FINCHforum

So my society finches have viable eggs and this one just fell out of the nest. The baby was still in the egg but pretty much slipped out when I picked the cracked egg up. I've never had baby societies before so i have ho idea if this baby is developed enough to survive outside the egg, if it was getting ready to hatch when the egg was knocked out, or if it's premature or something.

Do I put it back in the nest? Do I build a temporary incubator? Do I let it die?

Could really use some help with this right now.

JustAlex09

Seems premature. By all means put it back in the nest with the societies. They can care for it the best if it can survive.

I put the chick back in the nest. The two societies in there are uh... tasting it? IDK if they're contemplating eating it, wondering if it's theirs, or if they're cleaning any extra egg membrane off. They're being very gentle, though.

JustAlex09

Yes they do gently remove the egg shell bits. If the baby can open its mouth, they will feed it. They may sit on it and warm it up to get it's strength up first. So its best not to bother them too much and let them do the best they can. The baby can live off its yolk (the yellow part of the belly) for about 24 hours..

Good luck for the little guy.

I agree, the baby looks premature. The parents will care for it if it will beg.

The newborn died (I think they tried to eat it) and I found the second egg on the bottom of the cage this morning. Half the egg was broken open, so I`m not sure if the chick was trying to hatch or if one of the other birds broke it open to see what was inside.

Upon examining the second egg I noticed a tiny little white thing go skittering across the dead chick`s head. Not sure if it was just a molt flake (they`re all molting right now) or a mite but considering I`ve got newborns in another nest, I`m gonna do the safe thing and get some ivermectin. Until then, all the adult birbs will be getting a bit of vaseline rubbed on their beaks and feet to suffocate any mites already there and prevent further possible transmission.

Some times certain parents just chuck the eggs out which is sad, what sort of nest do they have I found that coconuts with a hole in them are the best because the eggs can't fall out by accident and also mare harder for the parent to throw out as it rolls back. Sad when this happens