BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Birds Zebra Finch Breeding Question

I'm new here ... very grateful to have found this forum. Anyway I have a breeding pair of Zebra Finches that I got about 8 months ago. The people that I got them from were only feeding them seed. I took some time to augment their diet so I could get them in better shape before breeding. This summer they laid 4 eggs, 2 hatched and were growing like crazy. I left the other 2 eggs for 2 weeks and decided to remove them because they were not fertilized. There were a bunch of websites that I was using as reference that recommended this. After I did that my finches abandoned the babies and they died. I have given them a few months to regain their strength and let them try again. As of this morning they now have 10 eggs in the nest! From what I've read 2-5 is the norm ... up to 8 max. I am very reluctant to remove some of the eggs based on our past experience with that. Should I just leave it be and see what happens? Is it normal for them to have this many? Would they be able to care for that many babies if they hatch? Needless to say I am very confused, any help would be so greatly appreciated! [color:"brown"] [/color]

i dont no much about zebra finches but i tihnk that you should just leave all the eggs in there like you said before 2 of the last ones werent fertilized so maybe some of these eggs arnt fertilized either i tihnk you should leave them in then if all of the eggs hatch and you tihnk it is to much on the parents you could hand raise some of the babies but you should always go to ur local avain vet to show you how and the best way to feed the newly born chicks.

I'm so sorry you lost the babies. Breeding often has its ups and downs and unfortunately, there are sometimes more downs than ups - <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I wouldn't have thought that removing the eggs would cause them to abandon the babies, but sometimes you never know. I've been known to remove babies to check & take pictures of them throughout their growth without any problems and unfertilized eggs were removed at those times. Your pair is apparently a little fussier and does not want to be bothered, so you will have to leave them alone.

I'm wondering how you know how many eggs they have in their nest. You may be bothering them by checking & counting. Ten eggs sounds like they are starting a 2nd clutch on top of the first clutch, which is not unusual for zebras. It is very unlikely that many of these eggs will hatch, but any baby that does hatch is going to have trouble because he will be sitting on or between eggs with that many, and may have difficulty learning to stand.

I would consider removing all the eggs and nesting material and giving them another break before trying again. Or, you could try removing what looks like the bottom eggs and see if they continue sitting on the 4 or 5 that you leave. That might be better than removing the whole clutch.

Thanks so much for your quick reply. My birds have a basket nest with a faily big opening. I can easily see into the nest when they are out having their bath. I have not gone near the nest, for fear of upseting them. As of this morning they have laid another egg, bringing the total to 11. I too was wondering if they are laying another clutch, but I don't know how to tell if that's the case. These eggs have all been layed in the past 2 weeks ... one each day or day and a half. They have not built up the nest over these eggs, so I can do a daily count. I did go out to all our pet stores and try to find a nest box for their next clutch, no one has any though. They had some for a way larger bird, so I have one on order. I think with the new egg arriving this morning I need to just take all the eggs out and start again later. After what you said about them not having room to stand I looked at the nest this morning and tried to picture them all in there. You are definitly right, it would not be good for them to be in a nest with so many eggs.

What I had for my finches is a nest that has a hole in in the front of it. It is basket material and you can get it at any pet store. They never did real well with the basket type. This is alittle more private. I personally would start all over and not bother them to much. They normally take pretty good care of the eggs and babies. Mine would not let me touch the babies or the eggs until they were done with them. Hope it helps some.

As many have said i would leave the eggs in there and see what happens. I would remove the eggs and start over. You can also check other pet websites for nests becuase i know i have a nesting tent that is fuzzy on the inside. So if you cant find what you want, let me know and i can see if our pet store has it!

Thanks.