My finches are nesting in their food dish. What can I do?

[JennM114]

My family was given a pair of Zebra Finches for Easter (approx. 3 weeks ago). This is my first experience caring for birds. I've put a wicker basket-style nest, along with nesting materials like straw and cotton in their cage. However, they have insisted on making their nest in their food dish on top of the seed shells. They pick out the uncracked seeds and throw them down. I ve tried putting less food in the dish and removing the cotton from the dish to the basket, to no avail. This morning, I went to refresh their food and found three tiny eggs nestled in the seed shells and under the cotton! Both mama and dad were sitting on the eggs just prior to my openning the cage to feed them, and theyre both back there now. I ve put a small make-shift dish of food in so they still have something to eat. I had not expected them to lay eggs so quickly, due to thw absence of a covered nest. Do they need special care (other than egg food) now that there are eggs? Do I leave them there and let them have their seed-nest? Do I move the eggs to the basket and hope mama moves with them? Thank you in advance for any help!

[lovezebs]

JennM114

Hi Jenn, and welcome to the Forum from Canada.

So your feathered darlings are pulling the old nest in the food dish trick, eh?

We've all had that happen at one time or another, lol.

What I usually do in this case, is take out the food dish, place the nest basket in its exact place , then very carefully transfer the eggs into the nest (they are very fragile, so be extra careful...if hands are shaky, use a small plastic spoon). Scatter some of the seed hull around the eggs in the nest, seeing as it appears to be their nesting material of choice.

Remove the seed cup from the cage for a few days, and put their seeds in a container at the bottom of the cage.

Hopefully she will get on board.

Regarding not expecting eggs so soon, hah hah hahh. Your dealing with feathered rabbits here. Zebra and or Society Finches have a very strong belief in "BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY!"

At this point, I would offer your girl, cuttle bone, and loads of crushed eggshells and oyster shell grit, to replace the Calcium she's using from her own body to make eggs.

Offer hardboiled eggs, spray millet, greens, and of course a good quality Finch seed mix, along with some birdie Vitamins in their water 2 or 3 times a week.

Once the parents start sitting tight (meaning someone on the eggs 24/7), you can start counting days. If the eggs are fertile, you can start handing out cigars at around 2 weeks time give or take a few days

Goodluck, and enjoy your birdies.

[JennM114]

Than you so much!

[Icearstorm]

JennM114

You could try a hopper feeder; they shouldn't have to go digging for the seed. Since there will only be edible seed in the feeder because the hulls drop to the ground, it only has to be filled, rather than emptied and refilled. (Well, aside from cleaning it out, that is.) Plus, there is rarely enough room for them to nest in it. Just make sure they know how to eat from it before removing the seed dish.

[ac12]

Zebras will use ANYTHING that looks like a nest for a nest, and the food dish is a common alternative when they don't have a nest (open basket or enclosed).

Warning.
- You NEED to know parent from chicks, or they could get mixed up and interbreed, which is not good.
- You have to plan what to do with the chicks after they grow, or you will run out of space.
- Just removing the nest will not stop some zebras from breeding. Or the F from laying eggs...anyplace. Sometimes you just have to separate the M from the F to stop the egg laying.

[Sally]

JennM114 A belated welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care. Whatever happened with your little family? Did the eggs hatch? We'd love to hear an update.

[Fraza]

Or you can get tops for the food dishes which they cant fit there whole body into