Hand feeding and I have no idea how old the baby is.

[Robyn]

Basically my grandma has 8 adult zebra finches and 1 nest. The latest clutch had 4 babies 1 was rejected/possibly taken out by others. Monday morning after work I went by my grandma's house as usual and I as her birds are out by the front door. I noticed that most of them where pecking at the bottom the cage in the same 2 spots,which is unusual for them and I looked at the bottom of the cage and saw 2 babies that had fallen on the bottom of the cage and under the grate. I was able to pull out the tray of the cage and put the two babies back in the nest. I also found the body of a dead newly hatched chick. Then yesterday morning I again stopped by her house and saw the adults pecking the bottom of the cage all in the same spot. One the babies was on the bottom of the cage again. I this time I took it out of the cage and kept it warm. My grandma asked me to hand feed it and try to keep it alive because we don't believe it is was safe with the others pecking at it. I also noticed that multiple adults were going in and out of the nest and in addition to the 2 remaining chicks there is a freshly laid egg in the nest so possible double clutch. I have no experience with finches and I'm not sure how old the baby is but yesterday it opened its eyes for the first time and last night it was trying to stand up. My experience is entirely with cockatiels which are very different. Some concerns I have are I believe this baby has a slow crop. I fed it yesterday morning and even last night before work the crop had not fully emptied so for the mid day feedings were mostly water as that is suggested for cockatiels to help brake up the food in the crop and keep the baby hydrated. I found exactly one site with information on hand feeding finches but that's it. Is there any thing specific to be on the look out with this baby. I have low expectations for its survival but I will try to keep it alive as best I can.

I attached a picture of the baby in hopes someone can help me. Please excuse the dirty cage it's in. I found it in my grandma's basement and had to transport the baby in a safe way (I also had my dog with me so cage was nessecary) it is currently in a make shift brooder I had set up for a clutch of tiels last year.

[Sally]

Here are some links to hand feeding and how to set up an inexpensive brooder. I would guess the baby is around 7-10 days old. Finch babies need to be fed far more often than several times a day. If the crop is not emptying, it could be due to many reasons, two of which are that the food is too thick or it is too cold.

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12441
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12274
http://www.finchinfo.com/breeding/handfeeding.php

On another note, you may need to talk to grandma about not letting her birds have babies to begin with. If she has these adult birds in one cage with one nest, she is encouraging inbreeding, which is not good for the birds. Zebra finches are the rabbits of the finch world, and breeding really needs to be controlled, unless breeding is done with a plan and a purpose. Otherwise, she will find herself overrun with inferior birds that no one wants. The fact that these adult birds are picking on/killing babies should tell her that her setup is not working.

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you (and grandma too) will find many articles on finch care. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier for members to help you.

[Robyn]

Believe me I have been trying to tell her for years to stop allowing them to breed. I even got onto her after she decided to put this nest back in and her excuse was that the female(s) keep laying eggs. She's not going to like it it too much when I put all of the finches in individual cages here pretty soon.


One other problem I noticed after getting off work is that the baby seems to have a lot of air in one side of its crop. I have very little faith this baby will live.

[Robyn]

All the babies have died. But I have convinced my grandma to sell 4 of the adults and to seperately the rest.

[Sally]

So sorry all the babies were lost, but at least it has been a learning experience for grandma.