zebra finch feeds 1 chick and rejects the rest every clutch!

[Howldaloom]

I have a crested zebra finch hen. She was first paired with a orange breasted black breasted cock bird. She fed just one chick out the whole clutch and let the rest die.

So i changed her to a different cock bird. a black faced black breasted cock bird and she has done the same again!

she is about a year old. Any ideas why she does this

[GregH]

I can't give a definitive answer but I have a theory that finches imprint with the food that they were fed themselves as a chick making it difficult to change them over when they are old enough to breed. That said Zebras are one of the least, if not the least, fussy of the finches when it comes to breeding and can be raised on dry seed and a little green leafy veg alone but if she was spoiled with lots of soft-foods or even live food as a chick she might be not feeding the chick and the cock birds either aren't being given the opportunity to feed the chicks more or were themselves raised in a similar manner. While this appears a tragedy it is usually a passing phase and they will adapt to your diet but it may take a few more nest losses. Hopefully others may have a better solution that just persisting until she gets over it.