Aussie Finch Forum

Hi there,

I have had my pair of zebs for about a month. They have managed to hatch 5 chicks that are now about 10 days old. All has been going well so far.

this morning I noticed that one of the chicks has died.

What do I do? Will the parents remove the dead chick themselves or is that something that I need to do? They are using one of those little cane nesting boxes...not sure if I can remove the dead chick without disturbing the others.

Would love some advice!

Thanks!

Marieka

my advice would be to remove the dead chick yourself before it starts to really stink.
Zebras don't usually mind nest inspection, and fingers inside so shouldn't be too much of a problem.
It's very unlikely that the parents would remove it themselves.
Its always a shame when chicks die, very sorry for you

welcome to the forum by the way

Thanks Jaybird

I just discovered that the parents have removed the dead chick.....actually there were 2 so it's actually chicks . Not sure what went wrong - maybe they were a bit cramped for space. Anyway hopefully the remaining 3 will be alright now.

Thank you for your help and the warm welcome!

oh ok didn't think they would do that.
that's OK and I hope you find everything you need here

Hi Marieka,
My Zeb's have had 3 clutches now , I noticed that the hen would throw out any dead ones , Ive only lost 2 babies , which were only about a day old .
All the other 11 offspring survived no worries, Hopefully you will have no problem's with the other 3 babies !!
Also welcome to the AFF.
Cheer's Freddy

Welcome to the forum. Some birds will remove dead chicks, some won;t seems to be pot luck. I tend to remove them myself just in case.
LML