Help! Lots of finches and new eggs

[Nubirdlady]

Hi! My uncle had about 50 finches in a large cage but got sick and the birds were contributing to breathing problems so I inherited them. I always loved these birds and planned on taking some off of his hands at some point but now I have them all

first off I am now aware that 50 finches in this cage ( approx. 37” wide all a round and 5 feet tall) is way too may finches but that’s another story. My question is that I just found a few eggs in a nest. and I believe that another finch is sitting on some more. Will they hatch these eggs and if so will they kill the babies because of their being too many finches in the cage.? Do they have any chance at all? Any advice is welcome!! Thanks

 

[MR. Mango]

@Destiny @Alyse @Ali @finchly First can you include pictures of the setup and the finches, eggs, etc. and you should immediately upgrade the current cage setup due to the sheer amount of finches you have you'll probably need an aviary, I included some members who I know have experience with building aviary's and keeping finches.

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue Stephanie

Yes, that cage sounds awfully small for 50 finches.
Try to work out a plan for your birds so they don´t breed out of control and overwhelm you.
Hopefully some finch owners will be along soon with some tips

 

[Destiny]

If you leave the eggs in the cage, they will most likely hatch them. In fact, I would guess that is why your uncle has fifty finches in one cage. Finches can be prolific breeders and will reproduce freely if conditions are right. If they have been freely breeding with each other for a while now, they are probably closely related - siblings, parents and children. And it will be almost impossible to track parentage, so allowing them to continue breeding is not a great idea.

I recommend removing any nests or nest boxes and also taking out any eggs. Then take steps to discourage future breeding, so you can stabilize the finch population.

The simplest way to stop breeding in a large group of birds would be to divide them into two groups - all male and all female. You will need to get different housing for them anyways, due to the number of birds, so if you do plan on keeping all fifty, consider separating them by gender, if possible.

Do you know what kind of finches? Some commonly kept finches, like zebra finches, can be visually sexed, while others are harder.

If you are not sure of the type, you can post pictures and we might be able to help.

Welcome to the avenue and thank you for helping these birds!

 

[finchly]

I would say they are already related, so I would hesitate to raise more. YES they will probably hatch (the ones you have now) if she continues to sit on them. She might have gotten disrupted from the move.

They won't kill the babies. But you need to keep an eye on them, if these are zebra finches after they fledge (leave the nest) the male might chase and pluck them to get them out of his way - he will want the hen to keep breeding.

Keep asking questions as you need to. We are here to help you.

Also, I want to mention diet. Finches NEED SEED but they also need other foods. You can add pellets to their diet, I would give egg food since there are parents feeding babies, and plenty of fresh vegetables, sprouts, grains like oat groats or quinoa. I don't give my finches fruit. 1. They don't eat it and 2. the little guys are so susceptible to yeast.

 

[Alyse]

This is the first time I have been tagged as an "expert"! (thank you MR. Mango!)

Firstly, thank you so much for helping to take on these birds! Since I am late to the party, everyone else covered the things I was going to touch on (cage size which you already knew, inbreeding concerns, etc)

I am currently building an outdoor aviary; not sure where you are located, but I'd be happy to share some insights I have so far if you'd like!

I also would be curious to know what species you have. If you know or could post some pictures, we could help identify and assist you further. There may be a possibility separating by more than just male/female might be advised.

 

[Nubirdlady]

Hi everyone!! I just saw these posts. Thank you so much!! We are actually on our way to a bird farm to donate some birds to be rehomed. We spent the better part of the morning catching over 25 of them and in the midst of it, taking Out perches And nest boxes and found a bunch of babies and eggs!!! Ughhhh.
So when we get back we are going to throughly clean Out the Cage, get rid of the eggs and hope whoever is left in the cage will take care of the babies. I saw one very tiny , two medium, 3 Almost ready to fledge and one bigger one as well but doesn’t look healthy : (.
We have several different species some of which I’m not sure of the name : gouldians, zebras, some whites , some black ones, parrot finches etc. I will post pictures soon.

 

[Nubirdlady]

Hi! Im back! I feel so much better for the birds. We got rid of 27. We still have 21 left but they seem much less crowded. I always took all the greens and stick perches Out and soaked them and cleaned them in the bathtub. I could not clean the bottom of the cage because the track is rotted. That’s our next fix... I removed most of the nests except the ones with babies in them. As you can see there were quite a few eggs!
One bird that we transported wasn’t in the best shape when they put them all in a cage but all the rest seemed happy so I would say this was a successful day!

