It's been three weeks! (maybe more)

[SamFinch]

It's been three weeks since a saw the eggs in the nest, one or the other of the finches will NOT get out of the nest so I can see what has happened. I do see remnants of an egg stuck to the side, but I'm not sure if it broke or hatched. I'm worried that they have died and my birdies refuse to give up! I'm not sure what to do, should I drive them off the nest so I can see? Do I just leave them be? And their cage is next to a patio door, maybe its too cold for them. Should I have used a heat lamp? Any suggestions would be very welcome!!!

[wilkifam]

What kind of finches?

[WrenNAustinTX]

Mom and dad suddenly won't hop off the nest when you walk past?

Babies hatched.

Its always like that with my zebras. My society fosters.wont let you peak ever, but my.zebras seem chill about it...right until a baby hatches, and then they go on lock down mode.

Just wait till they have to eat, and then peak in!

[Sally]

It can take up to 2 weeks for incubation, starting when the parents actually begin sitting tight. They often appear to be sitting, but aren't really sitting down tight enough to start the incubation process, making us think that it has been longer than it really has been. I always wait it out, as it is easy to interrupt incubation right in the final days and lose the clutch when the parents then abandon.

Remnants of egg can either be a broken egg or pieces of shell after hatching. Are you supplying plenty of egg food for the parents to feed to the young? If there are babies, you should start to see one parent at a time leave the nest to take a break, eat, drink, and then return to the nest to feed the youngsters. You would also start to hear the babies after about three days.

I wouldn't use a heat lamp near a nest unless it was extremely cold, the parents are natural heaters with their feathers. Usually, if babies die, the parents will toss them out of the nest, so if they are still sitting tight, then either the eggs have not yet hatched or they have live babies.

[SamFinch]

Wilkifam, they are Selfs, which I recently found out on this forum.
WrenNAustinTX, they will NOT get off the nest at all, only one comes out at a time, and most of the time when I'm cleaning, putting food in, etc, they both will stay on the eggs/babies. They are definitely locked down. lol
Sally, I've been putting fresh eggs in every morning, and I've made birdie bread for the past 4 or 5 days. I didn't even know that birds needed food, other than seed until I started reading this forum. Then I felt awful for what I hadn't given them! I'm glad to hear that if they were dead they would toss them out! Although, I think I would sit down and cry if I discover a dead baby bird in there some morning. One or the other of them are ALWAYS on the nest...it seems weird to me that they don't sing anymore. But I assume its for protection.

[WrenNAustinTX]

Any updates? After 3-4 days sometimes you can hear babies begging

[SamFinch]

The only thing I've heard is Sheldon/Shelly making this strange low pitched rumbling noises to the eggs/babies. I've called it 'talking to her babies'. I'm taking photos of them tomorrow and I will post them.

[SamFinch]

What will the baby birds sound like?? I assume I will know it when I hear it because it will not sound like my two.

[Sally]

I don't know how to describe the sound of Society babies begging, except that they get quite loud very quickly!

[Colt]

Good description Sally.

I would say it's kind of a whisper-y peeping at first but as Sally said rather rapidly it progresses to an incessant much louder begging sound.