Two clutches in fact!
It's kinda a funny story... So I'll start from the beginning.
Well, we recently moved from our apartment to a house, and that gave me an opportunity. A giant flight cage opportunity.
I think it's 4'x4'x2'. For those of you with 18x18x30 cages (seen underneath) you can really see how big it is! We made it out of PVC pipe and black plastic mesh. The bottom is simply lined with newspaper, and on the front where the sides connect to the bottom I used re-usable zip-ties that I just undo when I need to get inside.
So, I started with one pair, Peep and Poe. Then I added Sir Richard and a female meant to be his mate. She, however, like a true Zebra, decided she had other plans. Little Beep, as she has come to be called, had her eye on Poe as well. He can't help it, he's just too handsome. ;) And of course, being the good man he is, Poe decided he could handle two women. He preens and sings to both of them, and cuddles up to one or the other at night. The girls have their spats every once in a while, but sharing a mate hasn't caused too much disturbance. The two each got a nest of their own and were happy with the arrangement.
And we should all know what that leads to...
EGGS! Both females were laying in unison, with a total of 4 eggs in Beep's nest, and a total of 5 in Peep's nest. Then the waiting game began. It was easy to ignore for a while, but days after I was sure they should have hatched by then, I took out Beep's eggs to candle. Sure enough, movement in all 4 eggs, almost about to burst. Needless to say I was super excited and put the nest back as quickly as I could. Then off to work I went.
That evening upon my return I did my nightly nest check. Lo and behold, the very day I candled the eggs there was a newly hatched chick sitting there with three eggs. I'm truly amazed how small they are! These are my first babies, and I had never seen one in person and up close before, so it was a shock. But boy was I instantly in love and squealing in glee!
To make a long story short, Beep and Poe are amazing parents. They took turns sitting and feeding, doing everything perfectly. Unfortunately, we lost one baby the day of it's hatching. I'm not sure what happened, but I found it underneath the last egg that hadn't hatched yet. I left the room and came back to get it out of the nest, but Beep had already carried it to the floor on the far side of the cage, protecting her other babies like a good mother. But we have three healthy chicks, two of which that have survived to fledging, and one younger pin-feather-head still waiting a few days for his turn to come out.
Meanwhile, in Peep's nest, two eggs never hatched, but three others have, and they are fat and happy babies! The funny thing is, they are WAY louder than Beep's chicks ever were. Like twice as loud! It was quite surprising when they started begging, and their screams rivaled their much older half-siblings. I wonder why?
But I'm so glad Poe has got himself together and is a good daddy now. The last time he and Peep laid a clutch, he was far more interested in nest building (and deconstruction), kept burying his eggs with material (once accidentally pulling an egg out which cracked on the floor), and never, ever helped sit. Needless to say Peep was furious with him, chased him screaming all about, and finally gave up on him helping and ultimately abandoned the nest. This time though, I couldn't have asked for more. He built two nests to perfection then didn't mess with them again, simultaneously helped two hens with different clutches, and has been a true success. I'm so proud of him.
But probably the funniest thing of all... One of the two fledglings decided that instead of going back to mommy's house when he was done exploring for the day, he wanted to go visit his step-siblings at daddy's other house. Can you spot the big baby?
I find it the most hilarious and adorable thing ever. Why would he have gotten that idea in his little head? "I guess this place will be comfortable too, since daddy goes in there." And he hasn't gotten back out since! I was a little worried that the younger babies wouldn't get fed seeing as he's so much bigger than them, but nope! As said before, the little guys can hold their own at feeding time, so no worries there!
Lastly, if anyone's interested, I made all of my finches' nests myself, by cutting the ends off 2 liter bottles, duct-taping the sharp edges, and threading zip-ties through the plastic. They LOVE them! Perfect size and shape! Plus, who doesn't love free recycling? ;)
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