I have 2 male finches and one female finch (all Zebras). I have tried to add a pure white finch before, but they wouldn't play with her or be very nice and she died.
This morning, I went to clean their cage and found a egg in their seed bowl. I have never put in a breeding nest and am now unsure if the egg will hatch or if this is just something that happens every now and again. I'm rather confused because I was told they wouldn't breed without privacy.
What should I do to look after a baby finch? Will they lay another egg? I'm assuming no, but thought I should ask anyway. Will it be a issue that there is two males?
Thanks to all that help. Lana :)
By Alanah from Brisbane
I have two finches and I was told that as long as you don't put a nest in the cage they won't lay eggs. Well, mine did, and she layed them in the food tray. So, I just added another food tray so I didn't disturb the eggs. But, I only saw them sit on the eggs a few times. I'm not watching constantly but, when do they sit on them?
LilHoneyBrat form Minnesota
I once had a pair of finches and she laid eggs all of the time but the eggs were never fertilized by the male so, of course, they never hatched. If she has laid all the eggs (zebra finches often will not sit on them until the last one is laid) and is not sitting on them constantly, except for eating, then they are not fertile or something is not right about them. If as time passes the eggs take on a deeper blue/grey color then there is an embryo but if she's not sitting on them the majority of the time they are not going to hatch. Zebra finch eggs generally hatch at 14 to 18 days.
You should also make sure she has enough calcium nutrition since she'll often lay eggs. There are special egg foods available at pet stores and it wouldn't hurt to have nesting material just in case there ever ends up being fertile eggs. Don't touch any of the eggs until you know they are not going to be hatched because many birds will shun their eggs after being disturbed.
Enjoy your finches! I loved mine because they made the most relaxing sweet sounds and it was fun to watch their antics. Oh, and every time the phone rang they broke in to a chorus. Oh, and there are ooddles of books on finches at the library so maybe check a couple out to learn more about your babies. :-)
My zebra finches have laid eggs for the second time . First one didn't hatch except one, which I found dead on the bottom of cage. I removed the nest and old eggs and cleaned everything. My husband's clothes are in the same room as the cage but we don't bother them, just food & water.
How can I keep the next ones if they hatch alive?
My zibra finch had eggs 1 hatched . She stopped taking care of it and then I found it on the bottom of cage dead.. Now she has more eggs . What can I do to help them live ?
These are birds, and they know what to do to take care of there own. This type of breed can even tell when a egg is good or bad. Let nature and the birds take its course.
Since your zebra finches have laid eggs for the second time, then they are young. A pair of young finches may be unsuccessful in their mating attempts, the female may still lay her underutilized eggs. Also young hen may neglect her eggs and fail to bring them to full term. This is quite common for young finches.
Single eggs in a clutch may fail to hatch, due to an unborn chick not developing properly, or because that particular egg somehow managed to avoid fertilization.
Watch your birds next time, but do it carefully so as not to disturb them. If the chicks do not hatch again, then check to see if all the eggs were fertile. Hold the egg in front of a candle or strong light to observe for any signs of fertility. A fertile egg will clearly show a blood vessel network; an embryo formed that resembles an opaque shape will be clearly visible.
The most obvious sign that the parents are abandoning their chicks is finding the chicks on the cage or aviary floor. If you find a tossed chick next time, and it's still alive, warm it in your hands before putting it back in the nest. You may need to put the chick back several times.
Another clear sign the nest has been abandoned is if the parents aren't in the nest and don't go back in to the nest for several hours. If their environment is quite warm they may not need to brood their young as often. However if several hours go by and you are fairly sure the finches have made no attempts to return to the nest, it's time to check the clutch: put a finger inside the nest, if the chicks and remaining eggs are cold the touch they have been abandoned.
It may be what food is being fed. More probably the adults are being startled and when leaving the next inadvertently knock a young one out of nest. I didn't isolate my birds, so we were careful to not startle them at their cage. We did move about the house as usual and birds and people cohabitated. We fed our finches a regular but varied diet of birdseed with treats of thistle seed, a few bugs, meal worms and greens like grass or even a bit of lettuce. I feel however that the young birds are falling from next accidentally when mom or pop become startled.
We may have two female society finches laying eggs that we are not sure will hatch. Do they need a male to hatch?
Gouldian sits on eggs only during the day but not at night?
Both Gouldian-parents help incubate the eggs during the day, but only the female sits on the egg during the night. Are you sure the female has already finished laying her eggs? Egg binding is an especially serious problem affecting female Gouldian finches during the time that they are attempting to lay eggs. Often, first time finch parents won't sit on their egg right away. Many species of finch won't even start incubating their eggs until the entire clutch is laid.
Why hasn't my egg hatched when it's over due?
You start counting from when the bird starting sitting on it, not from when it was laid. Are you sure it was a fertile egg?
Eggs may be laid 2 weeks before the bird starts sitting on them.
I have a female cannery bird and she laid an egg. Does it hatch without a male bird? Thank you for helping.
My finches have laid eggs, but are not sitting on them and are panicking. What should I do?
They will not sit on them until they are done laying all their eggs.
That way they will all hatch at the same time.
My white finch birds laid 3 eggs and were sitting on them continuously for 3 days. On the 4th day they stopped going into the nest.
They didn't sit on it for around 10 hours. They just see the eggs from outside and hardly go in for less than 20 minutes.That is not a good sign. See if there is another nest, and combine the eggs.
Originally I had 2 finches. I assumed they were both female. They would lay eggs then not really bother sitting on them. However, one of my birds died and I got another. I was still unsure whether or not it was male or female. Although I think now it's a male. My other female has just laid 3 eggs and has been sitting on them constantly.
When she's not, he will take over. I am thinking I'm going to have some baby birdies in the next 2 weeks. Is there anything special I should feed them or just let nature do its thing? They seem happy and content.
The best thing to do is provide the birds as much privacy as possible. Don't try looking in the nest to count or check on eggs. You can get some excellent, basic finch breeding information at www.petfinchadvice.com/zebra-finch-breeding/
I hope the eggs hatch and you enjoy the pleasure of watching the little ones mature.
My finches laid eggs, but they didn't hatch. Someone has said that they will never hatch, can you tell me if this is true.
Thank you.
No this isn't true. Normally the female will lay one egg a day and it could go on for 4 to 6 days. After the last egg is laid that is when she will sit on the nest. If she isn't sitting on the nest then the eggs will never hatch at all.
