Pearl and Smudge had 3 more eggs to hatch, for a total of 4 babies. >>shocker!<< One of the babies most likely tried to hatch before it was ready. It was smaller than usual, and was apparently too weak to fully free itself from the shell. I ever-so-gently chipped the rest of the shell away and put it back in the nest, but it didn't make it through the night. (They hadn't even removed it from the nest when I found it just now.) The other 3 are doing fine, though.
Onyx and Blackie also had an egg to hatch overnight. Blackie has been a good dad in the past, but it's been awhile since he's practiced his fathering skills. Onyx abandoned the nest last time, but after a long rest, I decided to let her try again. I just found a tiny hatching in the cage floor. I touched it, figuring it was too late, but to my surprise, it started wiggling! The poor thing was cold as ice, so I warmed it up with my hands, then took out Pearl and Smudge's hatched-too-soon baby, and replaced it with the tossed baby.
Pearl hopped right into the nest, none the wiser. ;-) So far she's proving herself to be a good mom, and although I hate to ask her to foster a "stranger" on her first go-around, I didn't have anywhere else to put the baby. Hopefully it'll work out okay. :-) (The only other option is to put the baby in a brooder and hand-feed it, but it's very, very difficult to feed a newly-hatched finch due to their tiny size. It's waaay too easy to accidently aspirate the poor thing! It's easier after the baby is a few days old, and is considerably larger.)
The bad thing is, the chicks are all too small to band, so it's unlikely I'll be able to tell the youngsters apart. Three of the four parents are black-cheeks, so the youngsters will probably look similar. Oh well. At least I was lucky enough to find the tossed baby in time, and it's alive and being cared for! :-)
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