Owl finch not feeling well this morning

[h2olilee]

I suspected this owl ("Jade", 7 mo. old, sex unknown) was not feeling well yesterday late afternoon. It was a bit puffed and extra sleepy. I wasn't sure at the time because it was their normal nap time and I didn't get to check on it again before bed time.

Then this morning when I went in to give everyone their veggies and sprouted seed, Jade wasn't yet out of the nest box which is very unusual. (Note: I give them a nest box to sleep in at night only and remove it every morning since all 6 of my owls are related and I don't want them to breed.)

I was very worried I'd find a dead bird in there, but when I went to peek, Jade flew out. But it was a little wobbly and still fluffed. So I quickly set up my hospital cage to put Jade in. But I could not catch it! It must not be feeling too badly because I really tried and only stressed everyone out terribly and even had another bird get out into the room which I then had to catch. So I put the heat lamp on one of the upper side perches on their flight cage and Jade has sat under it a bit this morning.

So I'm not sure what the problem is so I don't know what to do. One thought is if it's a female and needs to lay an egg? At what age do they start laying normally? I had another female who was laying at three months (which I know is WAY too young), but then when I started to remove the nest box during the day she stopped laying. But this one I don't know the sex yet.

It does keep "preening" around the vent area. I did look and there is no wetness there. I can't tell what the droppings are like with everyone in the same cage, I can't tell which ones are Jade's. I did put calcium plus in their water this morning and I've seen Jade drink it a couple times as well as nibble the cuttle bone. It has also eaten some sprouted seed and regular seed this morning.

So I'm not sure what to do here... watch and wait to see if it lays an egg? If it's another problem, can I put medication in the water, but then everyone would get it too?

Any suggestions? Thanks SO much!

[bugaboo5]

I do think she is egg bound. One drop of liquid calcium administered directly to her beak will help. I would also recommend that you provide extra warmth to her. There are many posts about egg binding remedies -- follow those directions. In regards to egg-laying age -- it can vary. Some take only a few months, some wait until they are 8-9 months. I believe it all determines on the individual bird and their hormonal makeup. I hope she pulls through. Best of luck.

[h2olilee]

My problem is catching her. I tried this already this morning and was going to do the calcium to the beak, but she still had a lot of energy and I couldn't catch her in the large flight cage and everyone got very stressed. So I put the heat lamp on an upper corner perch and she has sat under/near it often. The room itself is kept pretty warm, nearly 80. She has also drank the calcium plus water numerous times and eaten cuttlebone and oyster shell. Also, I did see her poop and it appears normal to me.

Is all this OK/enough? Or does she really need to be in the hospital cage on her own with the heat lamp and full strength calcium plus to the beak?

I do have a catch cage attached, which normally works great, but she is not interested in millet spray this morning, so that won't work this time....bummer

[h2olilee]

So here's an update on Jade. She still seemed "off" yesterday but was still being active, eating and bathing, etc. so I left her in the flight cage yesterday with an extra heat lamp on one side and calcium plus in the water. This morning she was a bit worse. So I tried again to catch her and this time I was successful! I put her in the hospital cage with the heat lamp, heating pad underneath, damp towel over the top and sides just leaving the front open to increase the humidity, seed, water with calcium plus added, millet spray and egg food with ground shell included. I also gave her full strength calcium plus one drop to the beak every hour for three hours in a row, and very gently a tiny bit of olive oil on her vent area. She seemed very uncomfortable and kept trying to preen the vent area and falling over trying. Finally, shortly after the third dose of calcium plus, I went in to check on her and found part of an egg on the floor! Yeah! But it was half a broken shell... Would she have eaten the other half? I hope it's still not inside her... She does seem like she feels MUCH better now- she's being more vocal to her family across the room, eating everything, drinking and hopping around normally. So my question is when should I return her to the flight cage now that she's passed the egg and is feeling so much better?

[bugaboo5]

You shouldn't return her for a few days. Continue to monitor her for a few days and proceed with providing the additional heat. She escaped death. Regardless of how she may look to be feeling better, egg binding is a serious health scare -- a huge toll on the body; even when they pass the egg. Allow her to recoup and then return her once she's looking better in 48-72 hours. If it were me, I would actually keep her in a hospital cage for a week. It's a really traumatic experience.

[henrietta]

Hooray! I'm glad she's doing better!!! :]

[lyzzyjayne]

Oh! Bless you both! Great job on your part. Please let us know how she is. I too would keep her in the hospital cage as long as possible. Whew!

[h2olilee]

This morning Jade is doing great! She is eating and drinking and being active & vocal.

Her feathers around the vent area are kinda yucky because of the olive oil. She keeps preening back there a lot so her chin is a bit oily as well. Will the oil eventually wear away on its own? The hospital cage is small and I don't think I can get a bath dish in there. Will it be OK that she doesn't get a bath until she returns to the flight cage?

Also she seems to strain when pooping (the poop is large but looks normal). Is that just because she's sore from passing her first egg?

When I reintroduce her to the flight cage I'm a little worried the others will pick on her because she has always been on the bottom of the social order anyways, and she will have been absent for a few days and they will sense she is not quite the same. Anything I can do to lessen this?

