Hi guys.

I pulled a sick hen from breeding this morning when she was found on the ground fluffed up. She is quite skinny, and so I immediatley crop fed her hand-rearing mizture, lucky it was mixed up for some other birds already. I did it striaght away because I REFUSED to loose her. I once found 2 budgies with no food in breeding cabinet, the hen dead already and the cock bird hanging on by a thread. I froze, and I didn't get to him in time to crop feed him.

 

But anyway. The hen had a pooey vent, and she wasn't flying. She would give me a hard bite ( ) though. After crop feeding I clipped her vent of pooey feathers, but looking back now I think it may have been because she was sitting on the ground. She was then put in the hospital cage with a warm lamp and heat bag under her. And food. She has improved since this morning, but I had to feed her again tonight. She was picking at the food, not much though.

 

She has 3 chicks, and I am wondering if maybe she has been giving food to them and not keeping for herself? The cock bird is feeding them now.

 

okay, so for a re-cap.

- Not flying, eating, perching this morning.

- Pooey vent and skinny.

- Crop fed twice

- Has heat helping her

- Has become more active, and is perching tonight

- Is squaking/carrying on tonight but not this morning

- has picked at a bit of food

- has no discharge/visible sickness other then a bit fluffed.

 

I can't get to a vet until Monday. What do you guys think?

I think you did what you thought was right................. and in this case i agree with the decisions you have made.

 

Your hen was probably wearing herself out feeding her young. She might have been exhausted, and you have taken her from where she was, and set her up in a situation that would see her get back to full health. Is this her first round? What type of condition was she in when she went down to breed?

 

How old are her young? Are they old enough for the cock bird to continue raring them or do they need to be fostered?

I think you did what you thought was right................. and in this case i agree with the decisions you have made.

 

Your hen was probably wearing herself out feeding her young. She might have been exhausted, and you have taken her from where she was, and set her up in a situation that would see her get back to full health. Is this her first round? What type of condition was she in when she went down to breed?

 

How old are her young? Are they old enough for the cock bird to continue raring them or do they need to be fostered?

 

I agree with Dave

I think you did what you thought was right................. and in this case i agree with the decisions you have made.

 

Your hen was probably wearing herself out feeding her young. She might have been exhausted, and you have taken her from where she was, and set her up in a situation that would see her get back to full health. Is this her first round? Not Sure... I think What type of condition was she in when she went down to breed? She was in breeding condition ( nutmeg/milk chocolate coloured cere) but it has gone very light and scabby.

 

How old are her young? Are they old enough for the cock bird to continue raring them or do they need to be fostered? Her young are all almost feathered, and they have been being fed by the cock bird

 

Thanks Kaz and Dave.

 

Last night her head was going quite floppy and she was shutting her eyes when I crop fed her.

She hopped back on the perch and was screaming when I rattled my fingers on the wire, but she was quite sleepy looking.

 

EDIT: The hen was found dead (on her back) in the hospital cage this morning

Edited October 2, 201014 yr by Squeak_Crumble

Sorry to read of your loss. You did all you could.

 

On a small point, when I askd her condition I did not mean breeding condition or cere colour. just because a hen's cere appears right for breeding it does not mean she is in breeding condition. Was she thin? I always like my breeding hens to be a little overweight. They are going through a tremendous strain on thier body, so even if they are ideal show weight, or even a little under, this may make breeding a strain on their body.

Sorry to read of your loss. You did all you could.On a small point, when I askd her condition I did not mean breeding condition or cere colour. just because a hen's cere appears right for breeding it does not mean she is in breeding condition. Was she thin? I always like my breeding hens to be a little overweight. They are going through a tremendous strain on thier body, so even if they are ideal show weight, or even a little under, this may make breeding a strain on their body.

I weighed all my birds before breeding. She weight 31g. Her partner weighed 33g. They are only pet-type birds though. They were my only pet type pair I cabinet bred, because of not enough space in my colony bred aviary.

Edited October 2, 201014 yr by KAZ

Weight is one thing, feeling the bodyweight and plumpness or otherwise of a bird is another. Feel them more than rely on weighing.

I thought i would have noticed if she felt skinny or overwight. I normally just feel the kneel bone, isn't it a normal weight if you can feel it, but it isnt sticking out?

I am sure I would have noticed if she felt skinny, but I didn't take any notes down or anything.

Keel bone not kneel bone

Keel bone not kneel bone

 

haha, I was thinking how do i spell it, oops.

This hen sounds almost just like Finnie. I thought Finnie was going to die if I left her in the breeding cage, so she went into the hospital cage, where she is recovering fine, now.

 

I'm sorry your hen didn't make it.

 

It's a good thing there was a cock in the breeding cage, to take care of the chicks. It took my cock almost 48 hours to take over the feeding, but now he is doing great. I hope your chicks are all fine.

 

The whole thing has taught me that a hen can look perfectly fine, but may not actually be in top condition for the wear and tear that raising chicks causes. I like Dave's idea of having them be a little overweight before they start.

 

Good luck with the rest.

This hen sounds almost just like Finnie. I thought Finnie was going to die if I left her in the breeding cage, so she went into the hospital cage, where she is recovering fine, now.

 

I'm sorry your hen didn't make it.

 

It's a good thing there was a cock in the breeding cage, to take care of the chicks. It took my cock almost 48 hours to take over the feeding, but now he is doing great. I hope your chicks are all fine.

 

The whole thing has taught me that a hen can look perfectly fine, but may not actually be in top condition for the wear and tear that raising chicks causes. I like Dave's idea of having them be a little overweight before they start.

 

Good luck with the rest.

