Zebra Finch eggs

My grandma has 2 zebra finches and they layed 5 eggs in the past week. She had no plans on breeding them and she doesnt know if they are fertile or not. I heard that if they change to a darker color in about 10 days they are fertile. And in about 13 days after they were layed they might hatch. Any tips?

 

Hi zebra finches lay 1 egg everyday and if fertile will hatch 14days after the 3rd one is laid.

The females do not incubate there eggs until she has laid 3 of her eggs some dont incubate until all have been laid.

My zebra's have 6eggs and are due to hatch anytime from tomorrow.
If your grandma does not wish to have them hatch then what she can do is boil the eggs allow them to cool and place them back withthe female and allow her to sit the eggs until she decides to discard them.

If you remove the eggs before the end of the incubation period she will just lay another clutch to replace the ones she has lost which will tax her body and rob her of much needed calcium so boiling them is the best option or allow them to hatch she will be able to rehome the birds once they start eating and drinking for themselves.

Or if she decides to keep them then she can keep all the males together and all the females together as while the pair are still in the same cage they will continue to produce eggs, They need to be kept in pairs so keeping a male and a female to put int seperate cages with the others will help stop egg laying

Mike

 

2 birds hatched in the past week and a half, they both died. Is there anything that is wrong. They are eating the right food.

 

Hi sorry to hear they died...

It could be any reason either the parents are too young and did not know how to look after them or they could have caught a chill.
Finch's can deal with low temperatures but if they get caught in a draught its a different matter.

Where the parents eating soft foods to feed to there chicks as when they are eating seed they eat it that quickly to get back to the chicks they don;t dehusk it properly and this can impact in the chicks crop causing choking.

Where the parents still sitting well in the nest to keep the chicks warm?
Also there could have been something wrong with the chicks it happens sometimes that when they start to hatch the parents break the shell causing the chicks to get too much oxygen to quickly.


Mike

 

I think they were too young, and there is still one egg left.

 

How old are the parents as they should be older than 8months old.
If they are younger than this then chances are they did not know how to look after them correctly...

Hopefully the egg thats left they will raise have my fingers crossed for you..

Mike