a second pair, but I don't want to disturb them either, the male seems to be constantly in there on eggs? occasionally the female will be in there too. I did take a quick peek in to make sure the male hadn't died as he usually shouts at me when I am in changing water and feeding them. he was quiet tonight so I did crack the top of the nest box open only to get glared at and I retreated quickly and left him to it. I have no idea if there are eggs in there or not. but am assuming hes sitting on something. I am not going to poke around to find out. Again this is their first time out at this too. 

Congrats, those eggs look fertile from the photo. After a few days of incubation, you can shine a LED pen torch through the eggs and see the first signs of life 😃

Oh! do you think so. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much haha. I can't candle these as I can't get into the nest box due to the slope on the roof, so I just slide the camera over and took a quick photo while they were both outside the box. this pair are a lovely normal pair of black heads. 

my second pair is a black head hen and a yellow (to me orange) headed cock bird. hes very defensive and shes flighty so while I can get into the nest box I am leaving them well alone so I don't upset them. 

now I was sold all my gouldians as parent reared (by gouldians) so lets see how this goes. I didn't want society raised ones and specifically bought parent reared. not that I have any issues with people doing things their own way, this is just how I want to do it. 

Leave them to it, you get better results. Check the floor when the eggs are due to hatch because first time parents sometimes toss out chicks. 

yeah I hear you. I am hoping this pair will do well, they chose each other and seem really chilled out so think theyve a lesser chance than the other pair of doing that. do hope something makes it. I have nutribird hand mix on standby just in case and a warmer/temp/humidity checker. 

the other pair are just a little more on edge than these so will be wary of getting too involved with them. 

There is an article on here which explains about chick tossing and abandonment, well worth a read. You will find it under the top tab Menu > Articles. It explains the Do's and Don'ts and explains a lot of other things. 

hi, I did read your article thank you. :) 

I got a quick glimpse into the other nest box yesterday and there were a lot of eggs in there, around 6 or maybe more. I didn't want to hang around with that pair so a quick glimpse while the male was off getting a drink and some food is all I chanced. 

the other pair only have the 2 eggs, I can't candle them but they look the same as they did a week ago so guessing they aren't viable. I know if they go "white" they usually are, but leaving them to it anyway just in case. :) 

If after 3 weeks there is still no change, I would take them all out and candle them one at a time by hand. They are usually no good after that time (unless they laid more among the eggs).

I would have to take the nest box off to do that, would they go back on them then? I've already decided not to ring as I want to disturb them as little as possible. :) I have to admit I am a little excited to try breeding them :)

If it is done quick, yes. If all the eggs are no good, there is still time for them to start again. End of December is when you start removing all their nesting boxes