My Finch Has Laid Some Eggs

I have two finches that have laid egg after egg, they have a total of 9 eggs. I just left the eggs alone because they are still sitting on them. They are taking turns sitting on them, but none have hatched yet. Please can you give me some information about them?

Ashley

Answers:

My Finch Has Laid Some Eggs

As most of you have found out, finches will lay eggs anywhere. It all depends on what you want to do with them. If you are into breeding, and want more birds, then please be kind to your finches and put in either a finch nest (very cheap 3 to 5 $) or a box of some sort. It is best not to have the box on the bottom of the cage, as their droppings, old food etc., could contaminate them.

Finches sit on their eggs almost all of the time after laying them. Either one or the other bird will take turns to keep them warm until they hatch. Hatching usually takes about 2 weeks, but finches will lay on eggs forever, even if they never hatch. Because finches are very tiny, they do not lay them all the same day, so a good rule of thumb is to make sure 3 weeks has passed until you discard them.

Remember that the eggs must be in some sort of sheltered area inside the cage, so make it possible for them to be sat on. Finches are funny birds, so if you have more than one female laying eggs, and only one nesting spot, they will all squish inside it to "mother" the eggs and hatchlings. This can cause the babies to be crushed with too much weight. There can even be baby bird legs deformed from being bent or displaced due to over crowding.

I have added a pic of a standard finch nest, but you can make one out of cardboard. They do need a nesting material for the nest, fibre branches and rolls are sold (if you want to buy stuff) or Kleenex, toilet paper, etc, can be torn and stuck into the rungs of the cage. Just leave it there, the birds will take care of building their own nest.

I hope this helps. Right now I have 2 pair of coupled finches, and 6 eggs. I raised others for years just for fun.

Enjoy. Oh, don't forget to give your finches bird gravel, and a cuddle bone. This helps them to have strong eggs, so they harden. They also love pieces of apple, lettuce, etc.

(05/19/2009)

By Dee