FINCHforum

Hi everyone. I am new to this board and new to breeding. I bought a pair of society finches a few months ago. They recently laid six eggs all of which hatched and I now have six beautiful baby finches. This morning I found one on the floor of the cage and he/she made its way to one of the seed cups and is sleeping in there. The parents are feeding it but they are sleeping with the other five chicks in the nest. The first egg was laid about 18 days ago. My questions are 1) would this chick have fledged (or left the nest on his/her own) or would it have fallen out accidentally and 2) should I allow him/her to sleep alone or put him/her back with the rest of the family. The little chick looks so lonely alone in the seed cup.
Thank you I am so totally in love with these babies.

Vera At this age, he could be the first one to fledge a bit early, but he also could have fallen out of or been knocked out of the nest. I'd go ahead and put him back in the nest. If the others are ready to fledge, you may see all of them come out with the disturbance, but it is worth the risk. He really would be best back in the nest with the others, they keep each other warm. Congrats on all the babies!

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier for members to answer locale-specific questions later on.

Thanks Sally. This morning when I got up he looked like he was cold (like when a bird is sick with its head under its wing) and refused to eat when his parents tried to feed him at that time but I did see him eating later wen th parents were feeding the babies (they are really good parents). He was flying around a bit and seemed better when I left for work. When I came home from work this afternoon lo and behold I found him back in the nest with the others. It made me feel alot better. He is also eating now so hopefully things will be okay. The nest is really really crowded and the parents sleep in there too so I dont doubt he was knocked out.
Would it be okay to separate the babies into two nests I have another one of a similar size here.
What age do they normally fledge?
Thanks so much - it really helps.

Good news that he found his way back in the nest. I'm assuming this means he can fly, or at least hop, so he must be close to fledging age. I wouldn't split the clutch into two nests, I always worry that too much interference will make the parents stop feeding. It sounds like your clutch is close to fledging (are they all fully feathered?). Once they have all fledged, then you could put a larger nest in the cage and take the current one out. Societies will return to the nest every night to sleep, so you can take advantage of the time they are all out to do this.

As you said, when the nest is very crowded, it is easy for a baby to be knocked out, especially as they all grow and the nest gets more crowded. Fortunately, Societies love being crowded!

Thank you! Yes they are all fully feathered but two are still small - there is quite a difference between the first ones born and the last ones born.
I was quite relieved to see him back in the nest. He can fly but he is not the biggest one which was why I was concerned.
I will definitely put a bigger nest in the cage once they are all out, I just hope the parents dont lay some more eggs!
This forum is wonderful!

Vera

Welcome to the forum. I use only medium or large bamboo nests with my societies, but find that the larger the nest, the more will gstay in them at night and the more will lay eggs in the same nest. They will also over-fill the nest with bedding at times if they are given a lot of it, so it defeats giving them a larger nest.

For mine, if they have enough feathers and the chick flies away when I try to pick it up, I leave it out. Usually, another will come out and join it soon. As the chicks get larger, they one will be first out. The parents will feed them. My Societies chicks will congregate in the seed pan where my Zebra chicks will congregate in a corner of the cage. I see my Society chicks laying in the seed or cage bottom with their heads resting down flat and, when matured more, under their wing. Eventually, they will join their folks back at night, as you discovered.

I just took all the bamboo nests out of my Society flight and put in two plastid rectangular nests with wide, rectangular openings. They rarely will lay in these. A couple of nights ago, though I have two of these in the flight, all 12 plus adults and several babies crowded into one. One moment they were all,out, the next only the two Javas with them were out and about. They did the same thing the next night. I call it my Society clown nest.

Stu

Thanks for the information! Tonight they are all in the little nest including both parents. I cant understand how that can possibly be comfortable! I am looking forward to getting rid of that once they are out - lots of excrement around the edge! I'll try getting the plastic kind of nesting box next - Im not anxious to have them lay more eggs right now!

If you don't want them to mate again, after the chicks fledge, REMOVE the nest. They may spend some time looking for the nest, but they will get used to sleeping on the perch.

Thanks Gary. My parents are young so I don't want them mating again for a while.

Thanks. No I don't want them mating again for a while they are doing really well with these six chicks but they are young parents I will that although I feel sorry for them I know they will be missing their nest

ac12 wrote: If you don't want them to mate again, after the chicks fledge, REMOVE the nest. They may spend some time looking for the nest, but they will get used to sleeping on the perch.

Vera, I agree with ac12. Remove the nest all together. I don't as I don't have an issue with discarding eggs. Some will drop eggs anyway and they break on the floor grate. However, I don't provide nesting material and I replace the nest with a clean one periodically, so it seems to lessen the nesting instinct and are just a place that they congregate. Going nest free is fine. I have found, tough, that some will try to nest in the cups I keep the oyster shells and other supplements in. So those need to be cleaned out periodically as well.

When they keep laying eggs do you get concerned that it is hard on the female and would make her short of calcium?
I do put out oyster shells and feed boiled egg sometimes with some of hte shell ground in but I still get concerned about loss of calcium. Prior to laying these six eggs she laid three other eggs earlier which cracked because I foolishy moved them. She is probably not more than six months old so I want her to discourage her from laying any more eggs for a while. Is that appropriate?

FLDoc wrote:

ac12 wrote: If you don't want them to mate again, after the chicks fledge, REMOVE the nest. They may spend some time looking for the nest, but they will get used to sleeping on the perch.

Vera, I agree with ac12. Remove the nest all together. I don't as I don't have an issue with discarding eggs. Some will drop eggs anyway and they break on the floor grate. However, I don't provide nesting material and I replace the nest with a clean one periodically, so it seems to lessen the nesting instinct and are just a place that they congregate. Going nest free is fine. I have found, tough, that some will try to nest in the cups I keep the oyster shells and other supplements in. So those need to be cleaned out periodically as well.

At least they are not like zebras, that use the food dish and water tough as a toilet. UGH.

ac12 wrote: If you don't want them to mate again, after the chicks fledge, REMOVE the nest. They may spend some time looking for the nest, but they will get used to sleeping on the perch.

Well they have all come out of the nest but not all at the same time. There are usually one or two in there so I havent been able to get rid of it yet, and part of me feels bad for taking it away from them but it is filthy. At night the parents pack in there too its hilarious to see. I

It is not unusual for them to take several days to all come out of the nest, especially with species that start sitting right away with the first egg. In that case, the eggs don't all hatch the same day either, so you have a clutch of babies that have hatched one baby per day. When it is time to fledge, the oldest baby will be the first one out, and the youngest are often still too young to be brave enough to make the leap.