FINCHforum

I just put my male and female CBs back together -a few days ago- in a big cage where there's a nest in the corner and they both showed interest in nest and started checking it out, so I decided to put some nesting material in the cage and the male started picking it up and putting it in the nest. I can't even keep up with him because whatever I put he just takes it as soon as I close the cage door. They do some dancing a few times a day too but no mating. So, does this mean they're interested in breeding or are they just building a nest for the heck of it ? I know CBs are lousy parents and very hard to breed.
Thanks.

I think their intereted in breeding my male on started building nests whenenver they were breeding. Everytime he built a nest there were eggs in it.

solo_birdlover wrote:I know CBs are lousy parents and very hard to breed.Thanks.

I have done my share of complaining about my CBs and how frustrating they can be, but I am slowly changing my way of thinking. It's true that they can be hard to breed, but their reputation as lousy parents is undeserved. When conditions are right, and they feel confident that their little family will be safe, they can be wonderful parents. They simply refuse to raise a family unless they think they can raise them to weaning. One of the biggest obstacles is getting them to be confident that the food supply will not run out. My pairs that have parent-raised have tossed whenever the eggfood dish is empty or even low, but when I return the tosslings to the nest and refill the eggfood dish, they continue to feed the tossling and all the others with no further complaints.

CBs in the wild feed their babies insects almost exclusively the first week, so our captive birds need lots of high-protein foods to raise their babies. If yours will eat fresh eggfood, pour it to them. If they won't eat the eggfood, then try freeze-dried bloodworms, mini mealworms, whatever you can get them to eat that is high in protein.

Keep supplying the nesting material (they prefer coco fiber, and they love white feathers to line their nests). Tie artificial plants to the outside of the cage, as they need as much privacy as you can give them.

Good luck.

solo_birdlover wrote:I just put my male and female CBs back together -a few days ago- in a big cage where there's a nest in the corner and they both showed interest in nest and started checking it out, so I decided to put some nesting material in the cage and the male started picking it up and putting it in the nest. I can't even keep up with him because whatever I put he just takes it as soon as I close the cage door. They do some dancing a few times a day too but no mating. So, does this mean they're interested in breeding or are they just building a nest for the heck of it ? I know CBs are lousy parents and very hard to breed.
Thanks.

Hi I'm Barb I have my first pair of CBs also... my male did the same and he still loves to build on his nest, this is the second clutch for mine they seem to love to mate no problem so far... but what has me worried that you mentioned is that I also heard they are lousey parent's too... with my first clutch of 4 egg's I got one live baby and after a few days one of them probley the female tossed the baby out I was heart broken I put it back in and later checked on it and it was dead in the nest now I have a second round of babys due and what do I do if they toss them or refuse to care for them can anyone help me?? why do they toss the babies out??

Thank you jamez, sally and barb for your replies. These are my first CBs and though I'm hoping they will be good parents -if they do breed- I'm being realistic about my expectations knowing what I know about them. I do plan to give them mealworms as I already give them some every now and then since they really really love the worms. I've never seen egg food before at the local pet stores but I'll try to find it.

It is strange why these birds behave this way with their young. I know they're not the only ones in the animal kingdom that do that but the thing is that in most cases people who keep them seem to supply them with all kinds of regular and live food but still they end up tossing sometimes if not often. Anyway, I'll wait and see what happens.

Hi barb. If you read sally's reply that will give you an idea on why these birds toss their babies. Basically, they're probably thinking if there isn't enough food for all (parents and chicks) then it is more important for the parents to survive than for the babies. From what I know, I think your best bet if you want them to raise their babies is to supply them with live food- insects and small worms. Another way is to have a foster parent to take care of and feed the young. Society finches are probably the best for that. I dont know the details but I'm sure you can find all that info on this site or other sites on the net.

Just to warn you if you plan to use Societies to foster CB babies. I have had Societies raise them, but not all will. CB babies are tiny, dark, very fuzzy, and quiet at first, compared to Society babies that are big, light, bald, and noisy pretty fast. Some Societies just don't care what the babies look like, but some are put off by the different appearance and won't feed.

Don't get discouraged if your birds do toss at the beginning, it takes time for them to feel comfortable. Also, I much prefer homemade eggfood to the commercial. I use a slight variation of Doug Taylor's Green Day Diet, which can be found here: http://www.gulfcoastfinches.com.

