First Timer

[Huxley]

I am new to finches and on my first pair of Zebras. So far everything has gone according to plan and I get the impression my question will be an easy one.

When my hen started laying eggs I counted every day, gave her egg food and greens, made sure she didn't look egg bound(i was very concerned about this because I hadn't fed her eggfood for very long when she began laying). Everything was great and she laid three eggs. A couple days passed so I marked that as the incubation start. The hen and cock began their sitting rotation. Well lo and behold there are now 5 eggs in the nest A WEEK LATER. So...when should I say the incubation is? What if I get even more eggs? Will the 3 original eggs hatch first? How long do I wait before I decide this clutch is a dud or some of the eggs are duds?

[FinchezRule]

Huxley are the parents sitting on the eggs day and night? If so you should be able to tell if they're fertile after five days of sitting by candling...you will actually be able to see the veins and what not. If the egg appears clear or just yellow after 5 days of continuous sitting then most likely they're not fertile and it's best to take them away and let the parents try again. Good luck, Zebras tend to be very eager breeders and i'm sure they'll get the hang of making little Zebies very soon!

[Huxley]

Since this is their first clutch I was hoping not to candle the eggs. The birds aren't any fancy colors and I do not plan on breeding the babies. So, I'm trying to be somewhat lax about record keep and poking around the nest. What do you do when you take the eggs out and put them back in to reduce stress on the parents?

And yes btw, there is always one parent in the nest day and night. I dont think they are off the eggs more than 5 mins at a time.

[mickp]

if your not fussed about it then let nature run it's course. if the eggs are fertile they will hatch if not after a few weeks the parents will probably just begin to lay more (thats just typical of zebras, feathered rabbits )

[Huxley]

So I candled some of the eggs as sure enough the old ones are fertile and the brand new ones, who knows?

Is it possible to get a nest with some chicks that a week older than the others?

[B CAMP]

The more we check and interfear the less chance we have in getting babys

[shugajumpa]

my first couple of eggs from my society finches were not correct. They buried the few I didn't discard because they were dark and I assumed there was something inside because of the heat the emitted.

I do advise leaving the eggs alone, the birds have natural instincts and will push out the eggs that are in their way.

I just had my first two babies a few days ago. Anyone know how long until I could separate them from their litter? Not that I've planned to, I'll probably remove the nest as soon as they have matured. I didn't plan on having babies, it was an accident when I replaced one of my birds recently.

[Huxley]

Oh yeah, im not going to bug them anymore. Just wait and see what happens. Kinda cool to know there are some fertile eggs though.

[Huxley]

Huston, we have babies! The first one hatched yesterday afternoon.

The parents, however, are totally re-aranging the nest (not finding new materials mind you) and I'm worried they will bury the new babies. God they are tiny!

[williep]

Huxley, congrats on your first baby. This is an exciting time in any birdkeepers book.

Just let them do their thing, sometimes they will remove or rearrange nesting material to make more space, if all goes well you should have another few gaping mouths today or tomorrow.

Keep us posted and good luck!

[mickp]

congrats on the first hatchling, hope you have had some more by now