Ask Lafeber

Abandoned after one week of incubation

Hi Lafeber,
My Lady Gouldian finch pair took turn to incubate their eggs and abandoned the eggs after about one week. This happened 2 times. The first time I thought may be the cause was because I peeked in their nest. I waited for one week, and removed the abandoned eggs from the nest. They then laid another clutch of eggs (I don’t know how many since I held myself not to look at them). However, they again abandoned the eggs after a week or so.
Do you know why?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

This is not uncommon with Gouldians in captivity, especially if the pair is very young. First I would remove the nest box and rest the pair from nesting for 6 months, since she just laid 2 clutches in a row. This gives them a break, and also gives them some time to mature a bit more. Do you have a nest box or a woven nest? Gouldians prefer a box, so this may be a reason why they are doing this. However, it is common enough that many breeders use Society finches to foster their Gouldian eggs and chicks. One reason Gouldians are so expensive is because they are hard to breed. Other than letting the get old, rest and making sure you have the right type of nest box, there isn’t much you can do except hope they do better next time.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda