Red headed finch Update Feb 7th

[cindy]

Last night my daughter woke me at 3am to tell me the Red headed female was thrashing in her cage. I got up and turned on the room light and noticed all 4 shaftail young were out of their box thrashing which would cause the female RH to thrash. I finally got them calm and decided to turn the cage lights on for that group of cages.

This moring I was feeding extra egg food to the young shaftails and looked into the cage for the RH finch, there was an egg with a yolk sac broken in the tray,it must have hit the grate, cracked and fell through.

For some reason this pair goes in and out of the nest box, they sit in it, rearrange nesting material but at night the sleep up on top of it. My guess is she laid the egg up there and during the upset last night it rolled off and onto the floor of the cage.

I added extra nesting material to the cage and a little to the box, the male is rearranging again. They are not the best nest builders. I am also thinking about putting a twig canary nest up top with nesting material in it just in case this happens again and she has laid an egg up there.

I never found out what spooked the shaftail chicks.

[lovemyfinch]

So sorry you lost the first egg Cindy Hopefully the rest will be laid in the right place.

[cindy]

Thank you Janine,

At least I know they will produce. They just need to get the location right!

I am not sure if I should fasten a little shallow wooden tray on top of the nest box, that way if the eggs are laid there I can place them into the nest. The one that broke had a thick yolk to it. Not sure if it was fertile or not.

[Neysa]

So sorry to hear the first egg was lost. Hopefully they will go on to lay in the right spot. Fingers crossed for you that you get your first babies soon.

[CandoAviary]

Oops I have a scarlet keet doing the same thing. I even took one that was from the bottom of the cage that was not broke and put it in the nest box for her. She removed it. She is still immature.
Many times it is just a sign of young, inexperienced birds.

[monotwine]

Cindy do you have other finches that build good nests, like Zebras? Have you considered letting them build a few nests and perhaps offering your red Headeds a choice of architecture? Since they are known for taking over other finches nests perhaps they will be able to keep their eggs all in one basket, so to speak.

Rather exciting that you have them nesting and laying all the same. Wish you the best of luck.

[cindy]

Monotwine,

I have been thinking of doing that but right now my zebras and shaftails are sitting on eggs. The Red Headed finches are very sloppy nest builders from what I have read.

Maybe after the shaftail rraise the young I will have them build out a box or two for the RH finch. The RHF love to dismantle nesting material. So far everything I put in there this morning has stayed and they are playing with it, moving it around.

The female looked heavy underneath last night so I figured since I saw them mating she may lay eggs soon.

I also got more Cozy Comfort and I am going to put it over the grate so if an egg does drop it won't crack...I hope!

[cindy]

Oops I have a scarlet keet doing the same thing. I even took one that was from the bottom of the cage that was not broke and put it in the nest box for her. She removed it. She is still immature.
Many times it is just a sign of young, inexperienced birds.

Candace I agree, I think this is a young pair. I told my husband the same thing this morning. Do you think I should put a shallow dish with edges on top of the nestbox? I can secure it so it does not slide.

[cindy]

This afternnoon my husband walked by and peeked into the cage and saw they had an egg in the nest box!!!!! I was surprised to say the least!

Dad and mom are taking turns sitting, mom is out eating and daddy Red head is sitting. This would be wonderful if they produced. they seem very excited and Dad is sitting there singing all puffed out...proud pappa!

[lovemyfinch]

Congrats Cindy on your next clutch.

[cindy]

Thank you Janine, I am so thrilled. I hope they give me more than one egg. I did some reading about them and it is advised to give them mealies when raising young it is imortant that they have live food for rearing their young.

Question....shall I start giving them mealies right before the eggs hatch with the shaftails I gave them mealies after the little ones hatched.

The dad is very protective of his egg, he covered it when he left the box. If I went near the cage to feed them he got on top of the nest box and looked in on the egg a few times. He was just so excited, hopping in and out of the box like crazy and singing!

Just hope they follow through and do a great job. Their chicks are larger than the little zebras so I have to stock up on egg food and mealies!

[cindy]

I peeked inside the cage this morning and saw 2 huge eggs in the nest box. I had givien them extra nesting material, the male made a half hearted effort to create a nest.

They have been getting mealworms, extra eggfood, Hatched and a good seed mix.

[Animal Quackers]

[dfcauley]

Very exciting Cindy!!!

[cindy]

I have to order a bizillion mealies. This species requires live food or they can stop feeding. I have some and the male likes them.

The female was rather puffed up this morning so I added a heat source near her, she seems better. Hopefully these tow will sit for me.

They are rather calm when I enter the cage, all their cups and food source is at the bottom, the cage is 36 inches high. They just go up to the top perch and sit and wait until I leave then hop right down to see what gave them. Maybe they won't spook off the nest if they are calm now.

Crossing my fingers here!