FEATURE
just dampened with a little water, and so there is not much risk that it will go sour. If there were such a risk the daily supply of soft food would be fed in two stages. We used to feed bread and milk as soft food, but cages, nest-boxes and the birds themselves became very messy. Although bread and milk is a good rearing food, it is not as good as many of the scientifically developed proprietary egg foods that are currently available. Occasionally, a chick starts to chip its way out of the shell but then ceases to make progress. In such instances, we keep a close eye on the situation and if we believe there is a risk that the chick will die unless given some assistance, we chip the shell very gently until the crack is just more than half way round – just to the point where one half of the shell will hinge from the other. After that, nature is left to take its course. Under no circumstances should the chick be ‘helped’ from the shell. If it is to survive it needs to escape without further assistance.
WHEN THERE ARE ZEBRA FINCH CHICKS IN THE NEST It is not easy to predict exactly when a particular zebra finch egg will hatch – even though the accepted incubation period is 14 days. Occasionally an egg will hatch 13 days after it was first seen but it is when a hen
begins incubating that is the main determining factor.
Some hens begin sitting as soon as they lay the first egg. Then you can expect chicks to hatch on consecutive days. Other hens delay the start of incubation until they have laid several eggs and then three, four or five chicks can appear on the same days. When six eggs hatch over a period of six days, the last chick to hatch is inevitably much smaller than the first. This brings the risk of the youngest being squashed or neglected and so we try to find a foster nest that contains chicks closer to its own size. When choosing a foster nest, it is best to select one in which the parents own chicks will be of a different colour or variety. This makes it easier to maintain accurate records. At one time we experimented with removing eggs as they were laid and returning them when there was a full clutch – much as many canary breeders do. Eventually we decided that the extra work this involved and the risk of damaging eggs when handling them outweighed any advantages. We also resort to fostering when there
is only one chick in the nest. You might expect a single chick to be well fed because it receives all of the hens attention – but this is rarely the case. Some under occupied hens get bored
BIRD SCENE 23
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