FINCHforum

Veronica, my Venezuelan Black-Hooded Red Siskin hen is sick.
The male is in full breeding mode, she is not. He has been really rough with her. (I have heard that is to be expected). He has plucked some of her head feathers, and I think just wore her out.
Then the other birds started picking and plucking on her today. She is closing and blinking her eyes a lot.

Gave her a pretty good exam. No lump, bumps, drainage, or crustiness. Vent looks fine. She is a little thin. Poos are normal. Respirations are normal. I put her in a hospital cage with heat and Amoxitex.

Would you please take a look and tell me if there is something I am missing?

Also - she may be a 'mule'. The person I bought her from, (a bit of a sketchy dealer), said she is a "pied". I don't know what she would have been bred from to make her a pied.
Are mules able to breed, even if they are infertile? Would they still lay eggs?

Someone at the Red Siskin Project said she might not be purebred, but difficult to tell.
The male definitely is purebred.

This is new territory for me - my first pair of Siskins. Any comments or advice welcome.

Thanks,
Lauren

Sounds like your doing the right thing. Hard to say if your missing anything just by a pic. What sex are the other birds. If you have to many males and too few females you can get extra aggression. I wouldn't put her back in with them when she recovers. Try a cage nearby and maybe just one male.

Not sure I would give her amoxitex unless she is ill, it sound more of an issue of stress from being picked on....I would rest her, give her boiled grated egg, sprouted millet and heat, observe. Let her rebuild her strength. If he is breeding mode and she is not I would hesitate in putting her back in with the others and him at this time.

Make sure she's getting electrolytes, too. I like to dissolve a couple of 50 mcg sublingual B12s in a pint of water and offer that as drinking water for a few days. The first thing a vet will do when you bring in a sick bird is to give it a shot of B12. My (human) doctor told me that sublingual B12 works very similarly to a B12 shot. It can't hurt and has helped me pull through a couple of very sick/weak birds in the past. Good luck and I hope she recovers for you. Bob

Good luck, poor girl..

Ok - will pull the Amoxitex, and do NV powder, rotated with B12.
I do give B12 - a few drops of liquid concentrate in a gallon of water for all the birds every few weeks. Maybe should do that more often.

Thanks so much.

Lauren

I would deffinatly give her eggfood with plenty of crushed eggshell and cuttlebone, adlai a heatlamp

Lauren, good suggestions were given, I would also recommend putting her on some sort of sulfa drug,
just in case it is cocci brought on by being stressed. it won't harm her. We need to do everything we can to save these birds
lou

I got to agree with psilocybin6 here

Definitely better today.
But still doing that squinty eye thing. No drainage or redness around it, it looks like she doesn't like the light - kind of when you got out on a sunny day without sunglasses.
Eating herb salad, millet, egg food, worms, probiotics sprinkled on seed...NV in water....still has a heat source....don't know what else to do.

I *think* I read 09 on her band. So, she could have a little age on her.

Thanks to all of you, especially psilocybin6!

Lauren

Gosh! So glad she is doing better. She's a tough gal. I think shell be ok. Please let us know.

So glad to hear she's doing better!
I'm wondering what seed mix you feed red siskins?

I give them Harrison Fruit & Veggie/Premium Finch mix. I add extra flax, niger and sunflower seed.
Also sprouted quinoa and a tiny bit of hemp seed.
They also will eat some soft-bill diet I keep in a small dish in there.

Fresh veggies every day too. Romaine, corn and cucumbers seem to be their favorites.

Sounds like a great diet, and glad you offer softbill diet as well. I am sure she will be back up and in flight in no time!

How is Veronica doing?