Update on my babies

[NebrBeachGirl84]

Well, I checked on my babies the 3rd. We had 3 babies and 3 unhatched eggs. We had 3 adults, 1 male, 2 females. When we arrived home from being out of town, the 2 females were going crazy, fighting. I thought nothing of it until I checked on the babies. All were dead. I finally put 2 and 2 together and figured that the one female had killed the babies. I separated her from the male and the mother female and cleaned the nest out. The other 3 eggs were unfertile. I am keeping her separated until we have a successful clutch. I am beginning to wonder if the 3 unfertile eggs were hers and the 3 babies were the other females and the "killer" killed the babies because she wanted the nest for her eggs. Does this sound right for zebras???

[poohbear]

You're putting human type emotions into the minds of your birds...The chicks could have died for many reasons.Adults will sometimes stop feeding for no apparent reason...however...keeping two hens together and only one cock is asking for trouble during breeding.The fighting would be over the cock bird not the chicks.
You have no idea which hen laid which eggs.If you seriously want to raise chicks just keep one pair per cage...at the best of times Zebras can be little pests for interfering in the nests of others.
Paul.

[macawlover]

I'm with poohbear, in that the babies could've died from many reasons. Sometimes my zebra parents will shove babies out of the nest, sometimes they ignore them (though only rarely). I have several pairs together in huge aviaries, and I think the space is what allows them to get along so well. Just make sure you have one nestbox for each pair, plus a couple extra.