CB's have been the source of my greatest aggravation and accomplishment of all the finches with the exception of my Honey Creepers... And I'm not done with them yet, several people have had success raising them without live food & I have not as of yet.. What I do is give them a choice of nest, some so incased in artificial plants & vines, it amazes me they can burrow their way to it & that's the one they usually pick.. Once they begin spending series time in the nest, I start upping the meal worms throughout the fledging process. I have stopped ever looking in the nest & I spend as little time as possible doing anything in their flights during this period... I have thought about getting some of these really small video camera's in the nest and feed a stream to my laptop (so far not much luck with hubby on this idea).. If they do happen to toss a baby, I keep several pairs of Societies (usually 2 hens or 2 males) that have never raised anything other then waxbills (they are worth more then their weight in gold)...

Jan wrote:CB's have been the source of my greatest aggravation and accomplishment of all the finches with the exception of my Honey Creepers... And I'm not done with them yet, several people have had success raising them without live food & I have not as of yet.. What I do is give them a choice of nest, some so incased in artificial plants & vines, it amazes me they can burrow their way to it & that's the one they usually pick.. Once they begin spending series time in the nest, I start upping the meal worms throughout the fledging process. I have stopped ever looking in the nest & I spend as little time as possible doing anything in their flights during this period... I have thought about getting some of these really small video camera's in the nest and feed a stream to my laptop (so far not much luck with hubby on this idea).. If they do happen to toss a baby, I keep several pairs of Societies (usually 2 hens or 2 males) that have never raised anything other then waxbills (they are worth more then their weight in gold)...

I'm just wondering do you know why bird's toss babie's out??

I have read different reasons, such as available food supply, the parents selecting the strongest of the clutch & culling the rest, etc... My experience has been two main reasons, 1) I can't keep my nose out of their business and 2) the male is ready to go back to nest before the clutch has fledged. The first one I am getting better & better at leaving these guys alone once they go to nest & in the case of the second, if I catch a male that does this a time or two, I will pull him after the babies hatch until they fledge.

solo_birdlover wrote:... I've never seen egg food before at the local pet stores but I'll try to find it.

Solo,

If you're near Cloverdale, you can get a good dry commercial eggfood mix with insects (by Orlux) from Just for Birds, as well as the Cede brand. It's in the old Cloverdale Shopping Plaza.

Here's a link to their site - it's pretty outdated - and though the plaza looks pretty deserted, the bird store is still there. They have just about anything you could want for your finches. http://www.justforbirds.net/jfbpro.html

Hi Solo,

I am new to this forum but the bulk of my experience has been with CB's.

I agree with everything everyone has said...

On the eggfood I just hard-boil eggs and grate them. The birds love it. My CB's will feed this to their chicks during the first couple of weeks but tend to use only the mealworms after that.

Some thoughts for u:

Cordon's get better as parents as they age so don't despair when they toss or fail otherwise.

Keep or try to buy CB babies that have been raised by their parents. General thought is that CB's raised by their own parents tend to be very good parents too. (I have found this to be true in my experience as well).

I put ALL kinds of food in the cage besides the mealworms -- cut veggies, hardboiled egg, freeze-dried bugs, millet sprays, etc. This way they have a large variety of good insectivore-type food to choose from.

Be VERY consistent with providing the fresh and live food every day during breeding season regardless of whether they are nesting or not. This gives them confidence that the food is abundant enough and easy to find (everyday) so that they could try to raise young.

I also re-fill all live food at least twice and up to four times a day depending on how large their brood is. (My latest was 4).

When all else fails -- hand raise and feed the babies -- remembering never to force food or feed too fast. This is a thrill by itself but a large commitment.

Best of luck... CB's are precious, adorable little birds and worth every effort.

annague wrote:Hi Solo,

I am new to this forum but the bulk of my experience has been with CB's.

I agree with everything everyone has said...

On the eggfood I just hard-boil eggs and grate them. The birds love it. My CB's will feed this to their chicks during the first couple of weeks but tend to use only the mealworms after that.

Some thoughts for u:

Cordon's get better as parents as they age so don't despair when they toss or fail otherwise.

Keep or try to buy CB babies that have been raised by their parents. General thought is that CB's raised by their own parents tend to be very good parents too. (I have found this to be true in my experience as well).

I put ALL kinds of food in the cage besides the mealworms -- cut veggies, hardboiled egg, freeze-dried bugs, millet sprays, etc. This way they have a large variety of good insectivore-type food to choose from.

