FINCHforum

I have about 10 gouldians in a flight cage. They were doing fine upto now and yesterday I saw most of them looking sleepy and their activity was very less than before. Most of them were eating except for 2 who had their feathers open and looked like trying to flap the feathers.

And today morning, i found the 2 who had their wings kinda open and looked like trying to flap, dead......others are still sleepy, there is not much activity on the cage except for eating. I saw the one of the dead birds had a lot of poop in its butt, the other dead one didnt have anything unusual in the dead body.

I am new to gouldians, please gimme some advice, because I dont want all of them to die. I have 2 soceities in the cage, who seem to be doing fine and very active.

HELP HELP HELP !!!!

How long have you had the birds? are they inside or out?
i would IMMEDIATELY get a red heat lamp for them to get under and get warm if needed. are there drafts?
Have they had scatt treatment?
Are you hearing any rasping or clicking noises from them?

Please give us an update when you can....I hope you can save some of the birds.

Just like Fancie said, the first step is heat and if you can get your hands on electolytes (Thrive or NV powder) then use that as well cause it does help when you don't know what's wrong and the birds don't look right.

Please update us when you can.. I sure hope they are going to pull through for you,

exocticgouldian...how are your birds doing today?

Yes let us know how the rest of your birds are doing. Hope all is well!

hi sorry for the late reply, my internet connection wasnt working well.

birds seem to be doing a bit better........a lil more active. I gave them a lot of spray millet and egg food. And also added a 100watt table lamp on top of the cage, so they get more heat. No they are not making any clicking sounds, they just sleep whole day. They used to be very active before.

I am new to rearing gouldians, so I dont have any medicine in hand except the antibiotic i bought from Petsmart. What is scatt ? I want to buy medicine in case of situations like this ? what do u guys recommend me ?

I am planning to buy more gouldians to build an aviary, but I dont want them to die like this , so I want to be ready if they start falling sick.

Gouldians are very prone to air sac mites. It is best to have them on a preventative program, since the mites can remain dormant in their systems for a long time. You can order Scatt or Ivermectin from most of the online suppliers, you won't find it at most pet stores. If you get one of these meds, and put them on a regular program of treatment every 3 months, that should keep air sac mites from becoming a problem.

Make sure they have good heat 24/7 right now. You can get one of those ceramic heat lamps, or a red spot lamp, so they don't have the light glaring at them all night. What size cage are they in? You can direct the heat lamp at one end of the cage, so the birds can move away from it if they get too warm.

On this forum, TammyS and fairesfinches sell bird supplies.

I wouls also keep on hand some Guardian Angel , antibiotics and probiotics.
and NEVER allow a new bird in with the old birds, Quaranteen is SOOO IMPORTANT>


Make sure there are NO DRAFTS, and the temp where they are dont change alot and quickly, the red heat lamp can be on allnight and day so is a good bet.
you can also lay it on top the cage facing down on them so MORE of them can share it and still they can move away as needed.
scatt is very important I would order immediately, its in the $10 to $12 range usually.

Thank you guys, my birdies seem to be doing fine and I would be adding them to my newly built aviary soon. Ordered scatt, so I will add scatt to all the birds before releasing them to the aviary.

Glad to hear all is going well..

Hi...

When we started with Goulds about 2 years ago we slowly lost all of our males everytime they went into a molt; in a day or 2 they were gone. We found it had a lot to do with the food variety we had them on. Since we've added certain items to their diet thank God we haven't lost a one!!

Are these mostly males you're having issues with? Are they molting (getting pin white feathers and looking really scruffy)?

I got some great advice from the owner of Fabulous Finch about their nutritional needs. We've since had them on a product called GoldenFeast (which we mix in the seed) and we keep a snack dish of Herb Salad in the cage at all times; I was told this has many of the things they search out in the wilds to cure themselves. We also add dried worms to either their seed or eggs at least once a week. Also, thanks to a local vet we keep a drink cup of regular people Gatorade in the cage at all times also (which helps with the electrolytes AND they love it).

Are you also giving them iodine and/or some kind of mineral grit?

Look forward to seeing if these things help you the way it's helped us.

Sandy

hi, the 2 died were females, 1 was in her molt and other was doing fine ( no molt), I still have no clue what happened to them all of a sudden. But the rest of the birds seem to be doing fine now, but i still left a desk lamp on top of the cage with a 100w bulb, so whoever wants heat can get there.

I give them cuttlebone, oyster shell and grit in treat cups, and also give them egg food and normal finch seed. Also add Calcium to the water. They were doing fine and all of a sudden 2 died. But now they seem to be back to normal, except a few who still seems to sleep more than others.

I am keeping a close eye on them though.

sadly with gouldians losses can occur and occur fast.

I have dont feed any brand of seed alone, I have several I purcahse and mix my own adding this and that as I go, lol shoo tthey eat beter than my poor husband.