My wife and I have two Zebra Finches and the girl started laying eggs August 13th (3 weeks ago) and finished laying her 8th egg Aug 27th. Today is Sept. 2nd. Can anyone tell us when we might expect the babies to start hatching?

Hi, welcome to the group! I don't have any experience with zebra finches, but the internet is indicating that the eggs hatch 12 to 15 days after the parents start sitting. But many parents don't start sitting until most or all of the eggs have been laid. If you happen to know when the parents started sitting, you can expect the eggs to hatch about two weeks from that date.

Carolyn's sources are accurate, and since she laid her 8th on the 27th, then it should be little over a week when they hatch. If they don't hatch by day 20, though, then you should take them out, since that would mean they're infertile.

My mom used to breed zebra finches actually, so if you need any help with them, I could run your questions by her, to get a good answer.

Anyways, welcome to the forum! We accept all birdie lovers, from finches to parrots! Once they hatch, I'd love to see some pictures! Look forward to hearing about your zebra babies!

Welcome! (I am the one who refereed you here
Jessi, what do they feed the chicks?
Also, do they double clutch?

yes, they can double clutch, though it's not recommended to take the eggs out right away, because of calcium deficiency. If one has to remove the clutch of fertile eggs, best way to do it is replace them with fake eggs.

A normal diet for the parents is ok when they're raising chicks. Just have to make sure they have all the nutrients they need, since some of that food is going to the baby, as well. If for any reason though, you have to feed the babies yourself (if the parents got sick or won't care for them), you can find some chick-food at pet stores. You would need a certain kind of syringe with a very narrow tip, since zebra finch babies are SUPER tiny. I'm sure a dropper would work well, if it was small enough.



I would just leave the work to the parents, though. Hand feeding isn't really recommended unless if it's absolutely necessary for the chicks to survive.

Aww me too I would love to see zebra babies I never saw smaller bird babies.

It's cute when they all pile into the wicker nests.

I saw a day-old gouldian finch once. It looked more like a bee than a bird.

I saw one on google the size of a coin

Welcome to LFB! Hope to see you around.