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Emmy

My Orange Breasted Zebra Finches

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Hi Clare

The parent birds are  starting to leave the chicks alone in the nest  for short periods of time now but every day I see a difference in them. The parent birds are not objecting to me handling the chicks. Looking at one today the thought that went through my head was looking at the top part of its leg it could have been mistaken for a baby turkey (lol) but Maybe its just 'puppy fat' :lol:

Emmy

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Hi Emmy,

 

Your'e not thinking on christmas dinner already :crazy:

 

I do have an OB fawn pied, by accident, as I did not fully understand what I had in my avaiary, until I started using this forum. :fool:

 

Good luck if you choose to do this they can be quite stunning looking, my best pied is in my avatar. :)

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10 minutes ago I found the OB hen dead on the cage floor- . The hen was OK about 30minutes ago when I was checking the cages. so far I havent seen the cock bird going anywhere near the nest with the 3 young. I dont have any other birds that have young to use if he doesnt feed them.

How long do you think I could leave them without intervening to see if the cock bird will feed them. Its obvious they'll need fed before tomorrow morning.

Emmy

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Thanks Dave

Just not sure how/why she died - he has been a bit of a bully to her  in the past. Up until lately he has been taking his turn sitting in the nest so maybe as you said when they call to be fed he may go to them.

Emmy

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Sorry to read about your hen.

Hope the dad rears them for you.

Good luck, hope all goes well.

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Thanks Clare

I've been watching the cage , but not going close up to it and so far he hasnt looked near the nest, just hope he goes onto it and feeds them though -- he was making such a good job of this before.

Just keeping my fingers crossed

Emmy

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I watched the nest from a distance last night and finally checked the nest at 11pm so far dad hadnt been back on the nest. The chicks crops were empty but I thought I'd leave them and possibly if they were hungry he may just feed them. Odd thing though I have never heard those chicks chirping for food!

I was worried about leaving them like this so I got up at 4am to check-- dad still wasnt on the nest so I lifted the 3 chicks out to give them a proper check 2 of them were hardly moving the 3rd one had a little more energy. I decided if I left them much longer I would lose them so I mixed up some handrearing food, the chick that seem to be moving more took the food with no bother but the other two were very weak but I finally managed to get some food into them and then I took a chance and put them back into their nest instead of into the brooder which I had sorted out just in case it was needed.  This morning I did see dad on the nest  and I thought everything was going to be ok but when I checked the chicks 15 minutes ago they still havent been fed their crops are empty, no sign of seed there at all. I'm going to leave them until 12noon and if their crops are still empty I'll feed them again and return them to their own nest after that.

I'm hoping dad will eventually take over

Emmy

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Hi Emmy,

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your hen passing away so suddenly, the stresses of rearing youngsters can sometimes cause these types of deaths in birds.

 

It's happened to me on more than one occasion, one minute they are hopping from perch to perch the next they are gone.

 

The possible cause could have been a heart attack, but you will never know without further investigation.

 

I hope things have improved this morning and the other parent has started to feed the chicks.

 

Best of luck,

 

Gary.

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Thanks Gary

I think what may have happened with the hen is that the cock bird had probably been fighting with it again. My reason for saying this is that I found lots of her feathers on the floor below the cage and the last time that happened, before the young hatched, she was fighting back but they settled down after that. So perhaps as. you say she may have had a heart attack if she had been stressed out.

 

I had to give the chicks another feed at noon and I decided while the chicks were out from the cage that I'd take a chance and clean the cage and put in a new nest basket. I was very surprised when I put the chicks back into the nest basket in the cage! ---the 'dad' immediately went to the nest and sat with the chicks. I am so relieved, I have just seen him feeding the chicks.

I just cant understand why he has suddenly started to feed them after I changed their nest basket.

Just hope he keeps feeding them now.

Emmy

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Hi Emmy,

 

That's a new on me, but we learn something new every day, maybe this is what he wanted all along?

 

Keep us up to date with their progress.

 

Gary.

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I'm keeping a close check on them because I dont want to lose those chicks.

It seems that one of them is being fed more than the other two.(those two have very little in their crops) but at least they  are gettting fed even if its not a lot. I'll check them again before I go to bed and if need be I'll give them a feed to see them through the night-  I'm hoping I wont need to do this as I'd rather the 'dad' fed them himself.

Emmy

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Hi Emmy,

 

Hope the dad is still feeding them for you, and you can get some sleep :lazy:

 

Strange what you said about changing the nest, that would of been the last thing I would of thought of :fool:

 

Always learning  :crazy:

 

Good Luck with the chicks, keep us posted on their progress

 

Clare

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Good news so far 'dad' is still feeding them and apart from checking that they are still being fed I leave them alone. 

 

I didnt change the nest deliberatley it was when I had the chicks out to feed them I decided to clean the cage before I put them back in- but the nest was really very dirty with the chicks' droppings-  and at that time I honestly thought I was going to have to put them in the brooder and hand feed them, so I decided to remove the nest and replace it with a new one. I didnt have any moss ready (I gather it from my garden , then wash it and dry it) to put in this new nest so I just tore up a couple of paper hankies and put that in the bottom of the nest. then I made up my mind then to put the chicks back into the nest in the cage beside dad -

I've no idea what the reason was that made him go back to the nest and look after the chicks. 

 

Was just wondering  could it  have been because all the chicks had been removed from the nest for that short time he became more aware of them when they were returned to the nest.?

Emmy

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i'd leave them well alone ....and stop taking them in and out of the nest ...then theres a sporting chance you won't end up hand rearing (something i've never had to do in 35 years of keeping birds )...when they are on the perch will be soon enough for the photo shoot .....regards jeff

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Thanks Jeff

I understand what you are saying but I just want to make sure they are getting enough food. I took that photo when I was checking the chick.

 

Emmy

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Hi

 

You do have to becareful not to be in and out to much as this could make the cock stop feeding, can you not see into the nest with removing the chick i have doors on my cage fronts and simply turn the nest box around, this causes as little stress to the parents as possible and im in and out as quick as im able.

 

Paul.

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Hi Emmy,

Really cute pic, keep going, you're almost there.

Afew mores days, and they Will be safe.

Keep updating.

Clare

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All 3 chicks have now left the nest but are not too keen to sit on the perches. Prefer the floor of the cage but all 3 still go back into their nest basket at night -although there isnt much room for them in there now. They are very big chicks compared to the other zebra finch chicks I've reared.

 

http://postimage.org/image/k22w3i1h1/

 

 

Guess it may not be possible to tell what colour the young chick will be yet?

 

Emmy

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I dont know if the chick is orange breast or not but the lack of tear mark says its a black breast. That is such a fantastic photo!

Kerry

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Paul you said

If they have fledged remove the nest

Will it do the chicks any harm going back in the nest to sleep at night?  There's only the dad in the cage beside them the mother had died so there is no chance of more eggs being laid. Could leaving the nest in the cage have an effect on the dad's behaviour towards the chicks?

Emmy

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Thanks Kerry I was just lucky to have the camera there when dad came onto the perch. guess the chick felt let down --it didnt get fed  LOL

Emmy

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