How long for society finch eggs to hatch

[RoisinL]

Hi all. I've had finches for a few year now,but consider myself a novice, as I've always only had one pair at a time, and have never breed them. To my surprise they laid five or six eggs, about 24 days ago. They are still sitting on the eggs constantly, but I'm wondering if they are going to hatch soon. Also, if the eggs are hatched successfully I'd like to get a bigger cage, and am wondering the time frame to do so.
Thanks so much for any helpful responses.

[Babs _Owner]

RoisinL

Finch eggs hatch 14-15 days after the hen starts sitting tight. "Sitting tight" is when the female hen sleeps and stays on the eggs non-stop, leaving only to eat drink & stretch.

I have one society hen that sits tight on day one of the first egg. My other hen doesnt sit until day 3 when the 3rd egg is laid.

If she laid 6 eggs, and didnt sight tight or start incubation until the last egg was laid, that would add 5 more days. Meaning 20 days from the 1st day the egg was laid.

In case you misjudged the date of incubation, I would let them sit on the clutch another week. And if you start to see babies hatch, dont throw away unhatched eggs (unless you are sure they aren't viable). With societies it is common for them to have eggs hatch days later than the first hatchlings. Their larger siblings are usually very gentle and considerate of the newborns.

[FinchGrinch]

I had one or both hens lay eggs and there were about 10 eggs in the nest. I marked the date when there was always one sitting. All four Societies took turns sitting. I had replaced all but 3 of the eggs with 10 fake eggs, giving them 13 to sit on. I wanted to stop any more laying. I followed the advice of waiting 1 week ( actually 9 days) beyond the 15 day period and decided that the 3 real eggs weren't going to hatch. Upon checking them after I cleared the nest, two had developed but it was obvious that they were dead inside. Not sure if I should have kept more live eggs, or my hens were too young, or I put too many in the nest for them to care for. At any rate, I think the 1 week waiting is good advice. I may let them try again at some point but for now there are no nests and all seem to be happy.

[Babs _Owner]

FinchGrinch

You had a great strategy. It was faulty incubation. Next time remove half the eggs. Leave 6 or 7 eggs with 3 or 4 being fake. There wasn't enough "buttspace" to cover all the eggs. Hahaha.

They should still sit if more than one hen is laying. With a clutch that size its almost always the case.