FINCHforum

I have a newly fledged YF Star who is fluffed and breathing and making a very soft, high pitched squeak or maybe a chirp, but a sickly one. The nestmate to this baby seems fine, but I'm trying to think what could make one of two fledges sick? Any suggestions besides the first ideas of heat and isolation from the others.

Can fledges get Giardia from fresh veggies? Is it too late to save them once observed breathing problems?

Are there seeds in his poop?

Heat......is the breathing wet sounding?

Since this baby is newly fledged, are the parents feeding it? It is rare for parents to stop feeding one fledgling, but it has happened. Could the sounds it is making be weak begging sounds? Catch it up and feel its breastbone--if it is sharp, then can you try to handfeed it a bit? It is so hard to handfeed them once they fledge, they don't want to cooperate, and in fighting you, they often aspirate. I haven't a clue what could be wrong, let us know in the morning how it is doing.

Well
The little one died within an hour after I posted. I tried to give her some food, water, and Thrive (as a mix of water like handfeeding formula). She seemed to want the food and water and did not fight me, but an hour later she was dead and stiff already. ?? I cannot imagine what killed her, since the other fledge is fine. Maybe the parents were only feeding one fledge and I caught it too late. I noticed when I took her out that her vent had yellow discoloring, so maybe she had a parasite, which is why I thought of Giardia, which is often in water, even filtered water. I hate not knowing what went wrong, so I can prevent this in the future. My daughter said she saw the parents try to feed the little one the same day I noticed her fluffed, but she refused. We thought she was weaning, but she may just have felt bad. Curious. RIP little one.

Shame. Sorry for you. It does happen. SOmetimes one or two are just weaker and get sick. You did all you could.

Just watch the others closely for any signs of getting the same thing.
Best wishes.

A newly-fledged Star baby will not refuse food unless it is sick, they don't wean that young. A messy vent could be many things, could be a yeast infection. Impossible to know at this point. Keep an eye on the others, and so sorry this one didn't make it.

Thanks Sally, The other fledge is being fed by parents and seems fine right now, but I'm watching. What could cause a yeast infection? I was worried they picked up Giardia from some fresh fruit and veggies I washed recently, but used tap water to wash, instead of bottled/filtered. Any thoughts?

So sorry to hear this. It has happened to us all and the hardest thing is not knowing what was wrong...

Personally, I wouldn't worry about washing veggies in tap water--I do it all the time, I don't use bottled water. I don't even wash all the veggies all the time. Since it was just one fledgling affected, I think it may be a case that the parents knew this one wasn't going to make it, so they concentrated on the other one. Was the breastbone sharp? My first pair of Grens did this, they had three babies, and they stopped feeding two of them, yet the third was fat and sassy. Who knows why they do things like that, it is very frustrating.