Well........it didn't work out too well. All 4 chicken eggs hatched out @ days 19 to 20 (a Fri & Sat.) I had to take them to a brooder box because the momma got off the eggs to take care of them. She wasn't off more than a couple hours and it was 104 degrees at the time. One guinea hatched out on day 28 but it was dead by the time I got home from work. It was 105 degrees and I wasn't there to show it where to get water. On day 32 I chunked the other 5 guinea eggs into the pond and put the 4 chicks back in with broody hen. She pecked at them terribly and eventually abandoned them, so now she's back in the coop with all the others and I'm taking care of the chicks in a separate area.

The female House Finches incubate the eggs-maybe she died and the male is trying to fill in? In any case, this introduced species (they're from the West) is tough enough to evict House Sparrows, so House Finches are in no danger and considered pests by many. Still they are pretty and endear themselves to some because they like to nest very close to people.

Tim, glad to hear the eggs hatched, hopefully the rest of the nesting goes smoothly. I use photobucket to upload photos to and post on here. It will resize them for you when you upload them there. Donna

Very odd things happening with my houses this year. I had bluebirds in one house that laid 5 eggs. For the most part I try to stay away so they don't get spooked. In this case the next time I checked there was one fledgling that I saw but he didn't seem ready to fly away yet. But when I checked 2 days later there were no babies or eggs. The nest was empty. This box was protected with the mesh on the opening. I'm hoping time just flew by and the brood hatched and fledged in my absence! Will the parents start a new brood in the same nest or should I clean the box out for them to start over? I had another box that had activity, 5 eggs layed and a week later no eggs or babies. I fear they were killed since it was an old house from last year and it did not have the protective metal mesh at the opening. I have a nest nearby with the mesh protection. I kept checking and there was no activity or eggs. Then suddenly there was one egg!! I assumed the mom would lay more. I checked for 2 days, still only one egg. The third day the egg hatched with a tiny bald with a little fuzz baby bird. I kept watching from a distance and I did not see the male or female going into the house. I skipped looking inside the box today. I wanted to stay totally away. Tomorrow I will check again. I hope the little guy is okay.... Is it unusual for a female to lay only one egg? I'm thinking that perhaps the pair that were in the other box moved to this box when a predator got their other eggs..... Thus only one last egg to lay??? The box with the one egg is about 20 feet from the empty box. Perhaps this is part of that brood? Can the mom or dad move an egg or did she just lay it in a different box?? I have another box about 100 feet from that one protected with the mesh that some sparrows have taken over. They have built a nest and hang out in front of it on the mesh opening and on top of it but no eggs for well over a month. Perhaps they are the culprits that got the 5 bluebird eggs. Very strange that they built a nest and aren't using it. I know they will build several, one as a decoy or to give the female a choice, but I don't see that they've done that unless they are planning to take over the bluebird box. I will be keeping a watch on that....