I wrote an article in detail here about the sitting/hatching/fledging/breeding cycle. Today I made up this handy little chart for you to download and keep – because who can remember from one year to the next? How long for Gouldian eggs to hatch? About 18 days. If the hen begins sitting on egg #3, and incubation time…
As you know if you read our Product Recommendation Posts, my favorite brand of finch cage is Prevue Hendryx. I have them in black and white, large and small. Birds need a safe, sturdy cage that won’t rust in a year or less – I think all cages rust eventually but these have held up…
I generally recommend products like Guardian Angel or Thrive when birds are ill. I feel like those give them strength to fight through the illness – often that plus heat will get them through a rough patch. If you don’t have access to one of these, the next in line is pedialyte. That’s something parents are familiar with – it’s…
I often get asked questions about sick birds, and I always suggest getting a professional diagnosis and prescription from the veterinarian. But then the person in question wants to do “more.” It is very hard to wait the 48 hours or so that it takes to start seeing improvement. I get that. There are a…
Often people take their bird to the vet and get a prescribed treatment, but the poor bird is suffering: Tail bobbing, struggling to breathe, maybe even making sounds when he breathes. Or he sits quietly on the perch fluffed up and hunched over, not moving. “What can I do to help my sick bird”? They’re…
You’ve probably noticed by now that most bird supplements suggest adding them to water. You may think that’s a great way to do it, since surely they drink water every day, right? I used to think that way too. But later on I saw problems with this method. For one thing, by observing your birds…
This question comes up a lot, and it’s very valid. Supplements, like all good things can be overdone so it’s important to be aware of how much your bird is already getting versus how much (more) you want to give him. Let’s take calcium as an example. All pet birds need calcium all year around…
In the human diet world, we see “carbohydrate” as a bad word. We think carbs are responsible for excess fat, and we want to eliminate them altogether. In the finch/pet bird world, carbohydrates are useful. They’re where our birds get the energy to fly. Their bodies convert carbs into simple sugars. Some carbs are not…
If you’ve read the paperback version of Feeding Finches, you’d probably appreciate “real” links to the items mentioned in the book. Here they are! Foods Grains and Seeds – Suppliers Good for Sprouting Nuts and Legumes Sites of Interest **If you find an outdated link, I’d be happy to know about it. Use the contact…
Many people awaken one day to find a dead finch at the bottom of the cage, and they wonder what in the world happened to their bird. I believe that birds should be physically examined every so often, in order to make sure that they are healthy. A good time to do this is while…