Society finch breeding attempt

[Rob]

Ok, let me start out by saying I'm new to this and this is my first attempt at breeding so feedback is greatly appreciated. I have 6 societies, started with one crested pied fawn, added 3 chocolate pied (there was a fourth but it died after a couple of days of bringing it home ), and more recently a pair that's 6 months old.

First, I built a nest box out of plywood for them all to sleep in, filled with strands of burlap. At first the two young ones didn't join but eventually they all started spending the night in there. Here's a picture of a few of them coming out:

Next, I read, or thought I read, somewhere that sometimes a pair will prefer their own nest for breeding and, more importantly, babies can be neglected in a crowded nest box. So I built a second nest box, this time with a built in perch and a better way of attaching it to the cage (the first one was just a box, and I had to attach it with some brackets).

And a couple of mornings later I find the young pair in there together

Now for my questions.
Are these finches old enough to be breeding?
All of the burlap strands have been pushed to the sides, should there be something else between the plywood and the potential eggs?
How long should it take, and if it doesn't happen what can/should I do to encourage breeding?

[lovezebs]

rob

Hi Rob,

It's usually better for breeding birds to be a bit older (at least 9-12 months). That said, when you have Societies and nests, there is no way to stop them from breeding, lol.

If you want to encourage breeding offer them some hay, dry grass, ripped up paper towels or kleenex, and they will do the rest.

Make sure to offer loads of cuttle bone, crushed egg shells, and oyster shell. These provide much needed Calcium to your girls. Without extra Calcium, the ladies will use up all the Calcium out of their tiny bodies to form their eggs, and can become egg bound (often fatal).

Also offer a good quality Finch seed mix, a variety of greens, and hard boiled eggs (protein).

Good luck.

[Rob]

Thanks Elana!

I offer eggs about once a week, and was going to give more once I saw eggs. It never occurred to me they need to calcium to produce eggs, although that makes sense. I'll start adding eggs/shells more frequently. They get a nice salad of veggies every day. I'll add an extra cuttle bone as well.

[Fraza]

I have a few society finches and they are really easy to breed out some nesting stuff in the bottom of the cages and the males will pick this up and add to the nest boxes once they start doing this the female will accept and soon after you will have chicks laid however make sure you give a lot of veg and egg for the female as it takes a lot of energy out of them laying eggs

[Fraza]

The once chicks are laid it will take 14 to 21 days for the eggs to hatch after they hatch keep giving egg to the parents to feed the chicks from this point in the parents will do the rest of the work at about 3 weeks old you can hold the chicks

[Rob]

Thanks Fraza

This morning I found a single egg in the other nest box (the one with 4 societies sleeping in it). I was going to clean the nest box, because it looks dirty, but I should just leave it now right?

Also, the other nest looks like it's being built nicely:

[cindy]

Good luck with your breeding!!!!

Best not to give sitting (before eggs are laid) and incubating birds soft foods, especially hens. They tend to hold their droppings longer, soft food sits in the gut and can grow bacteria... bacteria can be passed to eggs as laid, it can effect the hatchlings or young right before fledging or after. As my avian vet told me... keep nesting, egg laying, incubating hens diet dry.

Once the chicks hatch reintroduce your plain boiled grated egg food. leave down and change out every 2 hours to prevent spoilage.... if you can't do that during the day offer fresh in the morning and evening, dinner time and leave dried egg food down 24/7.

so sorry you lost your 3 birds.... make sure you quarantine any new birds coming in... no less than 90 day...birds can hide illness and share it with others. Some viruses can live in birds for up to 90 days (carriers)

The droppings in the box are generally around the outer parts of the box... young will back up and deposit droppings away from the center of the nest. If the eggs are sitting on the bare bottom of the nest add nesting material under the eggs, it helps support and helps with heat during incubation... make sure to wash your hands to move the eggs or use a spoon to roll gently the eggs to one side as you add material... usually with finches you need to start the nest with a good layer of nesting material. You want to avoid eggs rolling or sitting on the bare bottom of the nest.

[Fraza]

Yes leave he nest trust me all through until the chicks have fledged the nest will be a mess and full of poo you should have an egg every day now until day 8 good look

[cindy]

when the young are hatched off the egg shell powdered in a separate dish... the crushed pieces are to big, jagged for the young birds to handle... parents start feeding about 24 to 48 hours after the babies hatch...the egg sac will keep the baby going during that time, once absorbed they will start feeding... you will see one side of the crop fill for a short time, as the get a few days older the crop on the other side of the neck will fill also.

You may see the crop full of proso/millet seed from the seed mix... often the parents will feed this to keep the baby full longer... seed takes longer to digest and keeps the babies fuller especially at night.

you can offer sprouted or chitted seed also... it is triple the nutritional value of dry seed.

[cindy]

if the nest gets too dirty when the chicks are older you can change out the nesting material... make sure the nest is not wet or smells.

[Rob]

Thanks cindy That's a lot of good information. To clarify, I only lost one bird out of four. I quarantined for a week, but I'll keep new birds separate for longer next time.

Can you clarify what you mean by soft food? Is that just boiled eggs, or should I be concerned about vegetables too?

I tried once before sprouting bird seed, but didn't get any results. Can I use other sprouting seeds, from a garden store, or should I keep trying with the bird seed?

And thanks for the suggestion about adding material under the egg. I was concerned about that, and will do that promptly when I get home from work.

[cindy]

soft foods... this includes veggies also.

[cindy]

nothing from the garden especially if exposed to chemicals.... use fresh plain bird seed, Higgins is pretty fresh and sprouts... Terri at glamgouldians.com sells seeds for sprouting, so does sproutpeople.com. You can use spray millet too!!!!
guide to sprouting
http://www.gouldiansgalore.com/sprouting.html


Sprout People also gives guides to sprouting

not sure if seed can be shipped across the border but Herman Bros Pet Products may ship....white proso sprouts fast and is also a favorite here.... keet mixes are made up a lot of proso!!!

[cindy]

By the way, love those nest boxes!!

[Fraza]

For some reason one time my zeb finches collected the poo and put it around the entrance of the nest all the way round the full circle

I didn't like cleaning this one