FINCHforum

OK, I know I've been absent for a long time from the forum. Things have gotten really crazy these past few months at home.

I've determined that my house is cursed against finches. Yesterday, we had another fatality - a society finch. The rest of the birds seem totally fine - feathered, alert, flying around, quick and accurate. This one, upon close inspection, was missing feathers on his/her back, but I couldn't tell without actually holding it and inspecting, because somehow it held its wings in a way to cover it pretty well.

This means that pretty much every 3-4 months since I got the finches over a year ago, we've had one die randomly. What is going on in my house? Why are these finches dying? I wouldn't think that losing one every 4 months is normal, is it? It's really frustrating, and really sad, when I lose one of these little guys. The big cage is down to 8 birds now.

Welcome back, Steve, we've missed you. Sorry for your loss, but unfortunately with finches, it does seem to happen more frequently. I just lost a bird, and there was no indication that anything was wrong till just hours before he died--he puffed up and sat on the floor, and within hours he was gone. Yes, it is so frustrating. Between the fairly short lifespan of so many finches and the fact that we have no idea how old they are when we purchase many of them, it is inevitable that we have frequent losses. It is one of the down sides to having finches, instead of some other bird species that have long lives.

hi steve
welcome back,the problem with finches is they do not live that long to begin with and they are always on the move ,have a fast metabolism and never stay still ....so they burn out quite quickly despite all efforts to keep them alive longer there are not many that live beyond 6 years old.and if you did not breed them yourself then you have no idea how old they are...it is soul destoying i know as i have kept birds for over 25 years and i have lost a heck of a lot in that time ..but its the anture of the beast societys live slightly longer as they are more docile but even those do not have a great age so maybe all the birds you got at the same time where bred at the same time and obviously you are losing them with a great regularity which when you consider it is only natural as they are all expiring when they are past there prime..the only other reason i can come up with is that there is one heck of a bully in there,which of course will be the last to expire!i am afraid steve you have to love them whilst you can and make the most of them...after a couple of years i always introduce new stock then you dont notice the losses as much...chin up mate i wish i lived near you i would come and give you some of my birds and a big hug! you are not jinxed and neither is your house..its just life my friend and it sucks sometimes

ken

Wow Steve... good to hear from you!

Sorry about your loss. I think it is really hard to tell why finches die. All die for different reasons, and sometimes, I think that they could die for the same reasons.

I purchased one female gouldian that was sick, and she infected my entire flock! Fortunatelly I ended up getting rid of her, treated my whole flock and they are all doing much much better. Although this year, I think I have lost about 9 or 10 finches. Probably some for similar reasons, and some for different reasons. It is sad and I wish we could prevent it, but unfortunately we can't!

You can try putting all your finches on an antibiotic and see if that helps. Also, when you get new birds, always make sure to isolate them from your flock for at least a month, and treat with them with all preventative measures.

Hey I am there with ya.

I lost 5 birds over the past year and a half.
First one was a respiratory illness. Other bird got it and lived.
Then my 3 new females all escaped leaving that poor little fellow alone again.
and yesterday my one little female suddenly died. Fine the night before she was unsteady on the perch in the morning and died in my hand a few hours later. No idea why. The other three are happily sinning and playing in the cage.

I love these little birds but they sure do seem to not stick around long. Good thing they are not expensive to replace.

Shadowfax wrote:Good thing they are not expensive to replace.

Heh - some of them are expensive to replace. I lost my two Cordon Bleus a long time ago (about 6 months apart) and still haven't replaced them, because they are quite expensive.

I agree, it is hard when you have a really expensive finch die

In fact, I hate it when finches die period, no matter which species it is. My favorite finches in my aviary are my rosy rump, my society pair, and my owl. I'd be very sad if any of them died