# My Zebra Finches Keep Tossing Their Babies



## KennethGriffin (Mar 10, 2014)

I have had this pair of Adult Zebras for a little over 6 months now. After about a month together, they finally started laying. The first two clutches were infertile but on the third clutch they finally got it right. Two of the 4 eggs hatched but after about 3 days I found one of the babies on the floor of the enclosure (still alive) so I placed it back in the nest with its sibling. The next day it was out of the nest again but this time it was no longer alive. The other baby was raised successfully and I still have her. I kept her in the same cage for a while but after the next two clutches only hatched 1 baby and both times the baby was abandoned, I put the now fully grown baby in another cage to keep the pair alone. After that they laid a clutch of 6 and began sitting. 4 days ago, 4 of the 6 eggs hatched and I was so excited to finally have a decent sized clutch to grow my flock of finches... but last night I noticed one of the babies was on the floor of the enclosure by the water dish and another was in the water dish, drown. The other 2 babies are still in the nest and growing stronger and look very healthy... Im not sure what to do. Is there something Im not doing? I just don't understand why some of the babies are surviving while most are being tossed out. Please help, I can't handle seeing anymore babies die.


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## GeoffLondon (Feb 17, 2010)

Hey Kenneth,

There are several possible reasons for this. Firstly, you may just have a bad pairing. Sometimes it happens; a cock and hen just can't seem to get it right. I'm also a firm believer in that fact that animals can '_sense_' something's not quite right with their offspring and conduct a form of infanticide by chucking the the chicks they deem bad, out of the nest. Again, it might be the pairing.

I've also had chicks falling out because the nest wasn't deep enough. Sometimes the pairs are so over-zealous with nesting material there's really not a deep nest, just a scrape. It's far easier for chicks to accidently get pushed out that way. When this has happened to me, I've tipped the chicks out into my hand, carefully removed some of the nest material and put the chicks back in. You can't do this with most species as they won't take nest fiddling lightly, but zebs don't seem to care.

Did you buy the pair together from a pet shop? Sometimes you can end up with brother and sister pairs because a shop was sold a batch of chicks together and they're from the same aviary and same clutch.

It if continues, I'd consider buying another pair and splitting the one you currently have. Alternatively, buy a new cock bird for your baby hen and let this couple raise chicks instead.


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## kodakkuki (Aug 8, 2011)

i agree (though granted have no practical knowledge and experience) that it could well be the pairing. you say you have 50 in total? why not try different pairings? 
are they far away from the main aviary? that may make a difference..


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## Phoenix24 (Apr 6, 2013)

I had this problem with my pair of zebras. They eventually raised a single chick, but all subsequent clutches failed. Partly the male kept obsessively building and rebuilding the nest - inevitable disturbing it so much the female gave up.

Some pairs of zebras just don't make the grade as parents. It would be wise to separate them and find them new partners, or else just don't breed from them.


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