Anyone familiar with breeding Zebra Finches?

[Beccy]

We have a young pair of zebra finches, who recently went through courtship, prepared a nest, laid four eggs, three of which hatched. The chicks hatched within about 36 hours start to finish, and began hatching Monday. The fourth egg did not hatch, and this morning when I shone a small light into the nest, all three chicks were motionless. We checked and sure enough they were all dead.

The parents had protein rearing food in addition to their regular food, spray millet, vitamins, cuttlebone etc. but I am not even sure if they were feeding the chicks, it was impossible to see what they were doing once they were inside the nest.

Is it possible that they were just too young and inexperienced, or should I be looking for other possible causes?

...should add to the above, that the parents did not appear in any way to have abandoned the nest or chicks, as I know that sometimes this can happen. One parent was always on the nest, they would switch regularly.

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

I don't have experience with finches, but I do have experience with birds! I used to breed and raise fancy show Indian Fantail Pigeons...pretty =)

Anyhow, a new couple and especially a young couple will often go through a few clutches before they learn how to successfully rear their chicks. They may not even be able to rear a full clutch for a while, so just give them time. It is very saddening to see the chicks that don't make it, believe me I know! But that is just how their life is, and how they learn...if you really want to breed them, just keep trucking and rooting for them =)

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Try this site

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Bre...le+Search&meta=

 

[Beccy]

Thanks, it is not that I really want to breed them, just try and stop them, LOL. We had an older pair raise babies a few years ago and everything went fine. I know that Zebra finches prefer to live in colonies, but I am wondering if this happens again, if we split them into two cages and kept two males and two females together, if they would be happy. I don't think I can bear to watch babies die of starvation over and over until they get it right. :no:

Thanks Jayne, I will check out those links. I have three books on finches, one specifically on zebra finches, and they all mention that the parents may abandon the eggs or babies if they feel threatened, but none talk about inexperience of young parents. Everything else seems to be ok so that is all I can think of.

 

[nootka]

Yep, Beccy, there are some birds that are not the best parents. I used to raise Lady Gouldian or Gouldian Finches, which are similiar in size, but seem to be considerably more picky about their child-rearing capabilities. A fairly common thing (at least locally) was to use Society Finches to raise the young, but I was stubborn and wanted to stick to "natural" as possible and I rarely used the Societies, though I could also not stand to watch the babies just die of starvation, and so I would feed the babies (you can see the food in their little crops on the side/front of their necks if they are being fed, and if they are being fed as well as they need to be, it will look like their crop is bigger than their bodies and for sure bigger than their heads).

They make a little egg candling light on a "stick" sort of a thing that I would use to sneak in there and see if eggs were fertile/developing, also that last egg may have been a problem and removed once it was determined to be non viable.

Anyway, if they never fed them, they didn't have a chance, but it is possible they will figure them out.

I love Zebra Finches, I had many of them though I never raised them, just kept 'em around for their silly little songs.

Sometimes if you read the info available, there are little tricks such as day length and temperature of the room that help (at least w/Goulds), and I kept a daylight spectrum bank of lights in my bird room that would simulate longer days (their Winters are in our Summers being as they are indigenous to Australia), and would simulate "dusk" by having a few of the lights go out first, until there would be "night" though if I had sick birds, I used heat lamps, etc. and I heated the room to 80+ (light timers are a good thing).

Good luck!

Liz M.

 

[Beccy]

Thanks Liz, I think finches are just the sweetest little birds, and from what I am told, some of the easier ones to breed. I don't have the knowledge you do and would not attempt the Gouldians (which btw I think are absolutely gorgeous!) or any of the other more exotic varieties. I love the Cordon Blues, particularly the blue capped, but can't find any for sale. I am happy with me wee Zebras, but want them to be healthy and happy...

 

[nootka]

Yep, they are sweet, and mine never did lay eggs, but I never kept nests in w/them, either.

If you are interested in the Cordon Bleu, you might look them up at something like Finchbreeder.com (if it still exists) and find a local breeder, which would be your best bet for getting viable and healthy breeding birds rather than a pet shop.

Enjoy your birds!

Liz

 

[Shelley]

I'm so sorry, maybe the next clutch will go better for you!!! Amazing how badly you can feel about even a tiny little baby bird.

Our Gouldians are starting to nest! :aktion033: It was so much fun watching last year's babies turn from little grayish-brown chicks into such glorious colored creatures!

Shelley

 

[Beccy]

Thanks Shelley, and good luck with your nesting Gouldians, they sure are fabulous colours!

 

[carlenehorse]

HI I raised lots of zebra finches and what everyone said is true sometimes you will get some young parents that don't know how to feed the babies. They will get better. I also used my miniature horse hair (during shedding) for their nesting material. I put the hair on the ground and they would come and gather it up and bring it to their nest. Sometimes if there is not enough nesting material the babies will get cold especially if the parents are always getting on and off the nest.

The hair keeps them very warm. What kind of cage do you have them in.

I have a big outdoor avary and we put Christmas Trees in the avary and put the nest in the middle of the trees. Some of the finches don't like anyone messing with their nest and by keeping them hidden from view they felt more secure.

The more you look in the nest the more the new parents will get nervous but they should be ok the next time. Sometimes it takes a few clutches for them to get it right.

Carlene