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. :-)
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My two finches laid their egg in the seed basket. Should I move their egg (would the mother reject it) or is it safe if the egg stays in the seed basket? Thanks.
I would move the egg and hope for the best.
I'd move it but then swap the places of the egg and the seed basket so its technically in the same place.
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?
If you have no male birds, the female finches cannot lay viable eggs. There could be a small chance that you accidentally got a male but if you see both birds laying, the eggs are infertile and should be discarded soon.
This is my first time owning zebra finches. About 20 days ago one started laying eggs and finished about 2 weeks ago. She laid 4 eggs in total. Today I noticed a 5th egg. Should I remove the other eggs?
Also I'm not even sure that I don't have 2 females. I'm sure my grey one is a female. And they make different sounds, but I am unsure about the white one.
Usually they don't start to sit on them until after they lay the last egg. So, start your timing from the final egg, and then give a couple extra days just incase.
What do I do if my zebra finches lay their eggs in different spots and I don't know how long they have been there?
The article I read said that the bird will lay one egg a day until she is finished. She can lay up to 8 eggs, but usually 3 to 6. She will start incubating when the last egg is hatched. An egg that has not hatched after 20 days is considered infertile.
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.
My finches laid eggs, but it has been over 18 days can they still hatch?
I have a pair of finches. They laid four eggs more than one week ago. After laying the fourth egg they broke the egg.
Initially they sat on the eggs for some time, but now they are not sitting on the eggs. What should I do?Remove the eggs, they are spoiled. I raised finches and Canaries for years. The broken egg or it's remains would have spoiled in the nest & made an unhealthy habitat for other viable eggs. Clean the nest & try again. I'm really sorry.
I have two finches, one male and one female. She laid to eggs, but I don't know when one egg fell out of the nest and broke. I didn't know until too late and it was dead in the egg.
How can I help the last egg survive? And how often do finches mate and when do they mate?That was the best information I received since I got me Finches.
My first male didn't like the female so I took i back to the pet shop.
These two like each other just fine. I have had 12 eggs in a very short time .( in 2 different settings).The first clutch didn't work for me except for one and I tried to candle it and I broke it. I had a moving chick that I think would have hatched in about a week.
Read all you can on hatching chicks.It will help you in the long run.
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.
You have to have a male, in order to have a liable egg. There are several steps and precautions to take in order to breed male and female canary's . They tend to fight each other if conditions are not good. Here are steps and troubleshooting - www.petcraft.com/
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.
My finch laid twelve eggs. Is there anything I should do or buy besides feeding and watering them?
This is the time when you should let nature take its course. Dont bother the birds or handle them.
I have 2 pairs of finches in my cage, 1 of the females just laid an egg and now she and her mate are being extra protective and a little aggressive towards the other pair. Should I move the other pair into their own separate cage or should I just leave everything alone since the other pair has started laying?
I don't want to disturb the other pair since they just laid their first egg today and I don't want them to get scared or reject the egg or stop laying eggs. What should I do?They should be moved to a separate cage.
I had bought a pair of zebra finches, a brother and sister, from a friend and after keeping them a while the female died. I didn't know what to do so I bought a new zebra finch and put her in his cage immediately and she laid an egg.
They have not incubated it. What should I do?About a year ago, my LPS sold me two zebra finches. As you can tell by the title, they sold me two zebra finches claiming they were females. I believed them, because I have had a male Finch before. These two "girls" looked like girls. I just didn't want a breeding pair.
Well, now I've got one! I knew that they had some eggs in their little house because they were getting aggressive. My female Canary did that. I cleaned out my aviary yesterday evening and decided to grab the eggs. And low and behold, I grabbed a baby. After freaking out, frankly I am still a bit shaken, I decided to do some research. The baby is about 8 days old, I believe: I can see his eyes behind the film, blinking. Not many feathers. He is about 1/2 the size of the adults.
I would take a picture, but their nest is deep and I have fake plants all over the aviary so they can have places to hide. The nest is conveniently behind one of the fake leaves.
I think there were about 7 eggs. When I rooted around (and found the baby), I saw that two of the eggs were broken so I removed them. So about 5 eggs left. And one big baby. I have read that after 20 days if the others haven't hatched I can remove them.
Here are my questions: Will the Mom keep laying eggs to replace the two cracked ones? Will she keep laying eggs after her baby is grown? I want to remove and put in dummy eggs (I did this for my Canary), but I don't want to unintentionally "abort" any of the babies. Suggestions??
