I work at a petstore and our finches hatched some chicks the week of july 4th. I'm not sure exactly what day they hatched though. In any case, I will be bringing them home soon because we can't sell them at the store. I have never really taken care of baby finches (or any young bird in that case) and I was trying to figure out how long I should wait until I could bring them home. In the past couple weeks the parents have been taking very good care of them. There are two babies and one is developing faster than the other. The one baby is fully feathered at this point and on sat 7-26 was the first day I saw him (her?) out of the nest. The other baby was still in the nest on sat and mostly feathered, mom and dad seemed to be trying to nudge him/ her out of the nest as well.

 

Once again my first question is: how long until I can take the babies home?

Also, How can I tell male and female apart? Do they moult out and get their adult feathers later or will they stay the colors they are?

If there ends up being one male and one female should they be caged separately or will they be okay together as long as there is no nest in the cage?

Any other suggestions or advice, Thanks!

After they leave the nest it will only take a week or two before they are independent & can feed themselves. Zebras have Black beaks when young which will turn Red when they mature, the Cock birds will get coloured cheek patches & spots down their side under the wing area. The hens will just get Red beaks. They are best kept together as they are very social birds, but stopping them from breeding if a pair will not be easy. They like a nest even to sleep in & keep them warm at nights, so it would be hard as I say.