FINCHforum

So tomorrow is supposed to be Spring Day, here in SA. But no, our mountains are covered in the heaviest snow in years and the last 2 weeks have been cold front, after cold front. Gale force winds, pouring rain and I have already lost 3 hens A CB and Society hen to what I'm positive was egg binding and then a canary hen, who went downhill very quickly in 2 days with a runny stomach.

Now this afternoon, I notice my GB Waxbill hen shivering and sleeping in the food bowl on the ground and then a CB male tried to mount her!! I immediately realised something is wrong and she is now inside the house in the sick cage, 2 lamps on the cage and lots of eggshell and ground-up cuttlebone in a bowl. She has that horrid squatting look of a eggbound hen that I'm sadly getting used too I have since seen her eating and drinking and she has stopped shivering, so I'm really praying I caught her in time

I must admit, this is the one down side of keeping your birds outside in an aviary. When it's pouring with rain for 5 days solid, you really don't get to observe them as much as you would like. Tom, the waxbill's mate, is now flying around and calling like mad for Nina. It's horribly upsetting

I am so, so sorry. Mother Nature is unpredictable.

The weather here, (NE Florida) has drastic changes. Hot, humid, with dramatic thunderstorms and wind - to freezing winters.

Then we have to consider hurricanes and tropical storms every summer. and we have so many predators, there is no way I could do an outdoor aviary.
Wish I could have a HUGE one, to see them fly-fly-fly.

Is there someway you could bring your flock indoors?

The weather is strange here too. One of the mildest winters and Summers! Except for this week is typical for this time of year (mid to upper 90's with humidity) most of the summer has been mid 80's for highs. !! Unreal!
Feeling bad for you and hope that the weather eases up soon. Hopefully no more eggbound hens.

Same here! Temperatures are noticeably below the average for this time of year. I lost 2 young birds because of morning frosts. :/

When I got to work while ago I said I was so. tired. of. summer - though I knew rushing summer over was bad news for those dreading winter. So know I can wish that our summer and your winter were over. I'm sorry it's being so hard on your birds this year.

It's par for the course here in Lousiana. 98+ today, hardly a breath of wind, though fortunately the humidity is only 33%. It gives a heat index of 102, but when you're walking in the sun it feels more like 110.

I guess it builds character, but I wish we could all have pleasant weather all around.

It is 104 here today, with poor air quality. I went outside earlier this afternoon to power wash some cages, and I had to give up on it, just too hot. When it makes you feel slightly sick to your stomach to be outside, then it is time to stay in the air conditioning. I know those of you in the southern hemisphere are sick of winter, but I can't wait for some cooler weather!

Rox I feel your pain. Its wet wet wet! My aviary has one little island of wet sand. Other than the shelter area the rest is ankle deep in water. As soon as it even partially dries out, it rains again.

You sure your hens got egg binding? Very likely in this funny season as all the birds have gone to nest. Coccidiosis is also a culprit in this weather for losses.

Hope things improve soon for you. Its never easy as the season drags on.

So sorry to hear of the bird losses due to weather or any reason. That is why I've hesitated completing my outdoor aviary. I just am not sure they could handle the unpredictable changes in weather and temps we get in TX. As Sally said, today is 104 and humidity is only 23 %, which is not as humid as we had a few days ago, when it was 65% humidity. That's when the heat is hardest to handle.

I also don't like winters that are too cold for too long or when there is ice and snow. I just want it "Perfect" in the 70s - 80s with nice and gently rains as needed and snow on Christmas! That's it...LOL. Not gonna happen, oh well.

Sorry for your losses and the bad weather, Rox. I can relate. Although I love participating in winter sports (ice hockey, sledding, snowmobiling), I really do otherwise hate the cold. When I was old enough to escape it, I did. Hope thing get better soon. Bob

Thanks so much guys, I needed to have a moan and I really appreciate you all listening and your support!!

I know how you guys up North are feeling right now about the summer heat. Come January, we will be hitting the 40'C heat waves and I'm sure I will be praying for the cooler weather then. Us humans hey, never satisfied! I just feel so bad for the birds
Ivann 97 I'm sorry for your loss as well!!

I'm happy to announce that Nina is looking a million times better this morning. She has her sleek look back, bright eyes and just let me know how unhappy she is being in the small cage - yay!! But no egg...

How long do you think I should keep her inside for?

monotwine
Monique, I'm just guessing egg binding at this stage, as these hens I have all seen mating or the pairs have been doing frantic nest building lately. I wormed and treated for Cocci earlier in August, so they should be fine for that or do you think I should do another Cocci course after this rain?

I definitely think the mistake I made this year, was keeping the pairs together. A complete beginner mistake. In my smaller, juvie flight, I have 9 Gouldians (8 of which are youngsters), 2 male Societies and a Diamond dove. I have no extra heat in the small aviary, unlike the 2 heat lamps in the main aviary, and I haven't lost a single bird in the juvie flight. Besides the canary with the runny stomach, this is why I am leaning more towards egg binding. While our winters are mild compared to up North, I will definitely be separating the pairs next winter and putting all the males in the juvie flight. At least this way I can eliminate egg binding next time.

Roxanne, having your birds outside, you still find they want to mate year round? When it gets cold all my birds stop breeding on their own. I've never separated or removed nests, I would think being outside would make it easier for them to get into sync with a natural cycle.
Hope the weather starts co-operating with you soon

But if you send winter away, it comes up here to me! No thank you!!! I am not ready for snow and ice and cold cold cold and everything grey and dead for months.

Right now it's 75°F and the humidity is 92%. Will only get to the low 80's today, but the humidity will not drop below 80%. Been like that for a week already. I'd take hotter and drier any day, we'd kill for 40% humidity up here right about now. You don't breathe the air, you swallow it when it's like this.

At least my little house has central air, only good thing the previous owners did for it (no maintenance for 8 years, and they didn't even clean out the kitchen drawers or fridge of old food bits when they moved out & put it on the market. Ewww! Good for us tho, no one wanted to buy it and the price got really good.) My electric bills have been insane this year, tho.

Super high humidity here too, seems to never end. Looking forward to winter though

debbie276

Debbie, the Gouldian's, Star's, RF Parrot and Society finches have been nesting all throughout winter and I've been removing eggs most of the time. I don't think our temps stay low enough, for a long enough period of time for them to get totally out of breeding mode. I've left the latest clutches laid and both the Gouldian and RF Parrot finches have eggs due to hatch next week and the Star's have babies again (the previous 2 are only just 7 weeks old. I need to remove them to the juvie flight next weekend...

Nerien
Sorry Nerien but it's our turn for some warm weather!! You can have the cold for the next couple of months with my greatest pleasure I completely agree with you about aircon! Lucky the previous owners also installed it in our house - love it in summer time! My dogs too Does kill the electricity though...