Purple Gren hen dead. Anyone else? (From recent import)

[Sunbay]

One of my new Purple Grenadier hens has died. She was not egg-bound.
Seemed to be some sort of respiratory issue.

She was slightly puffed, so I pulled and put her in heated hospital cage. Lively, eating and drinking well. More puffed and sleeping. Did Quik-Gel, Amoxitex, then probiotics.

5 days later - while still eating and drinking well, obviously not better. Breathing harder. Went on top of perch, put her head down and died. Was never on the bottom of the cage.

Poo normal. Vent normal. No runny eyes or 'sneezing'.

She came from the latest wild-caught import. Quarantined for over 30 days. I hope and pray the rest of the birds in the aviary/flight will be ok. Everyone else seems fine.

Curious as to if anyone else that purchased PG's from import has had any go sick, especially hens.

Very sad, she was delightful. Singing and enjoying a great life, up until this illness.

Lauren

[Madcat]

I'm so sorry!!!! Pray the others will stay healthy. Was she the only hen you had?

[debbie276]

So very sorry for your loss

[Sunbay]

I got 2 hens and a male from the order. *That* in and of itself was a herculean task!
So, I had 2 pair, now, 1 pair and a lonely male.

Was she the only hen you had?

Lauren

[Madcat]

Oh, I see. No doubt a huge task. so so sorry.

[wellingtoncdm]

Sorry you lost her. Hopefully the others will be ok.

[cindy]

Sorry for your loss.

[Sally]

So sorry you lost her, Lauren. It is always a gamble with imports, you have no idea what they have been exposed to, and you have no idea how old they are. However, it sounds like she was OK at first. I heard that the Grens in quarantine were dropping like flies, they are more delicate than some of the other species, and far fewer came through quarantine than went in. I have a pair of the wild-caughts, and Su has a pair of them, and we have not had any trouble so far. I hope all your other birds stay healthy.

[lyzzyjayne]

oh no Lauren. I am so,so sorry. =( sounds like Sally may have the answer. =(

[Sunbay]

Thanks Sally and all,

It doesn't hurt as much as losing a living thing, but there is the loss of the time and $ spent on this pair.
I think I may be done with expensive wild-caught imports. Especially considering how many died in quarantine, and undoubted thousands perished before they even GOT to quarantine. Maybe some species are best left in the wild.

Unless, perchance to dream, someday Pin-tails become available. That would be a temptation too great to resist.

It is always a gamble with imports, you have no idea what they have been exposed to, and you have no idea how old they are.

Lauren

(ps - everyone else in the same aviary appear to be fine! )

[Sally]

Su and I discussed the wisdom of getting Purple Grenadiers from this import batch. They are so expensive and delicate (though once they are adjusted, they seem to be fairly hardy) and so difficult to breed/raise, that we questioned whether they were worth the time, effort, and money. For me, I'd rather put my money into Strawberries right now, as I can get way more Berries for my money than Grens, and the Berries will reproduce. I've had Grens for 3 years now, with quite a few hatchlings but only two surviving babies in all this time--pretty discouraging. I know that a good part of my problem is not giving them enough space, but I'm also sick of having babies that the parents won't feed and that then die during handfeeding.

If I didn't love them so much, I would have given up on them a long time ago.

[Sally]

Well, Su lost her male Gren. Seemed perfectly healthy when she got him. So I now have the hen, and I will pair her with my handfed Gren male, A Boy Named Sue. It is so disheartening to spend that much money and then lose them so soon.

[kyubi]

for sally.....
i m just curious.. dont the society finch would foster purple gren chick?

[Sally]

for sally.....
i m just curious.. dont the society finch would foster purple gren chick?

It is difficult to get Societies to feed Grens, because Gren hatchlings are so dark that the Societies don't see them as something to feed. They also make no begging sounds for some days after hatching, while Societies respond to the sound of begging. MLaRue did foster Gren babies by handfeeding for some days till the babies finally triggered the feeding instinct in the Societies. However, out of 8 fostered babies, 7 were dead within 3 months, so I haven't tried it myself.

I believe with most of my tosslings, it has been the male doing the tossing. It will be interesting to see if Sue, being a handfed so perhaps a bit more domesticated, will be a better parent.

[Sunbay]

Darn. So sorry to hear about Su losing her male.
It's been a while since the import, so one would hope it wasn't anything 'brought over', but who knows.

I love these birds so much - but they so expensive, and it's rare to hear of successful cage breedings here in the US.

My only pair I saw trying to breed the other day - don't think it was 'successful' - but at least it's on their minds.

Lauren