Father Bird picking on baby

Tips for successful breeding and troubleshooting breeding problems.
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Sally
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Re: Father Bird picking on baby

Post by Sally » Fri Jan 15, 2016 6:14 pm

Kathycorvette Yes, you can go ahead and toss them. If you leave the nest in for now, with Dad in a separate cage, Mom will probably continue to lay eggs, so you will need to continue to toss. As soon as those babies are weaned, you can put Mom back with Dad, leaving the babies to themselves. If you give them a nest, trust me, those little babies will be making babies at a very young age, 3-4 months, so you will need to remove the nest and keep an eye on them.
3 Purple Grenadiers, 1 Goldbreast + 1 cat.

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debbie276
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Re: Father Bird picking on baby

Post by debbie276 » Fri Jan 15, 2016 6:14 pm

Kathycorvette wrote: Yes, they are zebra finches. I just checked the nest and there's 3 eggs in it.........if I don't want another clutch before the fledglings are weaned, can I just throw them away?
Yes, absolutely.
Good luck
Debbie
long time breeder of lady gouldians:
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GREAT articles on avian lighting:
https://mickaboo.org/confluence/downloa ... ummary.pdf
http://www.naturallighting.com/cart/sto ... sc_page=56

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Spreckles
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Re: Father Bird picking on baby

Post by Spreckles » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:21 pm

I would like a cave too. Stupid talk and text with a southern accent I guess. Amazon has some very good buys on Flight CAGES! I got one for $40.00 Prevue 30'' long forget the other measurements it's just like my other cages. Think it's 18 wide and 20 something high?

Glad these babies are still doing alright hope Dad has been moved out.

Karen

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Re: Father Bird picking on baby

Post by Kathycorvette » Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:03 am

Thanks for the quick responses! It's appreciated and I'm looking forward to learning a lot about my finches!

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yourcharmedlife
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Re: Father Bird picking on baby

Post by yourcharmedlife » Sat Jan 16, 2016 7:25 pm

Thank you for replies, so here is the newest deal.
Mom is missing feathers on her neck, I think the dad is plucking her too. I ordered a cage from Amazon and its on the way!
So here is another few questions

mom and dad are still mating, she laid a egg in the food dish and was setting on it.
There is no nest or material
How do I get them to stop mating? I thought if you took out the nest they would stop laying eggs??

When I separate mom/babies from dad, I want them to all live together again when babies are older. Will he still pick on them?

tt101
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Re: Father Bird picking on baby

Post by tt101 » Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:22 am

Spreckles

Haha I just had to be a little butt head sarcastic!

debbie276
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Re: Father Bird picking on baby

Post by debbie276 » Sun Jan 17, 2016 5:44 am

Not sure if it works as well with zebra finch as gouldians but I'd try reducing the protein in their diet. If you feed hard boiled eggs reduce it to 2 or 3 times a week. Lower protein reduces the sex organs in both male and female to give them a break and rest. The drive to mate should decrease.
Worth a try, good luck
Debbie
long time breeder of lady gouldians:
Green
SF Pastel (SF Yellow)
Pastel (Yellow)
Blue
SF Pastel Blue (SF Yellow Blue)
Pastel Blue (Yellow Blue)

GREAT articles on avian lighting:
https://mickaboo.org/confluence/downloa ... ummary.pdf
http://www.naturallighting.com/cart/sto ... sc_page=56

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