FINCHforum

My overly-eager-to-breed finches have lined the food dish with nesting material and this morning I found an egg laid in it. Their existing baby only left the nest 10 days ago. So here are my questions:

1. Should I allow them to start another clutch right away?

2. Should I get another appropriate nest so they don't continue in the food tray or should I just leave nature alone and provide another food tray so they can actually feed? (I gave them spinach leaves this morning and their reaction was "great! more nesting material!" and they even took them and lined nest #2)

3. My cage is 31" x 18" by 36" tall. If I allow them to breed in my new larger cage that I have moved them into, should I worry about the height of the cage? My concern is that if they have babies, when the babies leave the nest they have a long drop to the bottom (36")

4. Is the baby too young to remove to another cage? Unfortunately the other cage I have is not very large (18" x 12" x 18" tall)

5. Is it okay to leave the 3 of them together in the cage when the parents are breeding again?

Thanks for all your help!
Anita

Since your birds only had 1 baby in the previous clutch; I'd say it is okay to let them continue breeding if the parent seem healthy and not exhausted. My gouldians just had 3 clutches in a row with 1 baby in each, and managed just fine. I left the babies with the parents while they were laying on the new eggs, and they had no problem at all taking care of both the eggs and the "older" chick. Sometimes the "old" chick was laying quietly and nicely in the nesting box with the parents and the new eggs. I suggest you leave the old chick in.

You could provide your birds with a proper nest but I am not sure if they will brood on the existing egg if you move it to a new site. However, a covered nest in the long run would be better than an open food tray, considering if there are several chicks they could push eachother out.

Good luck!!

If the existing baby only left the nest 10 days ago, it needs to stay with the parents till it is weaned. Are these Zebras? Do you want more babies? If you do, I wouldn't let them continue to use the food dish as a nest. You could place a nest, partially filled with nesting material, in the cage, and don't place it so high up if you are concerned with babies falling out. Once the existing baby is weaned, you will have to watch for aggression towards it, especially from the male.