Zebra Finch Breeding

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Mon May 14, 2007 9:38 am

Well, now it is waiting time. Sitting began on Monday of last week. So if the eggs are fertile, they should be hatching toward the end of this week or during the weekend.

I decided not to candle the eggs. The pair is getting agitated anytime someone is in "their" room.

Erik

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:21 am

I noticed this morning that the male pulled a feather out of the female and took it back into the nest.

Is it true that I can stop this by putting craft feathers in the cage.

They already have a pacifier in the cage.

Erik

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Thu May 17, 2007 11:41 am

hi erik
you could try it ..you have nothing to lose ...but the zebra will appreciate it more if it works

ken

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Sat May 19, 2007 3:13 am

Problem is worse. I arrived home tonight to find the male in the nest sitting on the eggs and the female on the perch with a small part of her shoulder area featherless.

What can I do?

Something tells me a feather for the male will not be enough here. This has gotten worse over a period of 12 hours.

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Sat May 19, 2007 7:08 am

Other than giving him a few craft feathers periodically to satisfy his nest building urge, there isn't much you can do.

Just take care you don't give him so many that he buries the eggs. Sounds like a nervous first time dad to me.

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Sat May 19, 2007 12:38 pm

tammieb wrote:Sounds like a nervous first time dad to me.

Sounds like a total nutcase to me.

I will give him some feathers.

Erik

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Sat May 19, 2007 4:30 pm

I just cleaned out their flight and candled the eggs. I am not an expert here but I only saw one egg with a vein like shape inside of it. The light I was using wasn't specifically for candling, so it was difficult to tell.

The eggs were light and felt almost hollow. In almost all there was a small yellow oval inside the egg taking up about 1/3-2/3 the inside. Near the point of the egg there was what appeared to be a small air or fluid sac. Is this an indication that they are dead?

Incubation if it started at the third egg would have began Monday the 7th. They have been sitting on them nonstop since.

..HELP

Erik

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Sat May 19, 2007 5:04 pm

The point of the egg is where the air pocket is located. The chick needs the air pocket so it can peck through the shell when the times comes.

Have you read the candling info located here, http://www.finchinfo.com/breeding/eggs.php

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Mon May 21, 2007 6:44 pm

If the eggs have been incubated day and night for more than 5-6 days and all you see when you hold them up to a light source is a yolk and the airsac (and no sign of blood vessels or an embryo which often looks like a dark shadow within the egg), then the eggs are probably infertile. If the one egg looks like it might be fertile though I would leave them all in place until a few days past the point where the one egg is due to hatch. If it does not hatch, you can remove the eggs; if it does hatch, hopefully the parents will be okay raising a single chick. If you remove the infertile eggs now and only leave the fertile-appearing one, the parents might abandon their incubation efforts.

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:24 am

Crystal wrote:If the eggs have been incubated day and night for more than 5-6 days and all you see when you hold them up to a light source is a yolk and the airsac (and no sign of blood vessels or an embryo which often looks like a dark shadow within the egg), then the eggs are probably infertile. If the one egg looks like it might be fertile though I would leave them all in place until a few days past the point where the one egg is due to hatch. If it does not hatch, you can remove the eggs; if it does hatch, hopefully the parents will be okay raising a single chick. If you remove the infertile eggs now and only leave the fertile-appearing one, the parents might abandon their incubation efforts.

I only saw one egg with evidence of life. But that could've been me just seeing things. This is now day 14 of incubation. I plan to leave them in for a few more days, but I think they are all infertile or have died. If they hatch, I will be very surprised.

What concerns me more is the males conduct toward the hen. He is stressing out a great deal and has removed a clump of feathers from her shoulder area. I added some nesting material (given the eggs are likely dead) to let him keep building the nest and hopefully stop picking feathers out of the hen. I suppose he is maybe just a little dumb, but when I go in there now, the male seems to be doing most of the sitting (60%), and the female is usually on the perch. I can see why she doesn't go in the nest by the looks of her featherless shoulder.

I have been giving them a lot of privacy, only stopping in to give them fresh water and food. Often though I can hear his alarm tone from downstairs.

Any comments? I am stuck, frustrated, etc, etc.

Erik

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Tue May 22, 2007 5:17 pm

Candle the eggs again; by day 14 if they are alive & fertile there should be a dark mass (chick) filling most of the egg. If you don't see that, throw the eggs out. If you want chicks and this is not already their third clutch, give them another chance to breed. Otherwise, take the nest away and give them a break.

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Wed May 23, 2007 9:23 am

Crystal wrote:Candle the eggs again; by day 14 if they are alive & fertile there should be a dark mass (chick) filling most of the egg. If you don't see that, throw the eggs out. If you want chicks and this is not already their third clutch, give them another chance to breed. Otherwise, take the nest away and give them a break.

This would be their first clutch.

I will candle the eggs again this evening. If they are fertile, I will leave them in their. If the female didn't begin incubating until after egg 6, (odd, but it may be true) this would be right around their hatch time. As for the eggs (if fertile), if they hatch, they hatch as far as I am concerned here.

As I said before, I am more concerned with the male being so stressed out he is plucking a lot of feathers off the female. I am very concerned about her health at this point, and his being a jerk.

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:29 pm

UPDATE!
The female is getting better and regrowing most of her lost feathers!

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:58 pm

Good to hear!

ErikL · Post by **ErikL** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:20 pm

Thanks. For a while I thought we'd lose her.

They are now trying to nest in their food dish? She is laying eggs rapidly and I am taking them out, trying to get them to return to their nest. They are persistant about nesting in their food.

Any ideas?

It is great to see her back in breeding mode but I don't think they will be sucessful in their food dish.

Erik