My Zebra finches laid eggs, and two hatched. Help?!

[Serin]

Pellets are unnecessary for finches, which have different dietary needs than parrots. They are true, out and out seed eaters. I feed pellets sometimes for convenience, if I am not able to provide regular veggies and egg, but with a few years and around 100 finches, no difference has been noticed at all between pellet and seed-based diets (both supplemented with vegetables and egg.)

It is necessary to give boiled egg to finches feeding young, some suggest not to feed it while they are incubating as the birds don't relieve themselves as much when nesting and egg food makes bigger droppings that will spend longer in the body. Apparently some worry it may increase the chance of infections, though I have always fed egg food to nesting birds and never experienced anything like that at all.

It really isn't an option for finches feeding chicks. My finches feed it, almost exclusively, for the first week. It replaces insect foods which would be fed to nestling by parents in a wild setting. Some species can survive and raise young without it but it's really not a good idea.

 

[finchly]

@Serin please show us the research to back your claims, as they go against the FACTS given by the NFSS and others.

(ETA) anecdotal evidence is not scientific.

 

[LyricalDream]

We lost a baby. I was cleaning the cage today and only saw one fat little bird. A closer inspection shows one died in the nest shortly after birth. I had to use tweezers to pull out the body. This involved taking the nest itself out, so the poor finches are upset. I think they took the baby back without a problem, though. I tried to be as careful as possible. At least they have one fat baby. It peeps a LOT now. And it's nearly tripled in size. The poor thing is adorable.

 

[iamwhoiam]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[finchly]

I’m sorry! This is the hard part — losing them. It’s sad every time. Hopefully your little one will make it.

 

[Serin]

What are you feeding the parents?

 

[Bokkapooh]

I would suggest stop peeping on the parents. It'll stress them out. Eggs will go missing. The female will lay more eggs to replace the ones that go missing and babies hatched will be tossed from the nest. If you want to check on the. Do it once a week and a quick peek inside the nest. Or every few days. But not every day or "all the time".

If you're going to keep zebra finches, I recommend a much bigger cage.

 

[Serin]

Zebra finches are also aggressive birds. The baby will need to be removed as soon as it feeds itself or the male may kill it.

 

[LyricalDream]

We found the 5th egg today. The baby hatched, somehow got thrown clear across the cage and landed in the water dish. The one that is alive is is doing okay though. You can see all the food in his throat. (That's normal I think?)

I didn't know about the dad attacking! I'll watch for that.

I only peep in once a day when I feed them, and that's just because it's eyelevel. I make sure it's nothing they're not used to. The only stress they have is that when I leave the house I close the closet doors so my cats don't get in. They seem to prefer it that way.

Not sure what I'm feeding them! It's some sort of seed blend with dried egg mixed in. They're getting pellets next week.

 

[Serin]

Please greens and add boiled egg to that every day, it's probable your babies are dying due to inadequate food. Baby birds cannot be raised well on the minimum adults will survive on.

 

[LyricalDream]

Greens and egg have been added. The parents won't touch it so far, but we'll see.

 

[finchly]

When introducing new food, be sure to offer the same thing more than once. So tomorrow or the next day, offer greens and egg again. They'll get used to it. Zebras are curious.

And don't worry about the father attacking, it sounds like he is taking good care of them. I have never had a male attack a baby unless he and the hen have started a new nest of eggs (and then they don't 'attack' they just pluck).

 

[Serin]

Just offer the food daily, also mix some seed on top to get their attention, they will soon accept them.

For later, some zebra finch will kill their offspring once they are independent if the cage is not large enough for the young to escape their parents territory. In the wild, they just leave, but if the cage is too small they can't and the parents don't understand that and so become increasingly violent trying to drive them off. It won't be an issue until they are independent and the parents no longer view them as their children. More than two finches in that size of cage will usually result in one pair ganging up and trying to get rid of the rest. They do not do well in groups in small cages. Plucking is usually the first sign, but some will chase their kids to exhaustion, keep them from eating, etc. Just be prepared to seperate.

 

[LyricalDream]

So new question! The one baby is doing well (It's gross seeing all the seeds in his throat...) and the parents no longer sit on it 24/7. The parents are very active in the cage, but it sounds like he's sending out a mating call? Is that normal for finches or are they just being social? I'm NOT letting them have more eggs (Too hard with my cats)

 

[finchly]

Yep they will start nesting again before the babies are weaned. You can do one of several things. Remove the parent that isn’t taking as much care of the baby, or just remove eggs as they are laid while the baby is growing. If you rearrange the whole cage, sometimes that will upset them enough to stop trying to nest. Or you can darken the room morning and evening to give them a lot less daylight hours for about a week, ,that should stop the breeding behavior.

