FINCHforum

Hi everyone ,
first,please accept my apologies since i don't show up in this forum and participate unless i need some help and this is mainly because i'm always busy ,
as usual , i have unusual case and it can't be solved through reading articles here and there , so here is the case :

i moved all of my birds ( zebra finches ) to a new aviary / room , and they immediately started breeding in the nest boxes of the former aviary occupants (budgies) ,
i had 4 clutches , of the first one only one chick survived ( it's in the coloring stage now and still can't fly as the adults).

the other 3 clutches had the same scenario , 2 out of 3 survive ,become fledglings and the parents won't feed them despite their constant calling and they die of starvation , they last for 1 week because the chick from the first clutch will took care of them and keep being around them until they die so i'm guessing it may fed them just a little ,

so my question is:
is it possible for their inexperienced parents to not recognize their chicks when they are outside the nest ? do they need to recognize their chick or they should take turn feeding all the chicks on the ground .
is this common in colony breeding since i never had this issue before? and how can i stop it?
and i'd like to mention that they didn't start another clutch when the chicks fledged so i don't think this is the reason for them abandoning their clutch.

thanks

Eng.W0LF

Tried adding extra millet and putting down a plate of boiled mashed egg. Well-fed parents often leads to filled baby tummies

My birds eat a LOT! I put out a plate of pulse chopped greens and egg food daily plus sprigs of millet. Feed them more. Look into Bird bread recipes.

Babs Spreckles thank you very much,
i must admit that the millet was always there but never give them egg food or something similar during that time ,

i have an extra idea i hope it'll work ,when the chicks fall from the nest they try to hide under something which is part of their instinct,
and their parents won't care for them because they lack experience,
this time i won't leave them hiding , i'll put a large cardboard box with all of the food inside and any new fledgling will be inside too, so whenever one of the adults try to eat the fledglings will be near the feeding place and feeding them will be more tempting to the adult birds.

Eng.W0LF

I hope it works.I did the same technique in this thread

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=35199

It worked very well, but I'm not well versed on zebras. Let us know how its going.

Just keep the food coming. Its easy to make Bird bread.
Karen

Eng.W0LF

Don't forget to add a small water bowl to the box too; you don't want them dying of dehydration. As for seed, you should try giving them dehusked/dehulled seed (preferably millet). That will be much easier for them to consume.

Do you have any hand-rearing formula? As they will already be fledged, hand-feeding will be a lot easier in terms of frequency (but you may have to crop feed as I doubt they will willingly take food from you). The hand-feeding can be supplemental too (i.e. in addition to what they are feeding themselves), just enough to get them through the lean period until they are fully independent. Maybe even once a day will be enough.

Best of luck.