I started raising Zebra finches two years ago. They are very prolific and everything has been fine until now. I have over 200 birds. The cages all started at about 3x3 feetand 6 foot tall. I've connected four of them. I would have a baby death once about every other month. Now all of a sudden I'm having two or three deaths every day.
There are no rodents, I'm in Southern California so it's not too cold. All the adults seem fine and healthy. Now I'm finding these baby birds dead and it's really sad. Any suggestions? Thank you.
This could be over a dozen different things like: Insects, disease, cold, allergic reaction, sometimes it's the cage and build up inside over time. Also it could be the toxins in the air. - www.wikihow.com/
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have five finches, 2 are in one cage 3 are in another cage. One pair have had 6 eggs for the last month, but the eggs are not hatching. On the other hand where there are 3 birds, they have 11 eggs and 7 hatched, but every time when I saw a little one inside, in the next few hours it was dead and lying down in the nest.
All 7 died the same way. Please help, 4 eggs are left. Also please tell me why the other pair's 6 eggs are not hatching.It appears the other 4 eggs may not hatch considering the 7 eggs already hatched and now all the babies are dead. It sounds like there are too many birds in the cage and nobody was taking care of the babies or one of the other birds has killed them. You should only keep a pair of birds in one cage if you want them to reproduce and take care of there young.
I had 2 baby finches; they hatched 3-4 weeks ago. The parents cared for them, especially the dad which is common, but a couple of days ago the dad started to lightly peck one of the babies' bald head. He was found on the floor of the cage dead. He was the weaker baby of the 2, so I assumed he either died because he was weak or has been killed for the same reason.
But then the dad started the same thing on the remaining, stronger baby (he could fly, but hadn't quite mastered landing!) and he was found dead today. Has the dad killed them both and if so, why?In some cases, the male parents want the babies out of the nest box so they can breed again. In that instance, you should remove the babies as soon as they are able to eat by themselves. Maybe this is what happened to your wee birds. It is very distressing for you.
In the future, you may need to finish raising the birds yourself. Once they get to 2-3 weeks old, put the babies into a separate cage with a nest box and feed them 4 times a day with a special bird raising formula that you can buy from the pet stores. My advice is to buy a book on how to hand raise - this is a satisfying hobby but not without its challenges. Also, there are many finch breeding societies that you can contact that may help with advice. Good luck
My zebra finch babies keep dying after two weeks! I have a male and a female zebra finch they have now laid three eggs in total at different times. The first one never hatched the second and third one hatched but died within the first two weeks.
Please give me a reason of why this might be happening what I can do to prevent it.I would disinfect the cages, if you have not already done so.
There are a few things that could make this happen - Often it's bacteria that is often caused by these birds getting sick.
This can happen with there surroundings, cages, diet, immune system.
Cleanliness in the cage and nesting area is essential to raising healthy birds. It's also important that the cage be placed in a warm location free from drafts. I would suggest you do some research on how to raise finches and see if you notice something that directly relates to your situation. www.thesprucepets.com/
There is not enough info here to know for sure what is going on.
Is the cage big enough? Is the nesting materials correct (natural fibers) and clean (no pesticides or man made pollutants?
Is your house too warm or too cold?
Does someone smoke?
Is there a lot of noise where the birds live?
Were the parents healthy to start with?
Have they "tried" too many times in a row and that is now causing failure of the eggs or failure to thrive for the chicks?
There are just many, many, many factors at play here.
If you have a local home extension office (if you are in the US), try there to see if they offer any guidance.
OR, talk to a local vet that specialists in birds and have them help you assess the situation.
There are some good YouTube videos--but be sure they are produced by reputable groups--like a vet or vet tech, and not just some body off the street, so to speak.
Prayers for the feathered ones! Hope things work out in the future!
My zebra finches had hatched a baby on the floor of the aviary. I understand that it died either because it was squashed by the mother, sitting on an egg next to it, or of coldness. That was my second baby zebra finch to die, but with both, a few hours after they died, there was no sign of them.
The other one that died was in a hanging nesting box. Why have they disappeared?Sometimes baby finches are eaten by parents.
Like all animals in nature, they will consume the dead baby so that predators do not attack the nest or area where the rest of the babies live.
What can cause a 16 day old zebra finch to die?
A common cause is a respirator infection
Your finch could have had an illness like Respitory Infection, usually finches hide their symptoms but the first sign of illness is most commonly puffed up feathers
Our finches have had their second batch of eggs. Fin the first batch of 5 all of them died. I could see them moving, but they died before they were out of the shell. The second batch is hatching and the first bird lived two days.
I found it dead and felt it was important to remove the dead one. Did I do wrong? Do they remove their own? I'm afraid they were caring for a dead one for a whole day and did not feel that was healthy.You didn't do anything wrong. As long as they have other babies they'll forget about that one.
Why would a finch bird who was 2.5 weeks old just die, it left the nest flew around for a bit then it just died? why did this happen?
Our finches had two babies. At about 16 days old both died, over two days. We are devastated. Any ideas why?
By Ralph from Surrey
May be the babies are overfeeded or indigestion may occurs. Do you provide egg food everyday ? Dilute digestive medicine in their drinking water like Neopaptine drop twice or thrice in a week or other digestive medicine available at your place.
It is not uncommon. They can be too cold, or it could be too breezy in the room.
Raising baby finches is rewarding, but it can also be a time-consuming task as they need regular care until they are grown. This is a page about caring for baby zebra finches.
