Eggs laid! Now they're fighting. + taking turns to incubate

[RaduPalanga]

Little backstory. I'm the guy who thougth I have a male and a female finch, but both eventually turned out to be male. Got one of the male exchanged for a beautiful white hen, and oh well. Check out the initial topic here

So, my finches have FINALLY laid eggs. Three, in total. My girlfriend noticed somewhat weird behavior (the hen didn't leave the nest for a while, and the cock was standing on the edge of the nest for prolonged times, as if he was guarding something). She peeked inside (from the top, you can see through the coconut strands ) and saw three eggs. This was the day before yesterday, but God knows how long those eggs have been there!

They have mineral water to drink (slightly blue colored; is supposedly filled with vitamins & nutrients & such), calcium grit, food, cuttle bone, and some snacks on the edge of the cage. I'd say they're loaded with delicious food

Anyway. Today (two days after the discovery of eggs), we noticed a very aggressive behaviour. Namely, the HEN is chasing the cock. Violently. As if the cock is trying to mate with the hen, but the hen wouldn't let him (because they have eggs already)? I don't know.

I'm mostly concerned about temperature inside the nest. Which is why I've made this video, not only to explain what's going on lately, but also explain something I want to do in order to try & keep the cold away from them. It's not that lenghty, it's just 4 minutes . Please watch it, with volume turned on, as I've voiced over explaining stuff...

Update #1
After I was done with that video, the hen got out of the nest and they started fighting again. I caught that on camera, and made a second video which you can watch here. Again, please watch the video with volume turned on... as my voice still appears in the video

I think the hen was incubating the eggs, and the cock was thinking "it's my turn!", but the hen didn't agree? Cause the hen seems to have been disturbed by the fact that the cock got too close to the nest (right on the edge of it)... I don't know...

Also, you can see the cock seemingly interested in further building the nest? He was standing on that yellow thing (which used to house all the nesting material, but they've used it all up ), as if he was looking for more material to build the nest EVEN MORE...

Update #2
Well, now they seem to be getting along...? The hen is inside the nest, and the cock is on the edge of the nest, as if he is guarding her. See this video (this is only 1 minute in size ).

[RaduPalanga]

Update #3
I get out of the room for 5 minutes and when I come back I see this. Hen is out of the nest, bouncing around. The cock is inside the nest, taking his turn to incubate the eggs.

What were they fighting over?

[Babs _Owner]

RaduPalanga

In the 2nd video the female really let's him have it. She put him in his place. I don't own zebras because I think they are a bit

Our Zebras owners can probably tell you whats going on here.

[RaduPalanga]

I was out of the house for about two hours. When I returned, the cock was inside the nest, and the hen was outside. Not 10 minutes later, the hen started to be violent towards the cock, again.

They also damaged part of the nest.

I made another video. This one is kind of long. Sorry about that

Some more minutes later... the hen is still inside the nest, while the cock is singing away.

[RaduPalanga]

RaduPalanga

In the 2nd video the female really let's him have it. She put him in his place. I don't own zebras because I think they are a bit

Our Zebras owners can probably tell you whats going on here.

Me and my girlfriend are moving out soon. But, until we do... Check the first video, towards the end of that I was talking about how to keep the cage warmer. Hope you can provide some information on that

A little bit off-topic : We were thinking of selling / donating the finches to someone... and get an Agapornis parrot. Seeing they weren't laying eggs, we were thinking we must be doing something wrong. But now, since the finches have laid eggs... we'll see how that goes. We sure won't be able to keep all the babies in, so we'll just separate the cage in half (it has a slit at the top, where you could insert a sheet of cardboard or something to practically separate it in half), keep the parents in one side and the babies in the other side (after they're able to care for themselves). And, when the time comes, we'll have to sell / give some away... locally, of course. If they keep on reproducing, I can't afford to keep a colony of them here lol

[RaduPalanga]

A little update to the previous video : https://youtu.be/9EoOI1gi1kQ

They managed to damage the nest a bit more... Hope they rebuild it, otherwise I fear they might lose interest in the eggs...

[Shannylee]

RaduPalanga, Zebras are cute yet neurotic little birds. I have a male one in with my male Pin Tailed Whydah and he gives the Whydah a run for his money as far as attitude goes. I wouldn't count on them "settling down" because I don't think that is in their nature. Hopefully, no feathers are flying and they are just bickering over parenting duties! LOL! Good luck with your move and rehoming your little finches.

[RaduPalanga]

Shannylee

So I shouldn't be worried about them fighting around? It does seem like they are fighting over parenting stuff, like "my turn to sit on the eggs", it really does, lol.

It's just like with humans. Actually, more like children. Lol.

I'll leave them alone. Hope it's nothing serious and the eggs don't have to suffer in the end.

Still, did you guys listen to the end of the first video? I am really concerned about what the temperature should be like in their nest, and if I should get involved or not...

[Shannylee]

RaduPalanga, just watched your first video. I think you have it warm enough in your home (at 75F) so that you don't need to cover the birds and add the heat lamp. If your birds don't get enough sun through the window, you may want to consider adding vitamin D3 to their drinking water.

Grit...finches hull their seeds so the general opinion is that they don't need grit. I don't offer it to my finches. Some do. Some don't.

He's a pretty bird! Will watch your other videos.

[w.l.]

I personally think that cage is too small for a pair of zebras, which may well contribute to aggression issues.
The standard recommendation would be at least 60*40*40 cm for a pair, and I'd say a single lovebird would deserve that size, too.

