FINCHforum

Posted: **Tue Jan 06, 2015 9:02 pm**

Hello... I have a male and female finch in my cage and they are together building a best. But the weird thing is they are building it in one of the feeding bowls/trays like the one in the pic

I just want to know if this is ok. Will they be able to breed and raise young there?

Posted: **Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:10 am**

Birds have used the seed cups as nesting places. I even had a pair of Gray Singers that laid eggs in the mineral cup, right on top of the oystershell grit mix! Do they have access to a premade nest? If you want them to breed, I'd place a nest, wicker or otherwise, in the cage and give them some nesting materials. If they take to that, you may be able to move the eggs into a regular nest, but they also may abandon those eggs.

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on breeding, housing, and especially the Zebra finch.

Posted: **Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:24 am**

Thanks for the reply...does that mean that they wont be able to lay eggs and raise young in the nest they have built in the seed cups ?

Posted: **Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:06 pm**

I should have said that if they have already built a nest in the seed cup, you could leave it for now, but they will outgrow it before the babies fledge. When my Gray Singers did this (they didn't even have any nesting material in the cup), I waited till the babies hatched and were a little older, then I placed a nest under the mineral cup, and then after a few days, I moved the babies into the nest. Mama took a little while to accept that her babies had been moved, but she eventually went back to brooding and feeding them. Here is a link to the thread that shows what I did:

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... ay+Singers

Posted: **Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:36 am**

Sally wrote: I should have said that if they have already built a nest in the seed cup, you could leave it for now, but they will outgrow it before the babies fledge. When my Gray Singers did this (they didn't even have any nesting material in the cup), I waited till the babies hatched and were a little older, then I placed a nest under the mineral cup, and then after a few days, I moved the babies into the nest. Mama took a little while to accept that her babies had been moved, but she eventually went back to brooding and feeding them. Here is a link to the thread that shows what I did:

<a class="linkification-ext" href="http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... ay+Singers" title="Linkification: http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... Singers</a>

ok thanks for the reply.

Posted: **Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:49 am**

Here are pics of the male and female finch and their nest

Posted: **Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:03 pm**

Wow, that is a pretty big nest for such a small base. I would leave them alone, that nest looks big enough to handle the babies. Good luck with it!

Posted: **Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:11 pm**

Ive noticed that the female is occasionally grooming the male....the male is singing a lot...and they both sleep huddled together in the nest at night.

The male does 95% of the nest building.

Are these good signs ?

Posted: **Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:22 pm**

All good signs. Once the hen has finished laying her full clutch, they should start incubating the eggs, and at least one of them will be in the nest almost all the time.

Posted: **Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:25 pm**

no eggs yet as far as I can tell...keeping my fingers crossed...will keep you guys updated.Had no idea birds are so much fun...I'm hooked

Posted: **Sun Jan 11, 2015 7:35 am**

oh man...the female just laid her first egg...Im soooo excited

Posted: **Sun Jan 11, 2015 1:13 pm**

Here is a pic of the female incubating the egg she laid this morning,,,,

Posted: **Wed Jan 14, 2015 1:15 am**

Here are the three eggs laid in the past 3 days....

Posted: **Wed Jan 14, 2015 1:15 pm**

They certainly have decided that the nest is adequate for them, and you will soon have babies. Looks like you will have a front-row seat for all the action!

Posted: **Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:48 pm**

Sally wrote: They certainly have decided that the nest is adequate for them, and you will soon have babies. Looks like you will have a front-row seat for all the action!

how does it take for the eggs to hatch ?

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