There is not a great deal one can do about a hen that is feeding badly – except to foster her chicks. However, do not be too hasty to discard such a hen from the breeding team as she may well feed properly at the next attempt. Very fit zebra finches are often over anxious to get on with producing the next round of chicks and are not as attentive as they might be to their nesting duties. Another thing to look out for when


making inspections is a dirty nest. These can be caused by the soft food that is being offered. Sometimes too much egg food is the problem and cutting back the supply can do the trick. In our experience, a particular brand of egg food has caused dirty boxes in one bird room but not in another. Once you find a brand that suits your birds, stick with it. Dirty nests should be cleaned out or the nest- box can be replaced. At around seven days it is time to start


checking whether a chick’s legs are large enough to be ringed with an official Zebra


22 BIRD SCENE


Finch Society closed coded ring – without the ring falling off again. It is impossible to be precise about a ringing age as even chicks of the same variety in the same nest can differ. Some varieties tend to be ready for ringing earlier than others. For example, as a general rule we would expect to ring Normals and Fawns at a younger age than Penguins or the non- standard varieties. Once chicks have been rung we stop the


daily nest-box inspections. This is because the disturbance can cause chicks to leave the nest-box prematurely, before they are capable of finding their own way back. This is when having chicks of different ages in the same nest-box can cause problems. The older ones leave the box and return at will whereas the younger ones follow them and finish up spending the night on the cage floor if not detected. Ideally, zebra finch chicks should leave


the nest when they are fully feathered but, once again, parents keen to get on


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