Our two new girl finches and their eggs?

[Melissa2008B]

About 6 weeks ago we were in Petsmart when I saw a sign saying that they had a finch for free adoption. We had 7 birds already, 2 cockatiels, 4 lovebirds and an albino english budgie. We even have a dedicated bird room, just for them.

So I inquired about the finch and they said that they had this female that had been in a cage with 2 males and her tail feathers were all torn up from them trying to breed with her. ( bad male-female ratio! )

They had her separated in a little cage in the back room.

She was so cute and sweet, we adopted her.

But then we realized that finches are flock birds, so we needed a companion for her. Not wanting to breed them, we got a female from World of Birds, a great local store.

We named the zebra finch "Zee" and the other one "Nellie" ( she's vanilla colored - what the store called a fancy finch ).

So here they are: ( they won't let me post the url )

so see lakewoodcolorado . net/photos/Finches1.JPG

I got a straw nest for them and put some nesting material in it, so they could keep warm with the cooler weather. We let the house get down to about 60 in the winter here in Denver.

So they became best friends immediately.

Then Zee started laying eggs.

Then they both started taking turns sitting on them. They sleep together in the warm straw nest at night anyway. So cute.

But now there are 10 eggs in there and they just keep sitting on them.
I'm not even sure if Nellie might have laid some too.

I know with our lovebirds, they eventually tire of them and we take them out. But what do we do with these finches now? They don't seem to be tiring of the eggs, it's been a couple of weeks already.

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[mickp]

if any of the eggs are fertile they should hatch somewhere between 16 and 21 days. they fledge(leave nest) after approx 3 weeks and most will be independant of parents 3 weeks later, at this point it is safe to remove any youngsters from the nest to either give away or sell

[Melissa2008B]

if any of the eggs are fertile they should hatch somewhere between 16 and 21 days. they fledge(leave nest) after approx 3 weeks and most will be independant of parents 3 weeks later, at this point it is safe to remove any youngsters from the nest to either give away or sell

But these are both females, how could they be fertile?

Zee started laying them about 2 weeks after we adopted her and she'd been separated from the males for a few weeks before that, from what the woman at Petsmart told us.

Is it even possible they're fertilized???

[L in Ontario]

if any of the eggs are fertile they should hatch somewhere between 16 and 21 days. they fledge(leave nest) after approx 3 weeks and most will be independant of parents 3 weeks later, at this point it is safe to remove any youngsters from the nest to either give away or sell

But these are both females, how could they be fertile?

Zee started laying them about 2 weeks after we adopted her and she'd been separated from the males for a few weeks before that, from what the woman at Petsmart told us.

Is it even possible they're fertilized???

Not likely if she told you the truth.

[Melissa2008B]

if any of the eggs are fertile they should hatch somewhere between 16 and 21 days. they fledge(leave nest) after approx 3 weeks and most will be independant of parents 3 weeks later, at this point it is safe to remove any youngsters from the nest to either give away or sell

But these are both females, how could they be fertile?

Zee started laying them about 2 weeks after we adopted her and she'd been separated from the males for a few weeks before that, from what the woman at Petsmart told us.

Is it even possible they're fertilized???

Not likely if she told you the truth.

Ok, so should we still wait to remove them?

[L in Ontario]

I've only had a m/f pair of Zebra Finches once. Are you sure that is a f/f pair? The gray one has quite the bright orange/red beak.

Why do you want to remove the eggs? If they are happy, you can leave them for an extra week. If you are positive they are both females (and if you trust the store personnel completely) then you can remove the eggs, but remove the nest afterwards too so they don't lay anymore.

Zebra finches do not need a nest to be happy.

[Melissa2008B]

I've only had a m/f pair of Zebra Finches once. Are you sure that is a f/f pair? The gray one has quite the bright orange/red beak.

I don't know, these are my first finches. We were told that the males had orange cheek patches.

Why do you want to remove the eggs?

I heard that they can cause infections if left in the nest too long.

If they are happy, you can leave them for an extra week. If you are positive they are both females (and if you trust the store personnel completely) then you can remove the eggs, but remove the nest afterwards too so they don't lay anymore.

Zebra finches do not need a nest to be happy.

I just put the nest in there to help them stay warm through the winter. We let the house get down to 58 at the coldest time of winter here in Denver.

[atarasi]

They both look like females to me.

zebra picture

The only way they could be fertile is if they were bred prior to you acquiring them. Sperm is stored up to 2 weeks inside the hen's body.

[Melissa2008B]

They both look like females to me.

zebra picture

The only way they could be fertile is if they were bred prior to you acquiring them. Sperm is stored up to 2 weeks inside the hen's body.

Guess I'll have to wait and see if they get bored with them, then remove them.

[L in Ontario]

I've only had a m/f pair of Zebra Finches once. Are you sure that is a f/f pair? The gray one has quite the bright orange/red beak.

I don't know, these are my first finches. We were told that the males had orange cheek patches.

Not all Zebra males have the orange cheek patches. It's a little tricky from the picture but I still think the gray MAY be a male.

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Why do you want to remove the eggs?

I heard that they can cause infections if left in the nest too long.

No I don't think that's true. I don't believe there's any great risk fo infection. Some people keep the infertile eggs for years and use them as fake eggs later on for their birds to sit on.
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If they are happy, you can leave them for an extra week. If you are positive they are both females (and if you trust the store personnel completely) then you can remove the eggs, but remove the nest afterwards too so they don't lay anymore.

Zebra finches do not need a nest to be happy.

I just put the nest in there to help them stay warm through the winter. We let the house get down to 58 at the coldest time of winter here in Denver.[/quote]

58 isn't horribly cold. Our nighttime temp is set at 64.
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What does everyone else here online have their house temps set for during the winter? Anyone...?

[Melissa2008B]

Another thing is that there are at least 10 eggs in there. Does just one finch ever lay more than 8 by herself?

[atarasi]

Your gray zebra looks like just a normal gray hen. Zebras, as well as a lot of finches can be little egg-laying machines! So it's possible only one of them is laying.

If you are worried about the eggs and them breaking or whatnot, you can purchase plastic eggs like from a craft store for them to sit on.

[Melissa2008B]

Your gray zebra looks like just a normal gray hen. Zebras, as well as a lot of finches can be little egg-laying machines! So it's possible only one of them is laying.

If you are worried about the eggs and them breaking or whatnot, you can purchase plastic eggs like from a craft store for them to sit on.

No, wasn't worried about breaking, just infection from the old eggs.

I heard that on a lovebird forum, if I recall.

[atarasi]

Hmm, maybe what you heard was that broken infertile eggs can cause harm to young chicks?

[Melissa2008B]

An update on this. They were both sitting on the eggs, and I counted 16 of them as of 2 days ago.

Then suddenly today, both birds are out of the nest and the eggs have all been covered up with the nesting material.

Does that mean they got bored and I should remove them now?