My Dad zebra finch passed away suddenly. Now I have Mom taking care of two babies all by herself. If both babies turn out to be female, can I keep them in the same cage with Mom as adults? Then later possibly introduce a new unrelated male so that everyone is partnered up? Thanks so much!
Hi,
I’m sorry about your male. For now, just see if she even raises the chicks by herself and weans them. It is very important that as soon as they leave the nest, remove the nest. Have food on the floor of the cage where the chicks can get to it, and a shallow dish of water. If you don’t get that nest out of there, the female is very likely to decide to nest again, even without the male, and she will let the chicks die. The zebra finch male usually weans the chicks. Hopefully the female will do this, without a nest for a distraction. Then you will have to watch them closely once they are self feeding. Typically, the pair will start picking on weaned chicks in an effort to drive them away. With a single hen, you will have to wait and see if she lets them remain in the cage. One problem is if you end up with even one female, you may not be able to tell the mom apart once the chick has adult markings. It won’t really matter unless you plan to breed them in the future. If you end up with females, and all three get along, that’s great, but do not add a male. You can’t have a male with three females or there will be fighting. You can probably add a female and have all females together, but no nests. Birds do not need a nest unless they are breeding, and you should never leave a nest in the cage year round. If it ends up one or both chicks are males, you need to find homes for them or they will try to mate with the mother. And you can’t allow related birds to breed. Hopefully the chicks survive and are females!
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
