Adding males to females

[RPatchett]

Hi

I have two female zebra finches in a 85x85x55cm and who are quite happy together. They have laid (unfertilised) in the past.

I have been thinking for a while about getting two males for them to partner with and make babies mainly because I feel my kids would love seeing the process. They were quite upset when none of the eggs they’ve laid hatched lol

However here are my concerns listed below. Any advice for me would be really great.

1. Is it ethical to allow my females to breed, knowing the babies will ultimately end up at the pet store.
2. One of my females is a rescue. She is blind in one eye and sometimes plucks her feathers out. Vet says she is stressed out. I’ve done everything I can think of to help her but I think she’s always going to be a stress-head. Will this affect her partnering? Would these things cause males to reject her?
3. I have never done this before so where is the best place to get information for breeding? The internet is full of conflicting advice so I don’t know where to start.

Thank you all for your thoughts

Rach

[Fraza]

RPatchett my only concern is that ur females will begging to fight and it will cause more stress you wouldn’t be able to have them all in one cage they would have to be seperate

But it wouldn’t bother them about ur blind zebra they would still pair

Also it’s alroght if the chicks go to pet shops just make sure they are nice ones and sell to good customers

[Icearstorm]

RPatchett

The Finch Information Center is good, and so is this forum.

It's generally not recommended to have four zebra finches, as the more dominant pair may bully the other pair.

If you live in the US, pet stores usually won't take other birds; you may have to sell them online. Zebra finches aren't the easiest birds to sell, since they are common and highly prolific.

Do NOT breed birds that are not completely healthy. Birds are more likely to suffer health problems, especially under the stress of breeding; birds that had issues beforehand are at an even greater risk of exhaustion, egg-binding, and other ailments. There is also a genetic risk; disabled birds may carry harmful genetic mutations that can result in their offspring developing health problems. I once had a female gouldian finch that was fairly healthy, but acted slightly odd, and her baby had slip toe and intellectual problems. It had major difficulties figuring out how to eat and drink, and died at three months old.

[RPatchett]

I once had a female gouldian finch that was fairly healthy, but acted slightly odd, and her baby had slip toe and intellectual problems. It had major difficulties figuring out how to eat and drink, and died at three months old.

OMG how sad poor little bubby

I’m in Australia so birds are bought from pet stores or private arrangement from local online sale. My local pet store is nice which is where we got our rescue’s friend from. They buy them from local breeders. Not sure whether they would buy from us.

Ok so I’ve been reading on this site and apparently like you said, two pairs could fight. I don’t think we have a big enough cage for six.

Would it stress my blind stressed one if I housed her in a smaller cage on her own and bred the other healthy zebra female in the large cage?

My healthy female nests a lot and if I’m not quick enough to put her nest in she plops them out anywhere in the cage. I feel sorry for her and feel like she is wanting to have babies...

Not sure what to do because I don’t want to put unnecessary stress on either of them!!

[Fraza]

RPatchett no don’t leave the other one by herself that will make her lonely you could introduce her to a new female and then seperate her and have her in the small cage with the new one , then ur healthy one can breed happily in the big cage

Then when you have ur bigger cage if u get two males out of ur healthy hen clutch u can pair them to ur other two females

[Dave]

My own opinion is that your cage is small for even one pair. I see stressed birds when there is a bully in the mix. Larger cages alleviate this.

[RPatchett]

My own opinion is that your cage is small for even one pair. I see stressed birds when there is a bully in the mix. Larger cages alleviate this.

Yeah I just checked out the calculator on this website and it said my sized cage 2-3 birds: well 3 is out of the question so it’s probably really best if I just leave it.

I have noticed though that Tiny (healthy one) bullies Meep (blind one) a bit.

[CathyCraftz]

Add the males and one extra pair of a male and a female to relieve the stress. Two pairs will fight over the best nest and resources and adding another will relieve the pressure. If you are not willing to sell the babies to a pet shop, you can keep them but keep in mind that they have to be separated from their parents once they finish moulting into their adult plumage to prevent aggression and prevent them from inbreeding by separating them from their siblings.

[Fraza]

CathyCraftz sorry I don’t agree adding two more males then you need will cause more stress as the extra males will harass the females as the pair they are already in then also the 4 Male will fight to show dominance to earn the females

I think it best option is the have them both in pairs how did the blind one get blind was it through an injury or born like that

[RPatchett]

I think it best option is the have them both in pairs how did the blind one get blind was it through an injury or born like that

I rescued her from a crow attack about a year ago. She was chased and got her legs/claws caught in my flywire of my back door. She had her tail ripped out and she kept shutting her left eye. When she opens it it is all cloudy and flat (not round and shiny like a normal eye) so I presume she can’t see, however she has no problems with flying or navigating around the house or the cage.

[Fraza]

RPatchett well if she is healthy then she will be able to breed as it was due from an attack then it won’t pass on to the chicks I really think you should get them into pairs and separated and they will breed happily

If you have homes for the chick

[RPatchett]

Thanks for all the advice!!! I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet as we don’t really have space for 2 large cages in our home. They are indoor birds and only outside about 3-4 hours a day so I don’t really want to shift them outside permanently or overnight... lots to think about!

I’ll try to be more active in these forums and get more information before I make the final decision!