Its Complicated (or maybe not!)

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finchyfinch

Hi there I have a little aviary with a different breed in all my finchies , most have been hatched this year, (but bought from a shop) one of our Zebra's (female) came to us injured last year with a broken leg thus starting our little family , the most recent (as of 2 days ago) was another Zebra female to keep her company in her haren of men ! ;) yesterday we discovered an egg in the little basket we have in there for them to enjoy , I thought it was my partner playing a trick on me but yes its a tiny egg no bigger than a jelly bean ! our first female Zebra whom we have had for around 8 months now has never layed an egg , my partner has assured me that all others that have been introduced have all been males sept this new Zebra which we have been assured is a girl ... last night though the manikin was in the basket with the egg .... now first question is , can another breed look after the egg of a zebra ?? and secondly is it possible a male may be a female and we were mis-informed of the sex ? and is it possible to have been fertalized by any of the males ??

this is our clan

Gouldian - male
Goldfinch - male
red faced parrot - male
Sea green - Male
Orange breasted - male (tiny and so cute!!)
Cordon Bleau - male
Ruddy - Male
Painted - male
Star - male
Manikin - male
Blue face - male
2 zebra - hens

thanks so much :)
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vettepilot_6
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Are you sure one of Parrot Finches is not a hen? Mannikin maybe hen also? or hen zebs could of laid it...Manikins will sleep in anothers nest if not enough sites to go around...and it is possible for something to cross with a Zeb....
The Bitterness of Poor Quality Remains Long after the Sweetness of Cut Price is Forgotten
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Jayburd
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Welcome to the forum :)
Zebras are quite obvious in the sexual differences, males have chestnut flank patches and bright orange cheek patches in the wild type. The cheeks and flanks are present in most mutations as well.
If the eggs are fertile, the only father I can see from your collection is the bengalese (manikin).
Out of curiosity how do you know the Bengo is a male?
Julian

Birdwatcher and finch-keeper.

Feel free to check out my photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewinsrail/
And my birding antics here: http://worthtwointhebushbirding.blogspot.com.au/
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finches247
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Hi & Welcome To The Forum :wave:

Some hens will lay without cocks present just means there ready to breed
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finchbreeder
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As said above. A hen in breeding condition will sometimes lay without a mate. And Bengo/mannikens are very hard to sex accept by their dance. So many a person has mis sexed them. If this egg is fertile, Bengos are well known for their willingness to cross breed with almost anything with feathers and a similar size. Latest batch of Bengos in my main avairy have fledged as 2 visually normal Bengos and two Bengo/Java crosses. And this from two pairs who have been previously breeding with their own mates with no interest in other birds. Yes the Bengos are going back into the holding avairy. Bother, 2 to keep in the holding avairy for the rest of their lives. Hope they are males, as I love the Java song.
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finchyfinch

Hi everyone ,

thanks so much for your replies , in the mean time I did a little bit of research on the net , as I was just taking the word of the pet shop as to what sex they were , I have now discoverd our injured "reb" is a boy ! and Ally the new albino zebra seems to also be a boy too :/ the markings on Reb are exactly male as in the little cheeks and the black bar across the chest , however with Ally being the albino the only thing I could see to be a male characteristic is their beaks are the deep red/orangy beak as aposed to the lighter orange , however my partner said Reb actually mounted ally (albino) twice as soon as he put shim in there (i say shim cause now I am really confused about the sex!) :/

Also , like you mentioned Finchbreeder , when reading on the manikin (bengs) it says they are hard to determine because they are identical , Manni as we have named Shim doesnt do the song and dance like the internet says , its a quiet little thing and always sits low while Reb and Ally groom shim ... they seemed to have taken to eachother immediately.

The egg was thrown out yesterday by one of them and had a tiny little yolk and the clear jelly stuff like a chooks egg, so not fertalised.

I have to say I was totally oblivious / ignorant to the finch world until little reb came to us last year ... but what a FASCINATING little creature they are !! every day after work I sit at their cage and say "I am just going to watch my favourite TV show for 10 mins" they are adorable ! :)
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