I knew I had an egg in the nest but was away and when I came back, I saw a baby zebra finch already hatched. This is the first time an egg as hatched in my aviary. It is starting to get its baby feathers and I'm not sure how old it is. Do you know how old it is? And how do I know when it hatched? Do I have to do anything or buy any different food for the parents to feed it? Is it looking healthy or not? I don't know much about baby finches so please, any tips, tell me!
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I'd say about 15 days old.
Be very careful messing with it. It seems healthy, but they are VERY delicate. You wouldn't want to hurt it by messing with it too much. The parents know what to do.
You don't need different food. Just make sure your birds have grit and a calcium supplement like a cuttlebone. And of course fresh water.
Thank you so much, this is the only time i have touched it and the only one. I won't handle it too much anymore. Because it is the only baby hatched and in the nest, is it warm enough?
Seriously, don't keep too close of an eye on it. The parents may abandon it if they feel you are interfering too much.
I appreciate that you want to take care of the baby. That's good. But nature has provided bird parents for that. If they do their job properly, the baby will be fine. If they don't, it won't. There won't be anything you can do either way.
Chances are it will be fine, though.
I suggest at least 2 weeks old. It appears to be healthy at this stage. As it gets fully feathered & starts to wean, the parents may start to pick on it as they may want to breed again.
I was told to give my babies scrambled eggs. So each day I scrable 1 egg and put it at the bottom of the cage in a shallow dish. The parents come get it and feed UT to the babies. My question is while my parents have hatch several clutches it seems that as soon as the babies leave their coconut nest, the father will begin picking at the babies until they die. This time I waited until the pecking started and moved him to another cage. I have only been able to raise 1 female out of 5 hatched. That is counting there current babies who now lives with mom and sister from 2 clutches ago. Any idea why this dad does this? I don't like him to live by himself, but that's what happens when dad is notty to babie.
What happens to the eggs in the nest if they don't hatch. I know the adults will possibly eat the shell but what happens to the inside?
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