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Help! Lots of finches and new eggs

jh81

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Getting rid of the nests is a good first step, some might still want to breed in some other places we can’t yet imagine possible for nesting :rofl:

get some fake eggs in case they do decide they can do without nests. If you just remove the eggs they will continue to lay eggs untill the female is starved from calcium, so its better to have some fake eggs at hand to allow the female to “fullfill their needs” if you know what i mean :)
 

MR. Mango

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I agree removing the nests won’t stop breeding you could either separate the genders or have to keep taking out the eggs to replace with fake ones, btw the cage grate and tray seem very dirty, I know that this cage is still manufactured so maybe you could just ask to buy a new tray and grate rather than a whole new cage
 

Destiny

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If you do plan on trying to separate them by gender, the good news is that male and female zebra finches are easy to tell apart.

The males are much more colorful and they will have a variety of other distinctive markings: orange cheek patches, stripes on the throat, black bar on the breast and a chestnut colored flank with white spots. Can you guess which bird is male in this picture?

grzebpr.jpg

Yep, girl on the left, boy on the right.

There are some color mutations that make things more difficult, like solid white. But for the most part, you can easily sort them out by markings alone. Easy-peesy.

Lady Gouldain Finches are also pretty easy, but not as straight-forward as Zebras because they come in so many different color combinations. It helps if you have two adult birds with similar markings to compare to each other.

Like in Zebra finches, the male is more flashy. He will have a brighter, more purple breast and a thicker blue stripe around his face.

gouldian_finches_01.jpg

Male on the left. Female on the right.

Since you have babies, it is important to know that juvenile Gouldians are all a drab green color. After they wean, they will eventually molt out to their vibrant adult plumage.

So if you find yourself with any finches that look like this, don't waste any time trying to ID them. Just give them a little time ...

juvenilegouldianfinch.jpg

Sexing the red-cheeked cordon bleus is quite simple in adult birds. The male will have bright red cheek-patches. The female lacks the cheek-patch, and the blue coloring on the hen is not as extensive or as brilliant as it is on the male.

718-1_1024x.jpg

Male on the left and female on the right.

From the picture you posted earlier, you have a male. I didn't see any others.

Unfortunately, not all finches are so easy. Owl finches (also called Double Barred Finches) are pretty hard to visually sex. Males are generally slightly larger than females, and have a wider and straighter black band on the top of their head. Hens supposedly have narrower headbands that are shaped like the letter C. The male's lower breast bar will be thicker than the female's. Also the male's face will be a slightly brighter white and the white area will be a bit larger than the female's.

From the sound of it, most breeders look at behavior, rather than band thickness or any other visual difference.

18144888415_f3ab872d73_b-880x575.jpg

Heck if I know. Your guess is as good as mine.

Here is a guide that gives lots of pictures and different tips:


Parrot finches are also rather tricky. There are some differences, but it sounds like it takes experience and a lot of birds to compare against before you can consistently guess gender accurately in this species. On average, males are a little bigger, a little brighter, and they have more color on the head. Many breeders mentioned looking at how thick the face color was behind the eyes - more color behind the eyes would indicate male while less color probably means female (or poorly marked male).

Like with Owl Finches, most breeders wait until breeding season to confirm their guesses by watching the birds interact with each other.

I wasn't able to find a decent photo for red-faced parrot finches, but here is a blue faced pair:

Parrotfinch_01.jpg
Photo: Esben Elmer, DK www.birdz.dk

The male is on the left and female on the right.

Juvenile parrotfinches are less colorful, mostly green. Like Gouldians, they become more colorful after their first molt. Also these finches can cross-breed with Lady Gouldians to produce hybrid offspring.

From what I was able to find, black and white mannikins are also difficult to tell apart without checking DNA or surgical sexing or guessing based off behavior during breeding season.

...

Of all these finches, the Zebra finches are by far the most prolific breeders. So my advise would be to focus on downsizing your female zebra finch population first and foremost. They are easy to tell apart from males and if you can separate or re-home all the female zebras, the majority of the breeding issues will probably be dealt with.

Even if you have some male/female pairs left in the cage, the other finch species are more likely to not breed under crowded conditions, especially if they lack access to nest boxes. Zebras will practically breed until they run out of room to breath, no matter the conditions - they are the rabbits of the bird world. Prolific to a fault.

I am guessing that the majority of the birds in that cage were zebra finches for a reason. :)
 
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finchly

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Also.... sorry to inundate you with information... zebras are a little pushy, and most of your others are quieter species. So you might see the zebras bullying the others.

I personally don’t keep zebras with those others.

This is a red faced parrot finch.

F19F80AB-7E3E-46AB-8D5A-145CDCE093CD.jpeg
 

SeñorBirb

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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 :( View attachment 376116 View attachment 376117 View attachment 376118 View attachment 376119
Owl finch! That is soo cute :awww: (I only know this because it's my favorite type of finch, maybe in a few years I'll get some:hmmm:)
 

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