Zabra Finches - reproduction question

[Tab]

We inherited two Zebra finches. The previous owner took poor sanitary care of them, and although we of course replaced the cage and got them to the vet and got everything cleaned up, ultimately the male died, of a tumor (they were both around 6 or 8 years old - not sure). We replaced the male with a young male, the two went on for a few more years, and then the female (hen) passed away. Of course, to perpetuate the cycle, we replaced the female. Now we have two relatively young zebra finches, and they've started laying eggs.

They have access to three nests - one enclosed that we can't see into, and two half-nests. One of the half-nests has an egg in it. I have no idea what's in the full nest (and I'm not going to screw potential things up by looking). There are, though, other eggs scattered around - one was in the water dish, and there have been one intact, and more than a few broken ones on the floor of the cage. Is this typical? It's a wired cage so generally they fall through to the bottom.

[northernlights]

1. zebra finches are prolific breeders

So yes, this is pretty normal. I had a pair of them for about 14 years -- they outlived many of their babies. My male got a tumor, but it was successfully removed and he lived quite a bit longer.