Four female zebra finches have bonded, eggs

[frozen]

Hi. My name is Courtney. I purchased four female zebra finches on October 13, 2016 so I am fairly new to this. I never had prior experience with birds.

I did a bit of researching before purchasing, of course. I decided on getting four females because I wanted to avoid the risk of egg binding. I did not know that females will lay eggs without the presence of a male. I did know that they pair up.

Two out of the four were already paired when I got them. One of the remaiming two got along with both parties of this pair, but the other bird was picked on by what seems like the dominant of the mentioned three. The pair would sleep next to eachother and the one that they got along with would sleep nearby. The solo bird however slept a good distance away and in a corner. I felt bad for it because she was also the smallest. So I bought her a nest so she could be comfy and warm (I now realize this was a mistake). I knew they did not require nests to sleep in; perches are fine; but I just felt so bad for the little one. Anyway, I placed it right where she had been sleeping and sure enough she claimed it as her own and became territorial over it, even towards the dominant bird. This made me happy to see.

However, shortly after purchasing the nest, the pair had laid an egg in a food bowl, much to my surprise. This led them to become territorial over the food bowl and nest on the food bowl. Thinking this was not hygenic, I purchased them a nest and moved the egg (with gloves on) into said nest. I did read that when they lay eggs, you should let them sit on them for 2 weeks, or they will become stressed and just lay more, which will in turn lead to egg binding. So, I decided to let them keep it for two weeks. However, then the solo bird and the nonpaired bird paired up and shared the original nest. As you can guess, I then found eggs from them. This has gone on now for about a week. The original pair have 3 eggs, and the new pair have 9!

My question to you is how will I know when to take the eggs away? I was hoping that once 2 weeks passed that they would realize that they were not going to hatch and abandon the nests. But they just keep laying. I dont want to remove the eggs too early and cause them stress. I will be removing the nests as well when I do remove the eggs. I knew that the nests just encourage breeding in male/female pairs but I guess it encourages egg laying in females in general.

I have been giving them crushed hard boiled egg and brocoli (both in moderation, once/twice a week) to keep their calcium levels up. They also always have two cuttle bones in their cage.

[lovezebs]

frozen

Hi Courtney, and welcome to the Forum.

LOL sounds like you have enough eggs for an omelette.

Zebras will be Zebras, and will surprise us one way or another, chuckle.

First of all, are you 100% sure that you have four females? I ask, because you wouldn't be the first, or the last, to get several birds of the same sex, and end up with one odd ball in the mix who looks like the same sex as all the others, but isn't (sort of a wolf in Zeb clothing).

Now, as you have discovered, girls can lay eggs and more eggs, and more... well you get the picture. Nests will stimulate breeding behavior and egg laying, and territorial silliness.

If you are absolutely certain that all your girls are 'really' girls, you can toss the eggs, and get those nests out of there.

You may still get the odd egg in the food dish, but you can simply toss them as soon as you find them.

Instead of nests, I would add two swings, and some fake $ Store greenery into the cage, to take their minds off the egg laying business.

Good luck and let us know how thibgs are going. Also, we would love to see some pictures of the feathered kids.

[haroun]

hi and welcome to the forum lot of info could be found at http://www.finchinfo.com/
first rule : if no breeding is nedded , all nests and nesting materials should be removed , zebra can as many others birds spend the night on perches .
any laid egg and any wehre it was found should be toss

[haroun]

and to be sure if you haven't and odd hen ( a cock) can we have a shot of your folks

[frozen]

Thank you for the replies!

That is one of the questions that people keep asking me - are you sure they are all females? I certainly hope they are! I was taught that males have the red cheeks and bar across the chest. My "girls" are all white, with light brown and white striped tails, and black teardrops on their face. They appear to be chestnut flanked white females. There is one, Snuggles, who looks different - she only has faint grey teardrops. Pictures

So I shouldnt let them sit on the eggs?

[Sheather]

It won't do your birds harm to sit on eggs if you want them to - it will keep the busy, for sure, and if the pairs don't fight I would leave them be.

It would not hurt them to remove the nests and eggs, though. Finches forget such things and move on very quickly.

[Sally]

frozen Welcome to the forum! You've already gotten some good advice. I can sex normal Zebras, but not sure about the CFW mutation. Perhaps someone else can tell you if your girls are really all girls.

[frozen]

Sally Thank you! Do you think I am correct in saying that they are CFW?

[frozen]

Sheather

Ok! I would really like to let them sit on them because it is just too precious to watch. Maybe I should let them but if they don't stop laying, enough is enough? I read that clutches can be from 3-6 eggs. Luna and Snuggles (original pair) currently have 3, however Blizzard and Stormy have 9.

[Sheather]

Nine eggs would actually be a normal clutch for two girls, assuming each laid either 4 or 5. Up to 12 eggs can be normal for a female pair actually!

Your finches will not lay constantly if they're sitting. They'll lay, sit for a few weeks, then abandon the clutch naturally. After that time you can remove the nest so they don't get a chance to start again. It's true that laying continuously can cause health problems down the line.

[frozen]

This is the information that I found on egg binding that worried me about taking the eggs away right away

"Egg-binding can occur in zebra finch hens, especially if eggs are continuously removed from their nest. Removal of eggs stimulates the hen to lay more, depleting her calcium stores. Removing all nest receptacles and materials and/or allowing the hen to sit on several infertile or dummy eggs until she becomes bored with them is a safer alternative. Young and old hens are most susceptible to egg-binding, particularly if exposed to cold/wet weather. " (from finchinfo.com)

When they do abandon their current nests and I remove them; if they lay eggs in the food bowls again, how do I know if I'm stressing them out? If I remove and they keep laying?

[Sheather]

They probably will lay occasionally after but don't worry about it. Let them sit now, then remove the nests when they stop sitting.

Switching from food cups to low wide dishes on the cage floor will make them less inclined to adopt the food dish as a nest as well.

[lovezebs]

frozen

I agree with Dylan.

[frozen]

Ok, so I will be doing that. Stormy has been super protective over her nest so it is the best decision. Every time I come in she goes to the nest, lol.

As for a shallow food dish, im not sure if that would be a good idea. Their cage is 6ft in height including the legs, probably 5ft without the legs. They dont go to the bottom of the cage. But I guess if that was their only source of food...

[Sheather]

They'll go wherever the food is, and it will encourage them to use the whole cage, too! Just don't set it right under any perches.