FINCHforum

My Hen of 15 months old has been well. She breed and laid 2 dud eggs. I let them set until they themselves threw out the eggs. After about 2 weeks they proceed to lay another clutch, She laid one egg, yesterday I noticed she was fluffed and sleeping when everyone else was active in the bird room. I thopught maybe early sign of eggbinding so I seperated, applied heat and calcium plus. She acted different, was content to perch and was eating seed, dry eggfood and millet. This morning she was fluffed but all in the bird room were in different stages of awakening. She hopped down from her perch and ate, drank...... looked okay. Got home this afternoon and she is in the bottom corner. No heavy breathing, No droopy wings, no puffed feathes. I noticed several dark mounds of poop. Looked like dark black tar with undigested seed. upon smearing the poop solid black with the consistancy of soft caramel with millet seed undigested. There was extremely white urea on the outer part.
Any idea Bird was fine with no symptoms at all 2 days ago. Male in the cage fine. Could not find the same type droppings in the cage that I removed her from. Those droppings look normal.
I have now put her on a sulphur remedy... Sulcox
Any additional help appreciated.

I looked on the finch niche site it said possibly bleeding could cause black stool here is the link http://www.finchniche.com/f-poopology.mgi
Good luck hope she is better

Thank you Bill, this is the page I was looking for but could not get it to load from my search...Thanks

I am not a good "poop" person to ask, but Tiffany and Misty could possibly help you.

Maybe if you sent them a PM>>>>>>

After researching the poopology site and other health sites I decided to put her on an antibotic/ronex treatment. When I went out to the bird room she was dead. On her back with a brown discharge coming out of her mouth and a good size puddle on the paper towel covering the grate in the hospital cage. I picked her up and pressed her sides and more brown/blood came out.
My goodness, all I can imagine is she had a tumur rupture.
With no diarreah, not even a wet vent I can't imagine an intestinal or reproductive infection. With the first symptom of puffed feathers yesterday afternoon when I decided to move her, and by the way she was not real easy to catch, not a weak bird, and then seeing her eat seed and millet spray before nightfall, I wasn't too alarmed.
Upon coming home this afternoon and finding the strangest poop I had ever seen, I knew then someting serious was going on. But to find her dead, on her back (suggest seizure), and a dark fluid coming from her mouth.... just real puzzling.
Hubby said it looked like she had a stomach ulcer that ruptured...
Definately something that I do not think could of possibly be forseen nor fixed. She had a wonderful 15 months, was born here and loved it here. I took the one egg she had laid and put it under the new societies. Maybe it will be fertile.
The sad thing is her mate is calling for her I will set him up with someone once I am 100% possitive that he will not come down with this mysterious malady. May she fly joyfully in birdie Heaven.

So sorry to hear of your loss Candace. I am positive that she had a very happy life with you, what finch couldn't? May she fly in peace.

So sorry for your loss. It doesn't sound like you could have done any more for her, it was out of your control. But what a strange illness. Was this one of your Gouldians?

Yes, it was one of my BH PB YB hens that I was born last year. She was almost 15 months old. Her sister looks just like her and she had 4 chicks and then laid 7 eggs in this second clutch. 3 hatched today ... I guess you have to take the bad with the good... but it is still hard...no matter how many you have. Stranges death I have ever seen. Fine yesterday morning, nesting with egg, puffy yesterday afternoon so I seperated suspecting maybe a case of eggbinding coming on. Yet she ate and drank in the hospital cage and perched. This morning she ate and then whan I came home after church she was just standing on the bottom of the cage looking at me. She was not puffed up and really did not look sick... just those strange piles of poop. At least she didn't suffer for long. I truly feel it was kidney failure..cancer, or the like. I had thought maybe an egg had broken inside but there was no discharge and she was eating???? I will never know, but she will be missed.

Oh goodness Candace, I am so very sorry.

That sounds absolutely nightmarish, and I hate to hear of birds dying, especially when it sounds so painful like this.

This does sound like a rupture or some other severe problem - it sounds like you did everything you could.
Whatever it was, it was very aggressive and probably could not have been helped
She was beautiful

I hope her egg was fertile and your societies can raise her baby for you. Then you'd have something left of her still.