My Mated Pair

[Aaron 0]

Hi I have a mated pair of zebra finches..I bought them from a local small pet store (did not want to separate them) I knew the possibility of them having babies was very high..as such I bought a nesting box and researched as much as could...on top of the variety of seed...i make sure they have plenty of millet and honey sticks and add cooked egg and shells and fruits and veggies (which they dont seem to keen on the fruits and veggies) anyway recently they have laid 8 eggs..and after the last egg have started taking turns sitting on them constantly...i have from day one kept there cage open during the day and have an apple tree branch attached to the side of the cage and a much larger one in my living room they fly too..I'm wondering if while they have eggs if I should keep the cage closed during the incubation period...also I have read 2 views online about what to do when the eggs hatch if they do...some say to start hand feeding them right away as to keep the chance of survival high...while others say that they will know what to do and just let them take care of the babies...i tend to agree with the last of the two options...but was wondering if anyone else had some advice about it...also there is times they both come out for a quick fly around...but usually not long before one is back in the nest..

Thank u 

[Aaron 0]

I noticed that one of the birds expelled 2 eggs onto the bottom of the cage...I still have 8 eggs tho so this musta happened before she laid the last one prior to starting to incubate them...anybody know why she would have done this?

[Andyn 534]

Aaron, Could they have been laid before you attached the nest box and you didn't see them?

 

[Aaron 0]

I attached the nest box pretty early...because they were trying to nest in the food trays lol...and I usually dump the bottom tray every week...

[Andyn 534]

Were the eggs laid on the floor disfigured/soft shell. I'm thinking that maybe the hen knew they wouldn't be viable. The other thought is that she had come off from incubating and they popped out when she defecated.

Can't really give a definite answer I'm afraid.

[Aaron 0]

Now that I've googled it a bit more I'm thinking maybe it could have been 2 eggs initially laid prior to her laying the batch of 8 and they went bad before she started incubating them so she expelled them...I noticed the shells were a grayish colour...sounds like that means they went bad...they havent done it again and the eggs have started hatching in the nest so think that might be the best explanation .

[Aaron 0]

I have another question lol...I realize that the babies pretty much dont leave the nest till they are ready...but I have the nest at the very top of the cage..should I be putting something under it in case one wanders out the front and falls to the bottom of the cage?   Like they dont leave the nest knowing how to fly so what do they do when they are ready to come out

[Andyn 534]

OK, this is one I can answer based on my own experience.

Firstly, make sure that the area of nest where babies are is lower than the entrance/exit so they are less likely to fall out. But if a small one is found on the cage floor you can pick it up and put it back in. The only thing that you need to be aware of is that other (maybe older) chicks might panic and try to exit the nest. If that happens just cover the entrance with your hand until things settle down.

If the chicks are old enough to leave the nest they will fly back to it when they want to. (good practice for them) If the Chick stays out the parents shouldn't ignore it (plus chick will shout quite loud)

As a beginner we get too involved thinking we are helping so I say- keep an eye and ear out but let nature do it's thing first before intervention. (hope that makes sense) 

[Aaron 0]

Yes very much..thank u....and I did see other info where ppl decided to hand feed them and take over the raising of them but I decided to just let mom and dad do there thing...lol I'm gunna need to build a bigger home for them 

[Aaron 0]

I should have added this to the last message...but in my original post I mentioned that i still leave the cage open while they are incubating (and now hatching) so they can fly around during they day...should i be keeping it closed during this process? 

[Andyn 534]

I think I would be more concerned if the door to cage accidentally closed while the parents were out and about. The maternal/paternal instinct in these little birds is fer-nominal. I have to take the nest boxes down to ring the chicks or clean the box if it's getting too fouled, but as soon as I re-hang the box one or both are straight in. (I must admit to not tippy toeing around them when they are in the breeding cages so I guess they are used to me to a degree)

I expect you secure the cage door open, but just a thought.

Andy

[Aaron 0]

Ya the cage door opens down and they use is as kind of a patio sometimes lol..I've noticed now watching them closely over the last couple days that only first thing in the morning they both come out...fly around a a min or 2 and grab some food and then one goes in...then they take turns for the rest of the day...always one inside nest and usually one on a perch in the living room....they definitely tend to their young often...from what I could see the chicks look healthy.

[Aaron 0]

So it's looking like I only have 4 that have hatched...I see 2 other eggs in there with no colour so have to assume those are no good..I also noticed I have 3 babies that are similar in colouring to mine and one white one...lol is this normal?

[Andyn 534]

Without a photo it is a bit of a guess but possibly the White one is a White Pied. Which means that both parents are split (carrying) the Pied gene. Post a photo and ask again.

[Aaron 0]

This is the 4 babies outta the nest now...but still being fed by parents...the little guy on my finger is the runt of the litter and is really content....I'm so confused how I ended up with a white one lol.

[Andyn 534]

This is possibly a Chestnut Flanked White (CFW). This mutation is sex linked to the parent cock. This means that the parent cock bird is split for CFW and carries the gene on one of his 'X' genes. So imagine the cock is XX and hen is XY. one of those XXs can be explained like this. * = CFW so we are now looking at XX*. If it is a CFW chick it will be a hen because the parent hen doesn't carry any sex linked genes so the match up would X*Y. If the X* met up with the hens X the result would be a cock chick split for CFW (same as dad). If the non X matched with hens X it would result in a 100% Normal cock chick.

Hope that helps, it's how I got my head around sex linked in Budgies.