Help!!! Is my zebra finch egg be fertilized??

[Estrildidae]

My pair of zebra finch mated and the female laid three eggs, due to an cat attack the eggs broke:( And they started to laying eggs again after four days, is the eggs fertilized??? Because I heard that the egg has to be laid within a week for it to get fertilized. I don't wanna do the candling thingy my finches will freak out!

[Sally]

After mating, most of the time the sperm stays viable for about 16 days. The only way to be sure that eggs have been fertilized is to candle them after about 5 days, because even with mating, there is no guarantee that the male managed to deposit sperm.

If you don't want to candle, then you will just have to play the waiting game. If the eggs are fertile, the parents will start sitting tight, usually after the third egg is laid. From the time the parents start sitting tight, the eggs should hatch in about 12-14 days.

[Estrildidae]

Does the parent/finches know if their eggs are fertilized or not???

[Sally]

I'm not sure on this, as sometimes when birds abandon their nest after a short period of time, I think that maybe they realize that the eggs are not developing, so rather than waste time on them, they abandon and start another clutch.

On the other hand, I've had birds sit tight for up to three weeks before they give up, and when I check the eggs, they were never fertile to begin with.

[Estrildidae]

Okay thanks