Heartbroken

[Eileenob]

My very first pair of zebra finches (bought back in February) successfully produced a clutch of four chicks that all left the next two weeks ago. The babies started eating on their own and so I transferred them to their own cage. Within the last three days, one by one, three of the four have died, and I'm afraid each time I look in the cage to check on the fourth. I've put it back with its parents, wondering if I separated them too soon. What did I do wrong? I hate to think that those adorable little ones suffered.

[MiaCarter]

Oh no! That's awful! I'm so sorry for your loss.

I've never had a successful chick until Squeepers, who's currently on day 11-ish. So I can't offer any real insight.

Were they not eating enough on their own, I wonder? Could you tell if their crops were empty when they died? Seems unlikely they'd starve nearly 2 weeks after they're separated. I'd expect they'd die much sooner if they weren't eating enough. But that's just speculation on my part.

Did they show any signs of illness?

I'll be interested to hear what the more experienced finch gurus have to say.
I hope your remaining baby does well!

[Sally]

I'm so sorry you've lost the babies. The babies may not have been eating enough on their own to sustain themselves, but more importantly, they may not have been drinking on their own yet. Weaning is stressful on babies anyway, so adding separation stress to weaning stress can be overwhelming for them. I usually leave my babies with the parents for as long as possible.

[dutch]

Eileenob....2 weeks is too early to separate chicks from parents...minimum 4 weeks

[Colt]

The most important thing is to be sure they are actually eating and drinking on their own before you separate them. Often we think the babies are eating when in reality they are just playing with their food. Drinking usually happens last. Mine seem to figure it out the first time they take a bath with their parents. It's like they get so excited they can't stand it and just hop in and go hog wild.

[MiaCarter]

Do you have to separate them from the parents at all, if everyone is doing okay and everyone's being nice to the baby?
I read that the parents may chase them off you're going to continue breeding, but if not, can baby stay?

Is there a good sure fire way to tell if they're drinking properly? Other than just watching?
I know with the tiny babies, you can tell they're dehydrated if they turn deep pink. Is there another good trick for the older babies?

[Eileenob]

Thank you all for you input and insights. I must've misinterpreted the parents' actions and babies' possible food play and incorrectly assumed that the chicks were ready to go it alone. I will be much more cautious and conservative next time.

On a brighter note, the one surviving chick has moved back in with its parents and seems to be doing well. Thanks again for your encouragement.

[Sally]

That's good that the one surviving chick seems to be fed by the parents. I'd leave them together for another couple of weeks. Sometimes, the parents want to start another clutch, and so they will start picking on the baby, especially when there is just one. If this happens, I'd take out the offending parent (usually the male), and leave the baby with one parent until it is old enough to be on its own.

Babies will start to try out foods quite early on, but they can't eat enough to sustain themselves, so even if they are eating at first, they still need the food they get from the parents. Are you offering eggfood?

[Eileenob]

Sally,

Thanks for the tip re: possible parent behavior. I will keep a close eye on things. As for the baby being fed again by its parents, that I haven't been able to determine for sure. But the little one is still alive, so I am grateful for that.

I had been feeding all finches--parents and babies--some hard boiled eggs from Easter.