[Shannylee]

RaduPalanga, are either of them sitting on the eggs now? When I bred zebras (25 years ago) getting them to sit, consistently, on the eggs was a challenge. Or they would sit on the eggs but when they hatched, the parents wouldn't feed the chicks. I had more successful clutches than not but still a bit of a challenge. How old are your birds?

Finches normally lay an egg a day until they have laid all of their eggs and then they start incubating. Zebras can be kind of particular about being disturbed too. If there is a lot of activity in the room where their cage is, maybe they would do better in a room with less activity.

The fighting seems to be normal Zebra activity to me but maybe some of the other, more experienced, breeders can give you better advice about their behavior. Looks to me like the hen is establishing what he is and is not allowed to do in regards to HER nest/children. He obeyed and was respectfully sitting on the outside looking in and waiting for his wife to boss him around about what he was allowed to do next. Seems that he needed a reminder and she didn't hesitate to give it to him. Zebra cocks are pushy. Zebra hens are a force to be reckoned with when they are sitting on eggs or have chicks.

[RaduPalanga]

Okay, this is a lenghty post. I did update it several times. Hope you guys bear with me

w.l.

The cage isn't too small. It's right on the edge of being too small, I think
See the first few posts of this topic.

There's no way I can get a bigger one for them. If I am to get a bigger one, I jump straight to the ones that are specifically made for Big Alexanders (the ones that are 3 feet tall, and 5 times more expensive than the one I got). And my room only gets so big

-----

Shannylee

My zebras are... I actually don't know. I got the male back in May, and the female in August (when we finally realised both were male, and went back to the store to exchange one). So I don't know how old each one is, but the female is definitely a bit younger than the male. I think the male was born in March or April, and the female was born in June or July. 1-2 months younger than the date I purchased them. Right?

They are sitting on the eggs. Somewhat consistently... can't say for sure. It's something past 8 AM right now, and we woke up at about 7. Since we woke up, they have been constantly fighting. Like... the hen would sit on the eggs for 5 minutes, and for the next 5 minutes she would be chasing the cock. Now, starting like 10 minutes ago, the COCK is sitting on the eggs, while improving upon the nest. He's like sitting on the eggs for a bit, then moving around with his beak. But soon after, the hen joined him, and she was doing something with her beak, lol. I'll attach some photos

For the night, they were covered (so artificial light doesn't interfere with their sleep - we covered them at about 9 PM or so, since we stood up until 1 AM or so). When we woke up, we uncovered them, and my girlfriend said they were BOTH in the nest, sleeping next to each other (like they always do), but none of them was sitting on the actual eggs. WHAT?!

Edit : the calm didn't last for long. I heard them fighting and when I looked over, the hen remained in the nest, while the cock was on the cage floor. He is now "bathing" himself, on the other side of the cage. I guess it won't be long until he gets close to the cage and disturbs her and hell breaks loose again...

Edit 2 : the calm didn't last for long... about 10-15 minutes, I would say. He was down, eating I guess. Then I saw her getting out of the nest, going close to the cock, and next thing you know it he was being chased around. He did NOT trigger her - he didn't get close to the nest, he was merely eating, and the food canisters are in the other side of the cage, nowhere near the nest...
After she was done chasing him (which took about 15 seconds or so), he remained on the cage floor, while she was "bathing" herself, sitting on one of the branches. She stood like that for about two minutes - at times, I could see her standing up, like... with her neck "elongated" upwards (if that makes any sense - not sure how else to put it)... then she hopped hopped and away she was (back in the nest). He's still on the cage floor, like "what the hell is happening", lol.

You said something about the activity in the room interfering with the finches... Well, I can't avoid that. At least not for now. In about two weeks, we'll move out to our new home (actually, a studio where my grandpa used to live, but he will be moving in with my parents, so we're swapping places), where we will have where to put the finces so they are like 3 meters away from any activity during the day. But... until that happens... right now, we are like less than like 3 feet away from the finches every time we move around in the room.

[w.l.]

If that cage is indeed 59*37*57 cm in size, it should indeed be enough for a zebra pair, but apparently your female doesn't think so!
Actually a female born in July should not be bred yet, a bit too young.
Maybe she is overly zelous as this is her first clutch.
In a way its better than the other extreme, a hen that doesn't care abiut her eggs or chicks.
Mind you, if you are moving in 2 weeks, I'd take these eggs away from them!
Otherwise they may have very young chicks in nest when you move, and such disturbance may well result in the parents abandoning them anyway, which is a much sadder happening than losing some eggs.

[RaduPalanga]

w.l.

Anyway, the cage is here to stay.

I see. To be honest, I was thinking about throwing them, but said to myself hey, maybe it isn't so bad...

How should I do it then? Simply grab the eggs in daylight, for the finches to see the brutal act, or do it in the dark...?

I was thinking maybe if I do it while they don't see, it won't be that bad. Like they will "wake up" to the nest being empty, and carry on with their lives like "oh well, that's that". But I guess they don't have the memory of a fish, lol.

I wouldn't want to traumatize them neither, but I guess this way would be easier on them than having the chicks emerging from the eggs only to die soon after.

Oh and regarding the hen's age... I don't really know. All I know is I got her in mid August. I can only assume when her birthday is... could be July, could be April

[haroun]

Hi Rad
really your hen is verry aggressive against her cok she is chasing him very bad oh have never seen that in my folk
have tried to separate the cok on a near box for a laps of two hours and put it back after ; just make a test