Sick society finches

[Lozuufy]

Hi, 2 days ago my female society finch died, she has always been kinda weak so I figured the rest were OK. Then last night her mate was puffed up and acting weird and this morning was dead. Their younger son was super weak and died shortly after. So now I just have one, my favorite. He isn't showing any signs yet but I'm worried he will die too, I hand raised him from an egg and he is super sweet, I really don't want to lose him. It was 2 degrees last night outside and my room got a little chilly, I think that was what it was. Now it is warming up but I don't know if they died from an infection or anything, I gave him water with a tiny drop of goldenseal (anti-bacterial) and elderberry (anti-viral) tinctures in it.

I also have a pet house sparrow in my room that I brought in last night cause of the cold. Does anyone think she'll get whatever killed the finches? She is super healthy and strong right now.

Thanks for any reply's, I hope I posted this in the correct section.

[lovezebs]

Lozuufy

Hi.

So sorry about your birds.

When you say 2 degrees, are we talking Celsius or Fahrenheit ?

I don't know what might have killed your birds.

I would offer the surviving bird some heat and light. Just place a lamp with a 40 or 60 watt lamp pointing at one corner of the cage/flight. If he's cold, he will go sit by the light to warm up. This offers warmth and comfort, especially to a lone bird.

Regarding your Sparrow, bringing her in last night, would not have sickened or killed your birds instantly..... however, if you've been handling the Sparrow and then your Societies, there might have been some disease transferred to your Societies from the wild bird.

One quick word of caution: I would not be attempting to house the Society with the Sparrow....

Good luck

[Lozuufy]

Thanks for the reply, I meant Fahrenheit.

He is now sitting by the sunny window so is nice and warm.

The sparrow I hand raised and kept inside free flying in my room with my finches since early this summer. She ignores them and they ignore her. She was getting too possessive of me so I put her outside in an aviary up until last night. The finches have been in a cage for a few weeks otherwise I would have assumed they ate my bean plant and got sick from that.

Sparrow is going back outside as soon as it gets above 30 degrees. She is too active to have in my room lol.

[Sally]

It is difficult to know what killed your birds, but when you lose multiple birds in a short period of time, that is not normal. It could have been a disease, perhaps from the sparrow, but it could also have been environmental. With the drop in temperature outside, is there a new furnace or other heat source that might have put out some fumes that were harmful to your birds?

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care. If you put your general location in your profile, it helps others when answering your questions.

[Lozuufy]

OK, just put my location on, now trying to upload an avatar.

We did just paint the door, that could be it but it is on the other end of the house (biggish house).

Mouse (the finch) was starting to puff up and show the symptoms the others had before they died so I gave him a bit of cayenne pepper in his food and water and within half an hour he seemed much better, is no longer puffed up and has been hopping around looking for nesting material. I don't know if it was the cayenne for sure that helped but I'm glad he is back to his old self.

And thanks for the reply and welcome, I will check out the link for sure. I'm more of a poultry person, just started taking care of small birds a few years ago.

[lovezebs]

Lozuufy

Why cayenne pepper? What's the supposed to do?

[Spreckles]

Lozuffy

I am so sorry you lost your birds! I am assuming you cleaned the finch cage very well to get rid of whatever might have been troubling them. It is very cold where you are! I worry when it's less than 70 degrees F. I live in a warm state in the south. My birds puffed when we had a fairly drastic drop in temps. We went from 84 on Christmas day to the 40's. Elana's advice about the lamp will work. I just hope your little Mouse is not sick. What an adorable name. I am curious too about the pepper. How do you know how much of these herbs to give?
Interesting. I hope he makes it.

Karen

[Spreckles]

PS as soon as you know your birds aren't sick you finch needs a friend they don't do well as only birds.

[Lozuufy]

Well in poultry cayenne can cure some diseases so I figured I'd see if it would work for Mouse. I know in humans it increases circulation so maybe that helps somehow, not completely sure though. My mom knows about lots of herbs for treating people so we try to use the same things for the birds, just in smaller amounts.

I gave Mouse a bowl of water with some cayenne powder in it and let him drink as much as he wanted and then sprinkled a tiny bit on his food just in case he hadn't gotten enough.

The finch cage is now outside until I can clean it fully, and Mouse is just flying loose in my room. I put the house sparrow outside today because she had decided my pillow was her nest and got very territorial.

Thank you all for the reply's, and yes, as soon as I fully clean everything I will get Mouse a friend. He has been very lonely and wants to cuddle in my hand all the time, he really misses them . They were always together, it is amazing how social they are compared to my other birds who like having space from each other.

[Spreckles]

Lozuffy

I would love to see a picture of him in your hand. I hope he is improving!

[Lozuufy]

Mouse is doing great!

I'm not sure how to upload an image, so here's some links to a couple pics of him. They might not work

http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/i ... 0/flags/ZC

And then 2 pics from when he was still young

http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/i ... 0/flags/LL

http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/i ... 0/flags/LL

[Sally]

Happy to hear Mouse is doing well, your pictures did come through. Here is a link to how to add photos to your posts.

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=22710

[Lozuufy]

Some pics of Mouse when he was still a baby and being hand-fed. I don't have very many recent pics of him cause he is scared of the camera LOL.

[Spreckles]

Mouse is such a little cutie. I have a soft spot for socie's. Thanks for posting the pictures.

[Smurf]

Did you notice any sick bird symptoms before painting door ? if not then i'd suspect paint fumes being the reason

Temperature wise, societies are very hardy, here they tolerate our coldest winters in minus celsius without any issues so long as it's not a sudden dramatic drop in temperature such as being in a warm house and suddenly moved outside in winter. if birds have been in same location for months then temperature is not the problem.