FINCHforum

I was shocked to find my female dead on the floor of the cage this morning. I didn't see it coming at all. She had been staying in the nest, so I assumed she had eggs. The male had been more aggressive than usual, but I assumed it was because she was sitting on eggs. She didn't feel egg bound at all. There was dried poop at the vent though, and it was white with a hint of yellow. I pulled the nest, and there was one egg. I left the nest and egg out to try and calm the aggression of the male, though since she is gone, he may chill out anyway. Should I dose anything? I don't see any problems that are obvious. She showed no signs of trauma.

KarenB --- Aw, I'm sorry, Karen.

That's always a crappy way to start the day.

I wouldn't think too much of the poop on her vent area.
When you die, your muscles relax and that often results in bathroom activities after death, so the color and texture is often off because it's not fully "processed" if that makes sense. If she was dead for a few hours, that would be enough time to dry.
Plus, when they're super sick, they tend to poop in place which can cause what you saw.

I would just keep a close eye on the male and everyone else, just to ensure there's nothing going around, nothing in the food, etc.
Since it's possible her droppings were off, I'd clean out all the cage liners so you'll know what poops are recent.

It's tough when they stay in the nest instead of going down. Hard to know they need help.

ETA -- I might actually put the nest/egg back in for now. Just thinking about the male; that could send him over the edge to lose his nest and his mate at once. (Of course, if he seems okay, then maybe just leave it out.)
Just thinking it could be too much change for him to be comfy.

Well, I've already left the house for the day, so it's too late for putting it back in now. I didn't see anything unusual on the cage bottom as far as poop this morning, and I had changed the pad over the weekend. She had been gone long enough to be stiff. Just so sad.

KarenB -- Aw, poor girl.

I'm not sure how long it takes birds to get stiff.
With cats and dogs, rigor mortis occurs in 7-10 hours. It's a result of post-mortem changes in the muscles/chemistry. So I believe that process occurs more or less the same regardless of size.
So at least a few hours - definitely long enough for the poop to dry (plus the absence of odd droppings would support that it was a post-mortem sort of thing.)
Fingers crossed that it's nothing that could harm the others. i doubt it from what you describe, but I'd keep my eyes open just in case.

So sad. I hate it when they go so suddenly. I'm sorry about your girl.
How old was she?

She was only about eight months old

So sorry,

Most likely egg binding....

She did not have any bulges, so I don't think it was egg binding. I wonder if she had night frights and smacked her head or something. She was acting perfectly normal all weekend when she wasn't in the nest, eating and drinking. It's just weird to me.

So sorry about your hen, Karen.

I'm sorry about the loss of your bird Karen. I can't offer any ideas as to what might have happened. I know when I lost my bird the other day rigor mortis started setting in in two hours because I was holding her that long and noticed it.

Today I picked up a new girlfriend for my male Gouldian. She is just like him....red head, green back, purple breast.



Here's the male checking her out. I think he likes her.

She's beautiful