 

I moved them to a different styled cage this afternoon, one I normally use for when the dad is finsihing raised fledgling chicks. The cock bird took a little bit to realise where the chick were, but am fairly sure they are being fed now, even if I do need to top them up. I suppose I wouldn't have known the hen was skinny, because visually she didn't look any different. I think I will apply Dave's idea also

So sorry to hear about your hen , I hope the chicks are doing okay.

 

How can you fatten them up then? I weigh all mine every week to keep a record of their weight and to do a general 'feel' check, but no matter what they are fed, they each appear to have their optimal weight and feel.

If they NEED fattening up, sunflower or bandicoot oats can be good. But sunflower has a lot of fat and bandicoot oats is high energy so you need to be careful. I have fat birds in big aviaries just from feeding them normal feed and veggies. I want to know how to slim them down! Not really, but some of my birds are a bit fat and they have plenty of flying space and normal feed.

 

Sorry to hear of your loss Squeak

It always sucks.

If they NEED fattening up, sunflower or bandicoot oats can be good. But sunflower has a lot of fat and bandicoot oats is high energy so you need to be careful. I have fat birds in big aviaries just from feeding them normal feed and veggies. I want to know how to slim them down! Not really, but some of my birds are a bit fat and they have plenty of flying space and normal feed.

 

Sorry to hear of your loss Squeak

It always sucks.

 

I feel horrible for you. This hen came from you, I wish I had payed closer attention. Many "What If" 's went through my head after

 

I guess the key to weight loss isn't easier! Maybe we should sign our budgies up for "Weight Watchers"

Smudges starred in some of my very first posts I believe

I can guess she was four or so years old and being pet type, she should have handled breeding again physically, specially as she had last year off, but who knows really.

 

I know you did all you could and she couldnt have had a better home

So sorry for your lost, it happens to us all. Last Friday week I got up early fed the birds and did my usuall check, I notice a hen off her eggs but I was rushing so I didn't think to feel them to see if they were still warm, and I should of relised as this hen sits on her eggs and bearly moves but I just figured she was out for a feed and all was good so I rushed off to work and when i came home I wet out to do my checks again and found her on the floor looking pretty crappy, I picked her up and to have a look, No pooy bum, NOT egg bound just gravely ill and no answer to why anyway she died about 5 minutes after I found her.

This hen was perfectly fine the day before. I think these things just happen. She could of starved herself but she had a cock in there with her so who knows.

The only thing that really annoyed me is that I fostered an egg from my iffy hen and my white df spangle son of my white boy and Kaz's white boy is the uncle any way the eggs were ice cold so I put them under another hen but they didn't hatch.

Birds mask their illness well, so by he time we see they are not well, it is often too late. Masking illness is a survival instinct. If you are in a flock of birds in the wild, you are prey for some other animal. If you appear ill or injured, then you are targeted, thus why birds have learnt to mask their illness.

 

We will never ever fully understand everything about why we lose some birds. We will never understand in some cases what we could have doen differently. Even good show breeders can lose a bird unexpectantly. We simply do all we can to provide them with the best food and conditions we can, and we go from there.

Birds mask their illness well, so by he time we see they are not well, it is often too late. Masking illness is a survival instinct. If you are in a flock of birds in the wild, you are prey for some other animal. If you appear ill or injured, then you are targeted, thus why birds have learnt to mask their illness.

 

We will never ever fully understand everything about why we lose some birds. We will never understand in some cases what we could have doen differently. Even good show breeders can lose a bird unexpectantly. We simply do all we can to provide them with the best food and conditions we can, and we go from there.

 

Nicely said Dave

Thanks Sunnie, my birds don't like sunflower seeds but love hulled oats (but don't get these too often). I think they are just so active that they won't get fat no matter what I do!

 

Excellent points Dave, this can make bird keeping very frustrating but we can only do our best. Learning to hone in on their behaviour and looking for subtle differences might help, but this can also make you a bit paranoid too!

 

A perfect example of this happened to me last week. After losing Rosie, I was watching the others very carefully. They were due to be wormed so I gave them some millet sprays as a treat and to make them thirsty so they'd drink the medicated water. Well they were so happy in the morning with the millet, but when I came home that afternoon they were so quiet and didn't want to go near me, which was completely out of character. Needless to say I started worrying that they were sick, or that they'd reacted to the medicated water. I didn't sleep well that night . Anyway the next morning when they got fresh normal water, they were so happy again... the little buggers were just punishing me...

Thankyou for the great advice everyone. I am feeling quite better, still a bit bummed but better.

 

One lot of good news I have is....

While these birds are "Pet Types" , the cock bird that mated with this hen is actually from show stock. In the nest of three the cock is looking after, there is a violet chick! And not only is it a violet, but it is split rec. pied! I would have considered using him in my recessive pied AND Violet line ( I do violets,rec.pieds and TCBS) Which is great, but a huge bonus is he is turning out HUGE! I was expecting him to just be a bigger pet-type, but he is looking bigger then some of my show type babies

Looking at him I am begginning to think he is a mop.

By the way, my hands aren't small at all. He really is quite big Are his wings unorganised and jumbled just as a baby thing, or is he a mop?

Edited October 4, 201014 yr by Squeak_Crumble

Just thought i would mention i dont actually know the chicks age. age.

Your chick is cute. I think 'he' is a 'she'.

don't quote me on this but i have feeling he /she is leaning toward being long flighted

not a mop by thoughs pics

ive had long flighted chicks and almost long flighted chicks they seem to be bit bigger and heaver in wings when small

 

ps your birds dont need to of been long flighted they could of carried the gene