Be VERY consistent with providing the fresh and live food every day during breeding season regardless of whether they are nesting or not. This gives them confidence that the food is abundant enough and easy to find (everyday) so that they could try to raise young.

I also re-fill all live food at least twice and up to four times a day depending on how large their brood is. (My latest was 4).

When all else fails -- hand raise and feed the babies -- remembering never to force food or feed too fast. This is a thrill by itself but a large commitment.

Best of luck... CB's are precious, adorable little birds and worth every effort.

The new baby's started hatching this week end the mother came out to eat and the father rushed in and I saw him tossing them around like they where toy's or food to play with one died one was older looked strong and one just hatched and week two eggs remained I scooped them up put them back in the nest mom when right in so I decided to go and get a new cage for the mother and babies he had a fit she seemed worried but after a bit she went in and took care of the clutch he made such a fuss I went out and got him a new girl friend and a nest lol so funny he was like i'll show you the rope's baby let's start with the nest...he sayes hi when she pops out to get food for the babies and they all seem happy =) I have no idea how many babies but they are just starting to make peeps so I guess I did the right thing CBs sure are picky i'll just keep my nose out and it will be a supprize how many they will have to me.

Hi. It's been a while since I checked here. Thanks franny. Yeah I'm close to Cloverdale and I know the store you're talking about. That's where I buy the food and go to the bird show sometimes. I've tried giving my CBs boiled eggs but they didn't seem too crazy about it. One thing they really go crazy about is mealworms. They become little monsters when I give them some and it's funny how they chase each other when there's only one left.


Hi Annague and thanks for the reply. I'm not really holding my breath about my CB pair having any babies. There were a couple of eggs last time I checked the nest and the male is the one doing the sitting about 90% of the time but the thing is I've never seen them mate even once. The first two eggs were laid about a week ago and after 4 days they remained at two. I decided to candle them and there was nothing inside so I threw them out because I didn't want the male to keep sitting for nothing. Well, yesterday I found two more eggs all of sudden. So, I dont know.
The other thing, the nest is empty at night because the pair sleeps outside -at night- and I dont know if incubation can be successful when the eggs are left the whole night. I guess I'll give these new eggs a few days and check them. I doubt they're fertile though because like I said I've never seen the pair mate.

Hi Solo,

They sound like my first pair, the first summer I had them.

Here's something I think a lot of people don't know about African finches:

They DON'T incubate nearly as much as other types of birds.

Where they live it is usually so warm that it is not necessary to sit on the eggs all the time.

Of course, it IS necessary for them to incubate enough to cause hatching if the eggs are fertile.

Do you have a light over their cage? If not, get a full-spectrum light over their cage and drape the top with a towel (over the light) -- this helps hold the heat in.

Also, most sitting birds (except the REAL dedicated ones) do not like being in their nest in total darkness -- leave on a pretty good night light and they may sit at night.

As I slowly learned all these things I finally started getting some success with CB baby raising.

If the eggs are infertile she may just be laying to appease the male -- time to give him a little bit of bee pollen. People swear it hellps male birds feel more amorous and I add tiny amounts to the supplements I give my birds. Not sure it helps but it doesn't hurt!

Keep us posted.

Thanks Anna. I have the CB cage in the living room where there's always some light even at night I actually have to cover the upper half of the cage to get them to sleep. I find CBs to be very light sleepers and they seem to want to stay up as long as there's even a little bit of light unlike my Green Singers who go to sleep as soon as I turn off the light on top of the cage. I think I'm gonna try leaving a night light on close to the cage to give them a little more light but I know they probably will stop sleeping all togather. You may be right about them not liking a totally dark nest because I've noticed that once I cover the the cage at night -and the upper half gets really dark- the male leaves the nest to join the female on the perch. But anyway, I doubt those eggs are fertile and I'm going to wait a few days and candle them to see if there's any growth. If there isn't I'll remove them. The poor male spends just about the whole day in the nest until I turn off the lights at about 10 pm.

I don't know why but I've had bad luck breeding any of the birds I had/have. A couple of years ago I had a pair of Budgies but they never bred. Then I had Cut-throats and they never bred either. Then a pair of Strawberries. The female did lay lots of eggs but not even one fertile one. I have a pair of Green Singers now but the female is so aggressive with the male I had to separate them. And my CBs...well...
I dont think I'm going to try bee pollen or anything though.