It really isnt’ good for them OR the older baby OR the new eggs.... breeding too close together is hard on everyone. Plus, you really don’t want all those babies... I met a man once who literally cried, his were breeding so fast he could not keep up.

 

[LyricalDream]

I tried that. Today he ripped out the female's feathers. I guess he's getting a new cage for himself! She doesn't seem nearly as interested as he is. He's beyond obsessed. She's just someone who hangs out. He shoves her out to feed HIS baby, he shoves her out of HIS food dish, he shoves her into the nest so he can take a break. They used to get along well!

Thank you all for your wonderful help. I'm positive I will be back, if only to give updates! The baby is super fat now. He doesn't move at all, or chirp much, but I know he's alive.

 

[LyricalDream]

So I'm back! Ugh. The male and female got pulled apart today - he's being VERY abusive. Neither parent has any interest in the baby anymore, to the point where I am thinking I may have to take over. I'm hoping taking papa out will settle them.
So my new questions are....

- the baby opened his eyes a few days ago. All it does it sit in the nest now. Is that normal? Shouldn't he be leaving the nest? His feathers have come in, mostly. Should I give him a helping hand? When I moved papa earlier the baby tossed himself out of the nest. He doesn't really walk around. I put him back for safe keeping.
- when is it safe to put the baby in his own cage? I have no idea if he will ever even leave the nest, nevermind eat on his own! Should i be hand feeding it if the parents won't?
- the parents don't sit on the baby anymore really. Maybe at night. Papa did all the raising, but once he turned on baby that was it. Should I wait and see if mama takes over? How long should I give her? What do I do if she doesn't?
- if papa is being so abusive should I ever try putting them back together again? Should I keep them apart for good? Or is it due to mating season?

 

[finchly]

If he just opened his eyes it is not NEARLY time to fledge [come out of the nest] yet. No do not force him out. If he falls out put him back, as you did. Even when they fledge, or at least it is the right day for it, I put them back. If it's really time to come out they will! Afer that they hardly ever go back in.

You need to hand feed if the parent's are not feeding him. He won't live even one day if nobody feeds him. Are you sure they are not feeding? Since he has feathers he doesn't need them for warmth but they should go in when he chirps and feed him.

Babies fledge after 3 to 4 weeks. They wean about 6 weeks. Even after that I keep them with a parent or an older bird (older than the baby) so they can learn how to be a bird, and just for company.

If the male (papa) is young it might be ok to put them back together. He might stop with the picking. But if he does it again I would not keep them together.

 

[finchly]

I want to ask you a couple questions. You have the really small size cage I think. Are you planning to keep mom, dad, and baby? Is that all or are there more finches?

Reason I am asking is if I were you and had 3+ finches I'd get a flight cage. Especially with the dad being aggressive. I suspect the reason mine were never aggressive is that I kept large cages, small numbers of birds, and also the cages have stress perches and/or fake greenery so they can get away from each other if need be.

Also about your food. I know you were buying pellets. Have you tried giving them either dry egg food or boiled eggs? Or even scrambled eggs? Are they eating kale or other greens?

It is really hard for parents to raise babies on just the seed mix. Pellets have more nutrition and higher protein, but eggs or egg food will be even more protein than that. My parent birds love to stuff their babies with egg food.

 

[LyricalDream]

I think the dad finch fed the baby all on his own. But where he's so aggressive I don't know if it's safe to put him in with the baby... I feel like it may be the better option in terms of food? Mama is sitting on the nest right now. The baby NEVER chirps so I haven't been able to see who feeds it.

A bigger cage is on my MUST get list now. I think the one they're in is 24 inches by 24 inches by 30 inches tall? Like I said, the sales lady sold it to me. I have another one slightly bigger I tucked the male into for now. I get paid in the next few days, I'm going to see if a bigger cage solves it.

Food wise they will NOT eat veggies, no matter what I do. But they do love eggs! I boil an egg, mash it, and they nibble it gone. I did try peas the other day, which they seem to find okay if I REALLY mash them and mix with some seeds or something. They don't seem to 'get' pellets yet, though. They prefer to try to hunt and peck for any seeds they may have missed, even if I haven't had an. I'm still working with them, but they're angry enough with me. Every time they see me walk in the room they both puff up and get aggressive (Which they never did before baby)

Another thing I just thought of.... I have a closet space I turned into shelves. In order to keep the finches alive they live on a shelf with a direct view of the window (It's not really as terrible as it sounds!) My cats are beyond obsessed with the baby finch, so when I leave I have to close the bi-fold closet doors. Could the light/lack of light/light be messing them up? I just realized that and had a "DUH that's bad" moment. I can close the bedroom door when I leave instead.


Ugh. Baby finches are worse than baby kittens. I feel like I've been thrown into the deep end of the pool. There's only two (three now) finches, though.