and neglect their duties. Others are so keen to get on with the next breeding round that the lone chick is seen as a nuisance. We have noticed that a single chick often suffers from leg problems – probably because they have no brothers or sisters to push against when raising themselves to be fed. Moving such a chick to another nest is better for its development and permits the hen to get on with producing another clutch of eggs.


parental feeding has got properly underway. We normally inspect during the early evening. Having said that, during a recent early morning walk through the bird room a two day old chick was found on the cage floor apparently dead and as cold as ice. Presumably it had inadvertently been carried from the nest by one of its parents. Once the chick had been warmed it ‘came to life’ and is now developing well.


There is not a great deal one can do


Zebra Finch chicks Once there are chicks in the nest-


box we inspect it every day. One of the main reasons for doing this is to ensure that the chicks have food in their crops. For this reason, we do not usually inspect early in the day, before


24 BIRD SCENE


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


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