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Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:12 am
by chriswh
Hi there,
Every couple of weeks, my star finches lay 2 - 3 eggs. After a week of sitting on the eggs, they will just up and leave and start again somewhere else.
I have tried putting the eggs in with my zebras (as luck would have it they seem to have eggs at the same time the stars lay theirs), they are not interested and will not hatch the egg.
What can I do to keep these eggs going with the stars or fosters?
Thanks
I wish I found this site last year
so glad i came accross it today
Re: Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:46 pm
by poohbear
This is quite common with stars...try Bengalese finches as fosters.If you have more than one pair of stars try swapping partners in seperate cages.
Re: Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:52 pm
by L in Ontario
I wish I'd know this was a common element among Stars before seeing all those wasted eggs. Soooo many wasted eggs.

Now I know to give them to the Socs.

Re: Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 4:03 pm
by poohbear
Liz, I've never been able to work stars out...my breeding attempts have been all over the place.Last year they tossed all their chicks and I managed to save one which I put in with bengalese who raised it for me.
I gave up on one pair a couple of years back, so put them in an indoor cage that I kept for hopeless cases.The cage was one foot away from the TV...they proceeded in there to build a nest out of newspaper and old millet sprays and raised two broods of four?????

Re: Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:00 pm
by finch master
hi
i breed stars very easy,about 60 last year and fostered them all out to bengalese,i have breed lots of varieties of finch but no luck with parent rearing stars
good luck paul
Re: Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:01 pm
by chriswh
poohbear wrote:This is quite common with stars...try Bengalese finches as fosters.If you have more than one pair of stars try swapping partners in seperate cages.
Thanks - I willget a pair of bengalese.
Re: Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 6:30 pm
by poohbear
finch master wrote:hi
i breed stars very easy,about 60 last year and fostered them all out to bengalese,i have breed lots of varieties of finch but no luck with parent rearing stars
good luck paul
Cheers FM...I'm still after some gouldies if you have any spares.Can't make Stafford.Give me a PM if you've got any...Paul.
I'm only 15 miles from you.
Re: Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:21 am
by Sally
Stars can be very erratic with their breeding. They may incubate faithfully, then abandon the nest once the eggs hatch. Or they may not even sit tight at all. Once you have a good pair, they seem to pass it on. My Yellow-faced Star pair were such good parents. I sold their babies to a good friend. She set up all the babies with mates, and every single one has been a good producer and good parent.
My first pair of Stars, the hen did nothing except lay the eggs. The male incubated and then raised the babies all by himself, while the little princess ignored her family. Paired him with a new hen, thinking I had it made, and that time, the male acted like he'd never seen eggs before--neither one sat tight, so the eggs were DIS early.
Re: Star Finches not nesting
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:16 pm
by finch master
i will pm you a number of a breeder near me paul