Now we just have to see how the babies make Out

 

[Destiny]

My goodness! So many finches in one cage. Sounds like you have already done quite a bit to improve their living conditions. Thank you so much for taking on this task. It can't be an easy thing. I wish you the best of luck with the remaining babies and young birds.

Looks like the majority of the remaining birds are Zebra finches in various color mutations. I also see a parrot finch, Lady Gouldian, an Owl finch, and a red-cheeked cordon bleu. The black and white ones could be a type of mannikin, but I can't be sure.

 

[finchly]

Yep manikins. Nice collection of birds!

It’s good that you removed the nests/eggs. The birds will be a lot healthier in less crowded conditions.

Edit: oh an owl finch, too! @Destiny did you see it?

 

[Destiny]

Yup, I did! Owl finches are one of my favorite.

Gotta love all that Australian finch representation.

 

[AussieBird]

Yep manikins. Nice collection of birds!

I was wondering what they were. They remind me of willie wagtails.

 

[Alyse]

I've been thinking about you and your inherited flock and wondered what had happened. Thank you for the update and it sounds like everyone is off to a better start. The cage and birds are beautiful, I hope you bring each other tons of joy!

 

[jh81]

Whats the blue bird called, on the perch right of the swing? In NL we call them “Blauwfazantje” but i imagine thats not the EN/US name

@Nubirdlady are you planning in building an aviary? The thing is with Zebrafinches.. they will nest anywhere. I would keep the males (lets face it, they are more colorful to look at) and get rid of the females, else you’d be back to 50 birds in less then a few months! The good thing is, most female zebrafinches (at least the ones i used to have) will respond to any young in need, they seem to have a strong breeding instinct and will happily feed someone else’s young as well so hopefully the baby’s will make it

 

[finchly]

Whats the blue bird called, on the perch right of the swing? In NL we call them “Blauwfazantje” but i imagine thats not the EN/US name

Lol
Red cheeked cordon bleu. Very nice bird.

else you’d be back to 50 birds in less then a few months!

This is true. And you’ll be more attached to them, because they’re “yours.”

 

[jh81]

The red cheecked gordon blue (horrible name! Gordon Blue is a piece of meat with cheese we eat here in NL) have a special place in my heart, i hope @Nubirdlady keeps them and posts pictures every day!

 

[Nubirdlady]

I really couldn’t tell you what the blue bird is called lol. I have a book here my uncle left with all the different species. I’ll have to look again.

no we weren’t planning on building anything. We live in Pennsylvania and it’s cold here in the winter and we have no more room in the house. I’m going to just keep trying to downsize.
Do you know ho hard it is to catch these darn things and then to catch only
The females? Momma Mia LOL. It is a thought though possibly. Once the babies fledge I’m going to get rid of all of the nests. That should work right ?? And you are right , so far it seems that they are taking care of the babies!! Yay 3 are about ready to come Out !

Whats the blue bird called, on the perch right of the swing? In NL we call them “Blauwfazantje” but i imagine thats not the EN/US name

@Nubirdlady are you planning in building an aviary? The thing is with Zebrafinches.. they will nest anywhere. I would keep the males (lets face it, they are more colorful to look at) and get rid of the females, else you’d be back to 50 birds in less then a few months! The good thing is, most female zebrafinches (at least the ones i used to have) will respond to any young in need, they seem to have a strong breeding instinct and will happily feed someone else’s young as well so hopefully the baby’s will make it

 

[Nubirdlady]

I thought so too lol

I will continued to post pics!! These birds are so cute and funny!

The red cheecked gordon blue (horrible name! Gordon Blue is a piece of meat with cheese we eat here in NL) have a special place in my heart, i hope @Nubirdlady keeps them and posts pictures every day!

 

[Nubirdlady]

Thank you!!

I've been thinking about you and your inherited flock and wondered what had happened. Thank you for the update and it sounds like everyone is off to a better start. The cage and birds are beautiful, I hope you bring each other tons of joy!

 

[Nubirdlady]

Thanks for all of the specie names !!

My goodness! So many finches in one cage. Sounds like you have already done quite a bit to improve their living conditions. Thank you so much for taking on this task. It can't be an easy thing. I wish you the best of luck with the remaining babies and young birds.

Looks like the majority of the remaining birds are Zebra finches in various color mutations. I also see a parrot finch, Lady Gouldian, an Owl finch, and a red-cheeked cordon bleu. The black and white ones could be a type of mannikin, but I can't be sure.