FINCHforum

Ok, I posted about a month ago about my finch having babies and then the other finches killed them..
Well those finches are gone, I got the female a beautiful male friend and they made a nest and had some babies. On Friday there were 5 babies, in the nest, almost ready to come out, I had a family emergency and had to leave town....I was gone Sat and Sun, arrived home early in the am of Monday ( today), had to leave early for work didn't get a chance but to peak on the birds, came home from work and went to feeding, ( my roommate told me he had fed them Sat but forgot to on Sun....mind you today they still had seed, pellets etc, so they were not out of food or water, but their porridge was old in the bottom of the cage.

This afternoon I get home and there are 4 babies in the cage out of the nest, I thought well I counted 5 on Fri, look in the nest and there is a dead baby pushed to the back, the other baby that is out of the nest is eating but also his tail feather are all diarrhea.....tonight he is not sleeping with the other babies, but on a ladder by himself....They are not eating yet, but I made new porridge ( I got it from the bird store its what the owner feeds his guoldians and canary show bird babies) and the parents are feeding them, I also put paper towels on the bottom of the cage covering the grate as I saw they were getting their feet lost. I also put a shallow dish they can't fall into with water, a millet, pellets and of course the porridge. They seemed interested in looking at everything and I even got them all to perch on my fingers without fright, the parents were chirpiing away, but the babies seemed fine with my fingers, I am going to keep doing this to help see if they will tend to remain calm when they get older.

But I am concered that the one baby died and the other has diarrhea all over his feathers...is there anything safe I can do for him ? none of the others have it, he seemed to be the only one, the parents are feeding him and he is chirpiing.

Thanks

I would realy like to help dut i dont know anything.
Goodluck getting help,hopw the bird does not die.

It's possible that another bird deficated (pooped) while perched over the other baby or flew over and the poop just landed on the babies tail feathers.

I have some babies that get pooped on their heads! Sorry, that's NOT funny!

Congrats on your new babies. Sounds like they are doing well now.

Well I went back to the store and got some meds from the owner, he said most likely it was a infection in their intestinal tracts and to try some meds which he got for me. I use it in their water for 5 days in a row, I have only used it today and yesterday and the diarrhea is gone. The babies are eating well and looking much better. Also he said that they may be a little chilled as I am in FL but we are having a cold front, I used to ( many years ago) have chickens when I lived elsewhere , for some strange reason I never got rid of my heat lamps,....well last night I hooked them up and now the living room is very heated, the birds really appreciated the extra warmth, so I will leave it on until the normal weather comes back, this way as the guy told me they are not using any excess strengh trying to stay warm, this way they won't get chilled as this can kill them off quickly when they are sick with the smallest thing.

SO I think they will be ok, they are also much more noisy today, which is a good thing, before they just were sitting on the perch or floor, today they are flying around and chirping and acting like adult birds.

Where are you from in fl,your right about cold front brrrrrrr

L in Ontario wrote:

I have some babies that get pooped on their heads! Sorry, that's NOT funny!

Yes it is Liz!

I am in Orlando....and its freezing cold here, there was frost out on the grass this morning and let me check and its only 56 in the middle of the day....way to cold, up until about 3 weeks ago we were still able to swim in our pool, but now its just too cold.

I will be glad when it warms up, as I moved to FL to stay warm.

PS the babies are still doing great and love the heat lamp too...

I am in Indiana and the little pond beside my apartment has been frozen for the past 6-7 WEEKS!!!
I would LOVE 56. Although today, for the first time in a long time, we are pushing to the upper 40s. GO TEMP GO!!!

(needless to say my finches are indoors in a cage)