i have two male zebra finches, about two days ago i found an egg in the nest. now male finches have orange cheeks and females don't, both of my finches have orange cheeks. how come they had an egg and they're males.
2007-08-01 15:27:41 · 6 answers · asked by ? 3 in Pets ➔ Birds
they both have red beaks
2007-08-01 15:56:08 · update #1
Obviously someone made a mistake when they sexed the finches or you've got some color mutations from the average finch appearance.. I've yet to hear of a male laying an egg. Female birds, however, can go on an egg laying binge if their hormones are in overdrive during breeding season. Therefore, you might have either 2 female zebra finches, or one of each sex.
Wait about a week or so after the egg has been laid. GENTLY take it out and hold it up to a flashlight and see if you can find a large, black object in the egg. If that's the case you've got a fertile egg. If the egg shows no sign of anything growing in it you've more than likely got an infertile egg.
In any case, don't throw any eggs out until about 20 days after they're laid. Otherwise, you stand to encourage the finches to lay more eggs as they're convinced this is breeding season. Don't allow the birds to eat the eggs if they fail to hatch as they can carry some nasty things like salmonella which will hurt your finches.
I've included a link for you to check out that has pictures of the different sexes of zebra finches. This page has a lot of good information on finch breeding.
2007-08-01 16:05:50 · answer #1 · answered by valgerdgydhja 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nope, the cheek color has nothing to do with it. Males will have a red beak and females have an orange beak. You either have male and female (and possibly baby) or two females.
2007-08-01 22:40:28 · answer #2 · answered by Cliffieduckie 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Does one have an orange beak and the other a red beak? Females have orange beaks I believe. Maybe they are a different color mutation, because if you have eggs, one is definitely a female!
2007-08-01 22:36:26 · answer #3 · answered by KimbeeJ 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Female birds lay eggs even if the eggs aren't fertilized! That's how we have chicken eggs in our fridges all the time. It's sort of like a menstrual cycle they go through, even if their eggs don't get fertilized they still have to get them out of their bodies. So... at least one of your birds must be female. Or a hermaphordite? They didn't necessarily mate though... If they look exactly the same they quite possibly might both be female.
2007-08-01 22:36:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, you obviously have a female. One probably just looks similar to a male.
The way to tell is blow on their bum (they don't like it but its a good way to tell) and if it's bare all the way around, it's a girl, if it's got long feathers all the way around, it's a boy
2007-08-02 13:15:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, as you know, males can not lay eggs unless they are and earthworm. so, chances are they are both female or one is male and another is female.
2007-08-01 22:57:16 · answer #6 · answered by Mark S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