FINCHforum

My male finch Lunes and my female finch Nieve had their second clutch of eggs. I think 4 out of the 5 eggs hatched because only one egg is in there and I’ve seen a few babies. Lunes was staying at the bottom of the cage for a while before passing away, which I assume is from old age. I’m afraid Nieve won’t be able to raise the babies alone. I have another female finch from Lunes and Nieve’s first clutch who doesn’t have anyone to bond to. Should I put her in with her mom, Nieve, and see if she will help raise the babies? She is 4 months old, she was born in July.

hi. im sorry for your loss.
actually according to my experience, the male takes most of responsibility for raising the babies.
i doubt another female would help. it never happened throughout my experience. rather you will witness continuous fights between the two females which may make the new mom feel stressed to protect her own space and then neglect her babies due to this new stress.
so dont mix them in the same cage.
let their mom take care of them.
if the mom sits on them to warm them all day, in case you are worried you can feed the babies by baby bird food cerelac by a special syrenge.

i pray they survive.

She doesn’t sit on them too much, she spends most of her time outside of the nest but she does feed them. Thank you for your reply, I hope they survive too

LunesEMartes the mum should raise them by herself it’s in their instinct in the past I’ve had zebras Male or female abandon them and the other parent takes over by their self once chicks start to eat there self I would try bonding the mum and daughter and then keep this as a pair once the new chicks have sold

Make sure she has extra food around lots of veg, egg mix and plenty of seeds if she knows there’s enough food she should feel confident to raise them alone and won’t abandon

LunesEMartes

Mom should be able to raise her babies on her own.

Make sure to offer a variety of food, including spray millet, hardboiled egg, goid quality seeds, along with a variety of fresh greens and veggies. Also make sure to offer fresh water on a daily basis .

As babies get older Mom will not spend as much time in the nest, but should continue to feed. Once babies fledge (leave the nest) mom will continue to feed until the babies learn to eat and drink on their own.