Ask Lafeber

I have zebra finches

There are building there nest but haven’t seen them mate how can I tell if one is pregnant

Hi Raquel,

Birds do not get pregnant – they lay eggs. A bird can lay eggs whether there is a male or not. Even if there is a male and the hen lays eggs, the eggs may not be fertile. They probably will not mate until the nest is to their liking. You mentioned they are building a nest, but do you have a nest and nesting material? Zebra finches prefer an enclosed finch nest that has a single entry hole. They do not do as well with the open nests that canaries commonly use. When providing nesting material, it is best to buy a commercial nesting material. Timothy hay is also OK as long as it is clean and the type sold for small pets. Do not provide anything with strings or thin fibers, even if this is commercially sold. The strings or fibers can easily get wrapped around the toes, feet or legs. The nest should be securely attached to the cage, ideally in the corner, as high as possible, leaving just enough room for the birds to sit on top of the nest since the male may want to sit there to guard his nest. You must be feeding a nutritionally balanced diet such as finch granules or pellets. A loose seed mix will not provide the nutrition they need. You should not give them a nest until they are eating the right kind of diet. In addition to the pellets or granules, you should offer dark leafy greens & chopped veggies. Once you have given them the nest, you need to offer an egg food daily. This can be a commercial egg food that is made from dried egg, or you can cook an egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with the egg. This egg food is very important for the female, to give her the extra protein and calcium she needs while laying eggs and feeding chicks. You will feed this egg food until the chicks are weaned. The parents need a lot of privacy while nesting. And if they do raise chicks, the chicks must be removed as soon as they are weaned. You must keep them separate by gender to prevent them from breeding with each other – never allow related birds to breed. As to when she might lay eggs, once you have them on a good diet, they have fixed the nest to their liking, and they start mating, she will most likely lay eggs soon after that.

Thank you for Asking Lafeber,

Brenda