Grass Finch Chicks Die in few days of hatching

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kamran
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mr skeeter wrote: 09 May 2018, 09:53 long tails love seeded grass heads when they have young and sprouted seed is a must for rearing young, they will also take mealworms and maggots, cheers mick
I can try meal warms its available at the pet stores but other not available
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arthur
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Your accommodation does seem a little small for the population of birds

BUT . . they are nesting and hatching young

If we disregard pests / vermin . . which we probably can, because eggs and newborns are not being lost

Nutrition and / or competition for nutrition, is the obvious root of the problem, and while you think that you are providing a better and adequate diet, the birds seem to be thinking otherwise

I suspect that it might be a lack of livefood . .

What do your successful bird breeding friends feed?

What livefood is available?

It may be as simple as providing enough 'vinegar' flies to get them over the first couple of days after hatching . . or they may need much more than that

A lack of live food or a sudden drop in live food supply will cause most finch species to abandon young

My recommendations would be to reduce your bird numbers, and to increase live food and sprouted seed

And to see how your husbandry methods differ from successful breeders in your part of the world

Best of luck :thumbup:
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Rod_L
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The babies are being abandoned, which is why they have no food in their crops and they are dying from starvation. They don't need live food and I never fed live food to my birds and I had blackhearts breeding all year round. Mine were fed green grass seeds every day.

There are possibly too many birds in that cage for them to breed successfully. If it was a couple of feet longer it would be better. Is there any chance you can extend the length of the cage?

The nests you use are not suitable for Australian finches. Blackhearts/ shaft-tails build a nest that is similar in shape to the bottle neck nest from my previous link. Without a proper nest to cover the adults and babies, the parents will not feel secure and will not be happy breeding and looking after the young.
Blackhearts also sleep in a nest at night so they need appropriate nests.

If you have pet lizards that roam the house, they could well drive the birds off the nest and stress them out. Lizards and snakes naturally prey on birds in nests and will eat eggs, babies and adult birds if they can catch them. Try to keep the reptiles away from the birds and out of sight. Keep them in separate rooms if possible. If the birds can see lizards they will stress out.

I have found most birds will take my egg biscuit mixture much more readily than shop bought egg biscuit mix. Offer a bit each day and they usually take it fairly quickly.
death to all cats & ants
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finchbreeder
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Some things will be different as we are in different countries. But feeding seeding grasses that grow in your yard and are not likely to have been fouled by animals is always good. If in doubt about anything putting pics up will help with people being able to advise. Don't know what nests are available in your country, but if you or someone in your family has good weaving skills you may be able to weave something from grasses and cloth that is tubular. A bit like a short sock in shape. And birds are always happyer with more room rather than less, so while your birds are obviously happy enough to breed they will still be more likely to be happier with a bit more room if it is possible to give them a bit bigger avairy.
Best of luck.
LML
LML
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starman
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[/quote]
Kamran wrote:
Thanks for the such a detailed information, i am not giving the grass seed currently but surly i will start it, they are not very good it eating the egg food, the environment in not to noisy with human but there are several birds there making noise. I don't inspect the nest every day, inspect one a week or so. I am not using the bottle shape nest, i tried 2 types of nest (attached pics) but results are same. The chicks crops always looks empty. There is not chance of owls or rat or any unexpected disturbance in night because the colony is indoor. There is some possibility of lizards, for which i take a lot of care if found any in the birds area
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If I am understanding the relevance of your photos correctly, a kitchen strainer is only suitable for cup nesting birds (canary family) and the clay pot, while having a likeness in shape to some finch nesting receptacles is, in my opinion, totally unsuitable for these birds.
Try to seek out some local breeders who have had success in breeding grass finches and see what nest types they are using.
If this is not possible or practical, try to purchase (or fabricate) a bottle-shaped cane nest as suggested by Rod_L, or gather some local fine brush-type foliage (bound up to resemble a small bush) and supply some dried grasses so that they can make their own nest in the brush.
This will at least eliminate one of your potential problems. There is quite a lot of info on the internet to elaborate on this. Do try to supply some of the suggested foods and supplements.
Good luck in your breeding endeavours.
Sm.
Avid student of Estrildids in aviculture.
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kamran
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Please find the attached picture, this type of ready made nests are available
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starman
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That style of nest should be satisfactory provided that you supply suitable materials for the birds to furnish it to their liking. Try to find some fine dried grasses and cut them into 150mm - 200mm lengths. You can start the process by putting a little grass into the nest basket and then leave the birds to do the detailed work. Save the finer pieces for them to complete the job and if possible supply some sterile light or white chicken breast feathers (or similar) for them to line the nest chamber. You will find that they will want to reduce the size of the opening (in the pictured basket) so provide enough suitable grass for that.
Sm.
Avid student of Estrildids in aviculture.
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Rod_L
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The cane nest you have in the latest pic is more suited to zebra finches than longtail/ shaft tail finches. You can try it but they might not accept it. They prefer the bottle neck nests like in the following link.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2028/ ... 1511204452

If you can't find good nests online or at your local petshop, put some dense branches in the corner and let the birds build their own nest. Any non toxic plant can be used but try to find something with soft leaves and that is quite dense. You can also make up a wire cage (from chicken wire) about 1 foot square and Hang it in the corner, then fill it with hay or dry grass. The finches might burrow their way into the grass and make a nest in that.

If the birds don't get any direct sunlight you should also give them a vitamin supplement to make sure they get enough Vitamin D. :)
death to all cats & ants
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kamran
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Thanks starman n Rod_L
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vettepilot_6
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I breed hecks longtails and don't supply livefood. .but as their name suggests lots of seeding grasses. ..sprouted and soaked seeds when young are in nest...plus greens and normal finch fare...also I do not check nests...and really dont see the point of doing that...what can you change by doing that? other than letting parents know there is a predator looking in nest because they will know if nest has been disturbed. ..good luck 😉
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