How long do birds take to lay eggs after mating?

You might see some eggs within the next week. They will usually lay an egg each day up to about 5-7 eggs. Depending on when the hen begins to incubate them in earnest (usually after the second or third egg is laid) you can expect them to begin hatching after about 15-17 days. You will need to beef up their diet and begin feeding them some soft foods. Hard-boiled eggs (chicken eggs) can be chopped up and served (shell and all); and you can also purchase nestling food at the pet store. Another good food to begin serving is a mixture of COOKED rice and mixed chopped veggies. I usually use one bag of Success rice and one cup of frozen mixed veggies (thawed of course). Once you make the mixutre, since it will take so long to use it all up with the finches, re-freeze it in small batches so you can just microwave a serving at a time. Just be sure not to serve it TOO HOT. You can also use Jiffy muffin mixes and add some chopped veggies - then freeze the muffins too and warm the same way. You ...  more