baby green singer not looking so good.

[Tammy]

I have 2 baby green singing finches. they are about 2 weeks old give or take a few days. the one is healthy, feathers look good, acting normal, the other looks sick, the feathers look dull and wet, almost oily but their not.all of her feathers are puffy too. she has labored breathing and doesn't move very much. what should I do. both parents are still feeding them(both chicks) this chick was even at the bottom of the cage last night and I picked her up to put her back in the nest. please any sugguestions- tammy

[30 Seconds to Bob]

Since the baby is too young to be on it's own, about the only thing you can do is maybe try a broad spectrum antibiotic in the water and the parents will pass it on to the chick. Perhaps a little extra heat source near the nest if it doesn't freak them out too much. A little liquid calcium probably wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Good luck. Bob

[Sally]

Also catch up the baby and feel the breast bone. If it is sharp, with little meat on either side, then the baby is either not being fed, or it is unable to process the food it is being fed.

[Tammy]

Thanks everyone for your help. I would have bet money that my little chick wouldn't make it through the night, but this morning he was still alive and still at the bottom of the cage. I turned the bird lamp on and I placed a regular light 50 watts down at the bottom of the cage. the parents are still feeding the baby too. I also bought some antibiotic, tetracycline for birds. I 'm not sure how much to give him so I've been doing alittle less than half of 1 cc. but it's hard to get all of it in his beak and today I thought I heard a clicking sound when I picked him up to give him the meds. the other chick is fine and doing great I don't understand what happen. the cage is clean and I feed them and give clean water everyday sometimes twice a day if they make a mess in the water dish.- tammy. I 'll have to send pictures.

[finchmix22]

Tammy
The baby sounds like it may be sick. At that young age, the best thing is to let the parents continue to feed the chick. I would not give the baby any meds. Give meds to the parents, who will pass that onto the babies. Even diluted medication is too strong for such a young baby. The heat is always a good idea. The parents may be trying to abandon the baby if it keeps ending up on the bottom. Sometimes, they know they can't help the baby. If you really heard a clicking, I'd check the parents and the other chick. They may need to be treated for ASM, but the babies are really too young for that until they are weaned. Good Luck.

[Tammy]

Here is the latest update on my green singing finch. I now have him in a different cage with the father only, I've been watching them and I believe the father is feeding him. somedays the little baby is doing fine and sitting on a perch and other days I question whether he'll make it at all. So today I took him to the vet. the vet said he didn't think he had (ASM) but wasn't sure and treated him for it anyway. one injection of Ivomec and an oral antibiotic just in case it might be an infection and was also informed that the baby finch may not make it. I will amit that I purchased the parents from a petstore and not from a breeder. I just feel in love with them. I walked into the store and I could hear the male singing all the way across the other side of the store and the parents seemed o.k. I'm not a finch expert by any means.The other baby finch is doing fine and is with the mom . So I don't know whether this is just poor genes or somthing else. I have a heat lamp on him as well. I think I've done everything I can do. To make things worse when I got home I put the little guy back in the cage with his dad and a few minutes later I look over only to see the dad sitting right next to the baby as to say I'VE MISSED YOU AND ARE YOU O.K. my heart just melted. - Tammy

[tinysparrow]

I hope the baby will make a full recovery tammy. he's lucky to have you looking after him

[Tammy]

Thanks Amy, I'll keep you posted. -Tammy

[BlackCobra]

I would have kept them all together, the cock might miss the hen & neglect the baby

[Tammy]

I couldn't keep them all together because the male kept going after the healthy chick. I walked in the room to check on them and the male had chased the healthy chick in the corner of the cage between the finch nest and the cage. I was afraid he was going to hurt the healthy chick but he is fine with the sickly finch. whenever I see the sick baby finch on a perch resting, he is slumped over but as soon as he hears a noise he perks right up.