Thanks for all the advice! I am SO relieved she pulled through this, I really didn't want to lose another owl.

[bugaboo5]

It's wonderful to hear that Jade is doing much better today. Continue to monitor her and if you can, definitely offer some fresh egg food. Not to humanize our feathered friends, but passing an egg is like giving birth for humans. It takes incredible resources for our female feathered friends to create and pass their eggs.

The oil will indeed eventually wear away on its own. A bath will certainly help, but it can wait. How small is this cage? Not big enough even for a water cup? I allow my birds to bath in their drinking cups (I don't use tubes) and simply change out their cups after they have bathed with fresh water.

Yes, the strain is probably from the difficulty of passing the egg. Give her a few days to recover. I cannot emphasize enough -- egg binding is really a traumatic experience. Many of us have lost birds due to it -- myself included. I just experienced egg binding with one of my younger birds earlier this week as well -- quick action is important, prevention is even better. The liquid calcium is a must have for all finch owners, in my opinion.

In regards to the others -- I just had a recollection and now recall your story. Your hen died and your male bird raised all these young, yes? Did you end up keeping all of the babies? Have you considered possibly trading the babies for different bloodlines? Or do you have no intention to breed anymore? I don't know how big the flight cage is, but you can try re-arranging the perches, toys, and food dishes so that if territory has been established already, a new territory will need to be made. Do this right before you introduce Jade back to the colony.

[Toddmin]

H2olilee, I am glad she is doing better!

Liquid calcium? I have so much to learn. I tried giving my birds some mineral grit with ground oyster shells, but they did not seem at all interested. I found they much prefer ground egg shells. I will have to order some liquid calcium.

[h2olilee]

Bugaboo5, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your helpful words! This forum is so great, I don't have to be alone in all this! I'm the only finch owner I know and everyone thinks I'm crazy for these little birds (my husband says I'm OCD about the finches!). I take my responsibility very seriously and want to do the very best for them.

I moved Jade from the small hospital cage (10x10x10) to another larger cage (18x18x30) that is right next to the flight cage (18x30x36). So she can recover in peace but still be near her family. She loves being under the heat lamp. She still preens a lot near the vent area and strains when pooping. I'm a little worried there might be some egg shell still inside her since I only found half an egg before. But the half I did find was fully formed/shaped and not crushed. I would think that if it broke while she was passing it, the whole egg would be more crushed... When I removed the half shell, part of it stuck to the paper and I did see her pick at that bit, so I am thinking (hoping) she just ate the other half of the shell.

She did get a bath yesterday and her feathers are looking much better now. She did really drench herself though and was shivering under the heat lamp for awhile until she dried out.

I've done all I know to do to prevent the egg binding, not sure what else to add... They have cuttlebone and an oyster shell/mineral mix which I see all of them eating regularly (including Jade). They get lots of fresh greens and veggies everyday and calcium-plus in the water 2x a week. Along with Mike Fidler seed mix, sprouted seed & MF softfood daily, and occasionally eggfood with crushed shell included (2-3x /month - they're not breeding, so I didn't want to give this to them too often).

Yes, the mother owl had died suddenly when the babies were only one week old and the male continued to raise them (all 6!) all by himself. I'm still not sure if she died of egg binding...possibly, but with only one week old babies I wouldn't think she would be in laying mode. But it was all the egg binding signs and she died really quickly, like in only a few hours. So hopefully there isn't a genetic predisposition in the family. Of the 5 babies left (my cat got one a few months back ), I know for sure I have two females and one male. The other two I'm not sure yet. And then the dad, Ozzy, of course is male. I am planning on keeping them all, but not breeding them of course. My husband and I are currently building a house and it will have a sunroom that I plan on building a large aviary in, hopefully by the end of this year. Then they will have LOTS more space. (And maybe adding some other kinds of finches as well )

So I will keep Jade in this cage for as long as necessary and only move her back with her family when she's 100%.

THANKS AGAIN!

[h2olilee]

Well now I know why I was worried about the extra "preening" around the vent and the strained pooping. Jade had another egg she was trying to lay! This afternoon I went to check on her and I found a crumpled egg on the floor (see picture). This must be what she was trying to pass. I bet she feels MUCH better now! It was interesting though- when I looked at the egg closely under my magnifying lamp, and carefully undid it, it almost appeared to be a shell within a shell- like two eggs together, one inside the other...? I've heard of this happening on rare occasions with chickens. Weird.

[bugaboo5]

Wow, poor girl. Good thing you kept her in the hospital cage. At this point, I would definitely recommend keeping her in the hospital cage for a week. Gosh, how traumatic.

Do you feed your birds fresh egg food? My owls love their fresh egg food. Calcium is one thing, but the vitamin D in the egg food helps the bodies of our finch friends absorb the calcium. It's one thing to eat calcium and another to be able to adequately absorb (and utilize) the calcium resources.

Good luck!

[lyzzyjayne]

Oh my stars! Poor baby! Bless you for taking such good care of her. Hopefully she will be 100% soon! =)