Ask Lafeber

Finches confused about nest and eggs

I have a pair of zebra finches and I provide them a breeding pot and nesting material… They breed after a while..she lays 2 eggs.. Both male and female were sitting on the egg.. One of the baby died while hatching and the other one survived… The female has already laid more eggs before the baby bird leaves the nest so I did not had a chance to clean the pot… The male and female both were taking turns sitting in the eggs when 2 days ago I realized there were very small insects coming out of the pot there were soo many of them I had to clean the pot… I clean the pot… Put new nesting material in the pot placed the eggs as it is without touching them k was handling them with tissue paper… I put the pot again under 30 minutes… The male and female go into the nesting pot and check up on the eggs but did not sit on them… There was another pot that I provided them after the birth of their 1st baby… They start to build a nest there.. But was also checking up on the old pot and the eggs… The night they sleep in their old pot and in the morning they break 2 eggs and thrown them away… There are still 2 eggs in the old pot but they are not sitting in them just checking them occasionally.. They are still making the nest in New pot but sleep g in the old pot.. It’s confusing.

Hi Bisma,

You need to take away all of the nests for now. When you breed birds, you have to remove the nest after they raise chicks to force the adults to rest. In the wild, they would only have one or maybe two clutches of chicks every year. In captivity they will literally keep breeding until they die unless you take away the nests and force them to rest for a few months between clutches. They only need a nest when they are breeding. In the wild they do not sleep in a nest or use a nest except during the few months of breeding season.

Breeding birds need privacy and need to feel that their nest is safe and secure. If you disturb the nest when they are breeding, they will abandon it as your birds have done. I do understand that you had to do this due to the insects and it was for the best because they didn’t need to be laying eggs again when they still have a chick. The more important issue here is what kind of insects were in the nest? Birds can get parasites like mites and lice, so they may be infested with parasites now. You need to take them to a Vet to have them checked and treated before you let them breed again. You can try to inspect the birds carefully, but parasites can be hard to see on the birds. But the fact that the nest was infested tells me the birds are probably infested. The chick will also be infested since it was in the same cage. You should throw away the nests and get new ones unless the nests are plastic. Throw away all of the nesting material and disinfect the cage and everything in it. You should also treat the cage for parasites if possible. You need to get the parents and chicks healthy and free of parasites. The chick needs to be moved to another cage if it is weaned and eating on it own, because you do not want the chick to breed with one of the parents. Once the birds are free of parasites and have rested for a few months, then you can let them breed again. But always remove the nest between clutches, and rest the parents. And never allow the chicks to breed with each other or with the parents.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda