Aussie Finch Forum

I was cleaning my cabinet and my male zeb flew out.
I noticed that the female had 2 eggs in nest.
What do i do now the male is gone????
Do i put another male in there????
Will the hen lay the rest of her eggs????
Will the hen look after the eggs and raise the babies on her own???

Can not believe this happened

Harv

Sorry for the loss Harvey don't worry Though I've had this happen pleanty of times to me before, most of the time the left over bird with the eggs abandons them because of the stress of losing a partner or the fact that it will be too much stress on the one bird to raise a clutch.
I'd pull the eggs out for that reason and give her a rest and introduce a male later on.

Never a good feeling head high mate, learn from it and you will be fine..one of those things you just gotta remember your not the only one its ever happened to. Dont get upset and concentrate on breeding some more to replace him

Good luck harvey. And dont worry you will no to be more careful next time. And yes most people have done it aswell

Chat to deb about wearing a big dress when you catch them

Ben

Don't fret too much Harvey, if the cock can hear his mate and the other birds he may not stray too far. Give it a day or two. You never know your luck. Have a net nearby or set up a catching cage of some kind with seed and water in it. I would suggest that nearly all members have lost birds like this in the past, me included so don't be too hard on yourself.

Yes we did not have the divider in all the way and he got out.
The cabinet he was in has 3 fledgings in it as well but they are ready to move now.
What are the chances of the hen looking after the eggs and babies or do we just do what finchman said and remove the eggs.

Another learning curve

Brett
Dad

Don't worry mate,
It's happend to me before once I bought a hen zebra finch for my male and that same day she flew out of the aviary don't worry its part of keeping finches and it happens to every one.

Thanks Nathan

Thats no good mate . But it has happened to us all .

I dont know what the girl is going to do or if the male will come back ...hopefully he will .

Now what ? Now you have to have a little think about how it happened and try to improve things to make sure it doesn't happen again .

Bird netting can be useful but I dont know how with cabinets ...

Oh Ben @ the dress

Sorry for your loss! Naww, that happens to me all the time! Just remove the eggs, maybe you can get someone else to foster them? That happened to me, there were 3 little, week old chicks in the nest, and the mother decided to fly off. But luckily the father raised them all successfully But don't worry about it, it happens to EVERYONE! I usually stick a towel through the bars so the finches fly into the towel instead

Would it help if i put another male zebra in there at the moment to help the hen with the eggs

Harv

No that would make it worse, you run the chance of him breaking the eggs and possibly stressing the hen out even more, I think?