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Ok, the gourds worked a little too well. I have a female zebra sitting on eggs. I have a little more room so I will let her try to hatch.

I have what I believed to be 2 female society finches, and one of them is sitting on eggs in my second gourd. Will a society sit on "dud" eggs?

If I end up with lots of babies, I will build another aviary- but it is time to remove the gourds as soon as this "batch" is over with.

Can't say I know much about finches, but here's a few links that SHOULD help!!!

http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/spenser1.htm
http://www.zebrafinch.com/SocietyFinch/Society.html
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_fostering.mgi
http://www.efinch.com/species/society.htm

There's not much that will keep a Zebra from nesting!
And yes, Societies will brood infertile eggs for the usual 2 weeks and then will abandon them.

My little male zebra dad sits on the eggs at least once a day. He is toooo cute!

My female zebras are not as friendly toward each other as they once were. Will the other pair go after the babies when they hatch?

I've finally put the males in one cage and the females in the cage next door. The girls still lay an egg from time to time, but at least the population is steady The males seem to be much less aggressive -- guess they realize they can't really compete for the ladies, just try to dazzle them through the wire.

Other Zebra pairs tend not to bother hatched chicks, but keep an eye on the parents and make sure they're getting enough food to feed the chicks.
Do you have more females than males? Also, if there's not a nest for every female, bickering will occur.

My zebras abandoned their one set of eggs, my society girls??? hatched some from a second gourd today. They have been taking turns on this nest. Do I need to make sure they have any special food available? I have not looked it up yet...

So excited!!! Dont know if they are zebra eggs or society eggs which means that I have a pair instead of 2 society females. I'll have to wait until they feather... My societies are a brown pied and a self blue/grey crested... Its name is Elvis even if it is a girl...or...It may be a daddy.

The babies make a grasshopper noise.... I saw one peeking out from under "mommy's" belly...

Dana, congrats -- you're a grandparent!

I expect Ann can speak to this better than I, but when our birds are feeding young, we keep them on the same diet as when they're laying & brooding -- lots of protein (egg food), calcium-rich stuff and all their favorite green treats, in addition to the usual seeds, millet, etc.

Keep us posted on the babies!

Pat

I have free-range chickens, I have been hard cooking an egg per day.
The finches love it. I am removing the leftover in a couple of hours.

My little munchkins are fuzzy now. I saw 3 beaks today.

I think there are 2 un hatched eggs in the nest.

Is it better to remove the unhatched or leave them alone so that mommy and mommy dont leave the nest?

Thanks

I would just leave the nest alone. Aren't they the cutest little things in the world?

I miss my baby finches! After a week or so I usually removed any unhatched eggs if the parents had not buried or thrown them out. They tend to become rotten and if broken make a terrible mess in the nest. I left them longer if there was only one or two chicks since the eggs helped keep the nest warmer and gave the chicks something to rest their head on.

You should be able to tell if you have Zebra or Society babies. Zebras tend to have more blackish skin and dark beaks..........Societies are lighter skinned and light beaks.

(Zebras) http://www.gotpetsonline.com/pictures-g ... h-0001.jpg

(Societies) http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... n%26sa%3DN

I'll check when I get home thanks. The beaks look dark, but my memory is not the greatest at this moment about the colors.

At this point, I am leaning toward Zebras.

I went into the cage yesterday, I could not stand it any longer.

3 little birds with spotted tails.

Congratulations! Sounds like zebras!