Ask Lafeber

female always kills its chick

Hi! From the Philippines. I used to have a pair of finches. A gray and a white. Since the seller of the white finch told us that it was ready to breed, I bought a fertility vit to laid eggs ASAP (its my first time to have a pet bird). After 2 months, it laid 2 eggs. It hatched. We touched the chick, but after a week, the parent finch killed the chicks one by one, weeks a part. After a month, it laid 2 eggs again. This time, it didn’t hatched. And then again, 2 eggs didn’t hatched until the female finch died, no chicks. The female finch almost lost its feathers and couldn’t fly before it died. The grey finch is still alive and I am wondering to buy another female for him. What do you think? Is it good to buy another female for him or let him be single?
He’s already 2 yeas old

Hi,

It sounds like possibly the male is aggressive and responsible for killing the chicks and eventually the female. I don’t think I would add another female. You might try another male just for a companion. But there is no guarantee they will get along. Even if you added a new female, they might not get along. He probably wasn’t truly bonded with the other female. Or there may have been something wrong with her. Breeding bird do need a lot of privacy. If they feel threatened, that is one reason they might abandon their nest or kill the chicks. Other reason can be if they feel like they do not have enough food or some birds are simply not good parents. If you are OK with having two cages, then I would get another male and then if they do not get along, let each bird have their own cage and at least they can keep each other company. Always introduce a new bird gradually. Start with them in separate cages side by side and see if they start sitting near each other and when you do put them together, watch them carefully for signs of fighting, and make sure there are 2 food dishes & 2 water dishes and different places in the cage.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda