Hi. I'm very new here. I have looked around a little, but what I want has not jumped out at me.
I got 2 Society finches. I had no intention of breeding them, but it happend very quickly after I got them home!
Now I have 5 chicks. They are a few weeks old, the first one hatched Nov 17.
They all look a little different, some with more feathers now. Two of the babies keep getting out or maybe falling out of the nest. The nest is high in the cage, so unless they can fly they cannot get back in yet. Well, tonight I noticed one was perched low and is now sitting on top of the nest, so there must be flying involved for it now.
So here are my questions:
Should I help them back into the nest all the time?
When do they start to fly?
Is there some general information on this (babies and development) someplace?
Thanks!
Baby Society finches
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Kerryland
- Pip
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- Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 5:39 pm
- Location: overland park, ks
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Nipper06
- Novice Nester
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- Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:49 pm
- Location: Wilmington, Delaware (USA)
How to deal with babies
Society Finches are very good parents so you probably don't have to worry too much. They probably keep falling out of the nest because it's too crowded in there. You can try putting them back - especially before "lights out" at night - but the parents will still feed them anywhere in the cage. Also, consider that you need to take out the nest soon anyway or there will be more babies on the way.
Be sure to keep some millet spray on the bottom of the cage as it's a good food for the babies to try eating on their own. Also, your baby finches may like mashed hard-boiled eggs - but only give a little at a time (keep the rest refrigerated) as egg goes bad after a few hours. The parents may feed this food to the babies or the babies may take it themselves. Any way, hard-boiled egg food is good for babies.
For the hard-boiled egg food, most people add some corn meal to soak up some of the wetness. You can also sprinkle some vitamins on it.
Also, make sure the babies have access to water in a shallow pan - like a jar lid - until they get used to drinking where the parents drink from.
p.s. finches should start to fly when about 3 - 4 weeks old. But that doesn't mean they will be good at it right away.
Be sure to keep some millet spray on the bottom of the cage as it's a good food for the babies to try eating on their own. Also, your baby finches may like mashed hard-boiled eggs - but only give a little at a time (keep the rest refrigerated) as egg goes bad after a few hours. The parents may feed this food to the babies or the babies may take it themselves. Any way, hard-boiled egg food is good for babies.
For the hard-boiled egg food, most people add some corn meal to soak up some of the wetness. You can also sprinkle some vitamins on it.
Also, make sure the babies have access to water in a shallow pan - like a jar lid - until they get used to drinking where the parents drink from.
p.s. finches should start to fly when about 3 - 4 weeks old. But that doesn't mean they will be good at it right away.
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B CAMP
- Molting
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- Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:11 pm
- Location: CLEARWATER,FL
Kerryland
Welcome to the forum,you need to check out the link to the left
http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/ ... _finch.php
It has a lot of info ,I would put them back in the nest if there just falling out of the nest I would lay something soft under the nest so if they fall out again they won't get hurt.They will be flying before you no it, if you fill in your profile we will know where in the world you live.Good luck
Welcome to the forum,you need to check out the link to the left
http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/ ... _finch.php
It has a lot of info ,I would put them back in the nest if there just falling out of the nest I would lay something soft under the nest so if they fall out again they won't get hurt.They will be flying before you no it, if you fill in your profile we will know where in the world you live.Good luck