FINCHforum

My strawberry male was acting a bit odd last night at lights out. He repeatedly called for his mate all though she was sitting right beside him. I thought he was losing it.

Well this morning I find the berry hen sitting all fluffed up on the floor of the aviary. I quickly set up a hospital cage and easily caught her, which is never a good sign. I think she's either eggbound, she lays lots of eggs, or possibly she is just old and hasn't long to live. My cordon bleu hen died a couple weeks ago. I got these birds from a woman who had to sell out due to moving out of the country. I'm not sure about the age of these birds, but I think Diane had them for 4-5 years. I've had them eleven months. So that would make them at least six years old.

I'm guessing the stress of being caught and having nails trimmed is what pushed the cb over the edge. Not sure what the berry hen's problem is but I'm not holding out much hope for her.

I'm uncertain how old is old for a cb or strawberry. What do y'all think is their natural life span?

Update:

After spending an hour in the hospital cage my berry hen has passed a soft shelled egg. She may live afterall.

Yea! That's got to be tough on an old girl! You know the drill - lots of calcium! I had the same thing happen with my young berry hen the other day. I gave her heat, she passed the darn thing, and now she settled on just sitting on the swee's eggs. Smart decision!

Hilary

I've been gone all day so was relieved to see my berry hen all perky and eating some millet. It seems the scare is over for now. I will keep her in the hospital cage with heat over night and if she appears okay release her back into the aviary before I leave for work in the morn.

I have been reminded that the birds require vitamin D in order to absorb the calcium. I'm debating on getting some cod liver oil or increasing the vitamins in their eggfood mix.

Unfortunately, there's no way I can increase their exposure to the sun.