Good News!

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:01 pm

Congrats on the chick.

If I were you I'd be concerned about it becoming entangled in that flossy nesting material. The chick is barely visible.

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:10 pm

tammieb wrote:Congrats on the chick.

If I were you I'd be concerned about it becoming entangled in that flossy nesting material. The chick is barely visible.

Its some sort of fluffy cottony short fiber nesting material. If you pull it apart there aren't really any strings, its kind of like when you break apart a cattail. I hope it's not bad too!

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:06 am

Is it like the material they use to stuff pillows??

Okay so, the chick may not become entangled, but watch to make sure it doesn't bury itself so deeply the parents can't find it. Poor thing would starve to death.

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:08 pm

It might be like pillow stuffing, but I've never really looked at the inside of a pillow. Its packed down pretty well where they have been sitting. I think the only way the chick could get buried is if the birds pulled and re-arranged the nesting material. So what would be the best thing to use for nesting material? The pet stores seem to be selling all kinds of things that are not good to use.

Well there are two chickies now, and it looks like there are 3 more eggs! Mom is starting to keep the previous babies away from the nest, but not too much bickering. She just shoos them away.

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:04 pm

The best nesting material I have ever come across is still coconut fiber. Just don't let your cats eat it. ><

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:52 am

hi all
has anyone tried sphagnum moss the kind people put in hanging baskets .when its dried out it makes a lovely soft bed for baby finches

ken

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:45 pm

I've used the moss and brome grass hay. They liked both.

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:19 pm

The babies grow so fast! This clutch has 3 little cuties! 2 white and 1 grey. A strange story, the eggs were laid not too long after the previous clutch fledged. They had 3 eggs and then quite some time later they laid 3 more eggs. The first 3 hatched, and the others just sat in there until last week they started hatching. I was afraid the parents wouldn't know the chicks were under the bigger chicks. I guess they knew. They one by one all got tossed.

I tried putting them back in, and even tried slipping them to Pixie, who is sitting on eggs right now. She wouldn't fall for it tho. Has anyone else had a similar experience of more eggs being laid even after they'd been sitting on a clutch for well over a week?
The late eggs couldn't possibly be from the pervious clutch (which I removed when the first chicks hatched) could they? Their beaks had just finished turning orange when I took them out. The reason it crossed my mind is because one of the little white babies has a crooked beak. The bottom and top don't quite match up side to side. You can kind of see in the pic, the chick on the left.

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:07 pm

The two little ones with pink beaks look like Societies to me??

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:13 pm

tammieb wrote:The two little ones with pink beaks look like Societies to me??

They do kind of. I don't have any societies, altho I'd like to get some someday

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:19 pm

Granted it's been many years since I had Zebras, but I don't recall my chicks ever having pink beaks like yours.

Mine always went from black to red or orange.

Am I missing something here??

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:52 pm

maybe you've discovered a new variety? They sure are cute!

Finchlet · Post by **Finchlet** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:04 pm

All of the white ones have pink beaks.

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 3:14 am

White mutation hatch chicks with pink beaks.

The parents may have tossed the younger chicks because it would be hard to raise little ones with bigger ones still in the nest. I would think the 3 eggs which hatched late were the 3 you saw laid most recently.

The crossed bill is probably due to genetics.

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 7:56 am

With my last batch of Zebs back in 2005, I had two white chicks. Neither had pink beaks though. Mine were CFW's though, are your's the pure white Zebs?

FINCHforum

Good News!

The next batch!