Aussie Finch Forum

Hi everyone!
I just found this site online as i need help i think. I have Zebra Finches. Yesterday i noticed one of my females with all her feathers missing
under her belly and through her bottom. I went to the local pet store and the woman gave me mite spray for my finch. I went home and took
the female out of the avery and put her into a smaller cage, i sprayed her with the mite spray and i also sprayed the other birds and nests too.
The finch i put in the cage died a few hours ago. But i think i have another problem! When i went out to feed my other finches this morning
i heard lots of strange chirping coming from the avery, i thought omg is there babies? I grabbed a mirror and looked in the first nest, there were
about 6 eggs. Looked in the second nest, couldnt make anything out, so i grabbed the nest and looked in it, 4 babies inside! Now i dont really know
much about baby birds but there looks to be something wrong with them It looks like something is growing in their necks??? I have photos i hope i can attach them here! I need help please, is there something wrong with my baby finches??!
http://imgur.com/a/y4B1Z

Ok so in my haste i didnt google about the things growing in my babies necks. I have now read that they are in fact
food sacks!! Thank god they are ok, i was beside myself. They look hideous with those food sacks in their neck.
My next problem is i dont know for sure if the adult female that died today was the babies mother. I have watched
the avery closely today and a male has been in there on the babies, also the one female left has also been in the nest
with the babies. So am i safe to say they are the parents of the babies?
The other nest has 6 eggs in it, the other male keeps sitting on the perch near it as if his waiting for something, could
that nest and eggs belong to the dead female? If so what do i do about it?
Thank you in advance.
From one very confused finch owner

They have seed in their necks.. probably a good thing

Hi & welcome
Zebs & manikins are the best finches to start with.

Hi and welcome to the forum would say your spot on with that assumption. Hen that died would have been the one with eggs.

escapin wrote:They have seed in their necks.. probably a good thing

It looks gross lol But thank you and yes, it seems as though thats what it is

BlackCobra wrote:Hi & welcome
Zebs & manikins are the best finches to start with.

Thats great, i have had birds many years ago but this is the first time ive had babies!

roma9009 wrote:Hi and welcome to the forum would say your spot on with that assumption. Hen that died would have been the one with eggs.

Hi, thank you. Oh good, when i found the babies i was so worried they belonged to the dead finch. What should i do with the eggs in the other nest that must belong to the dead finch?

If you now have 1 hen and 2 cocks only in adult birds. You can either toss the eggs, or look at the eggs carefully and put any that look good in with the babies. They may or may not hatch and if they do they may or may not survive. Depends on a number of factors. If the babies are tiny and the eggs hatch fairly quickly the odds of survival are greatest. If the babies are biggish the eggs could get broken, or if they hatch get trampled, or just get out begged for food. Your call. Good luck either way. And yes that crop full of food is visually ugly, but it is the best thing to see cause it means mum and dad are doing a good job.
LML

finchbreeder wrote:If you now have 1 hen and 2 cocks only in adult birds. You can either toss the eggs, or look at the eggs carefully and put any that look good in with the babies. They may or may not hatch and if they do they may or may not survive. Depends on a number of factors. If the babies are tiny and the eggs hatch fairly quickly the odds of survival are greatest. If the babies are biggish the eggs could get broken, or if they hatch get trampled, or just get out begged for food. Your call. Good luck either way. And yes that crop full of food is visually ugly, but it is the best thing to see cause it means mum and dad are doing a good job.
LML

Hi, thank you very much! I decided to toss the eggs away, i went out with a torch and the father finch was sitting on the roof of the nest so the eggs were stone cold, what ever was inside the eggs would have been dead sadly. But thanks for the ideas. The chicks are also not so small, im guessing they are over a week old already. Eyes open and feathers growing, and looking at the eggs i tossed away the chicks are big compared. The crop is most certainly ugly, the thought of it makes me want to puke. Hopefully they grow fast and i have little babies to watch! Its very exciting