I lost a bird :(

[Meagan83]

Well, for the first time I have lost a bird to eggbinding. It was a little gould hen too She had just taken a fancy to my yellowback male and was so happy. I noticed on monday morning that she seemed a bit fluffed, but I feed my birds at 7 am and sometimes they are a bit sleepy still so I did not think anything of it (if I had just given it more thought...) Well, Tuesday morning came and she was quite fluffed and seemed a bit drowzy. I knew what it was this time, but feared it may be too late. Well, I put some vegtable oil on her rear gently with a qtip and put her in her nest. Then I wrapped the cage with a towel and put a lamp next to it. When I got home I expected she may not be alive, BUT she seemed peppy and I saw her take a HUGE poop. Upon close inspection, her bottom was a bit bloody and she had some blood smeared on her beak. I though maybe the oil had made her peck at her bottom? I checked the nest and saw that she had passed the egg but it was covered in dried blood. She seemed to feel better though. But this morning she was at the bottom of the cage. I made sure she had food and water and was warm, but she passed away before I got home from work.
What caused her to bleed??? The egg was fully intact. Obviously it was not from her pecking herself or the egg would not have been covered in blood also.

I have never lost a hen to eggbinding. I have had it happen to me 3x with different finches in the past, but always caught it quick and the oil made them pass it and they made full recoveries. I supply cuttle bone AND ground oyster shell to all of my birds. Why does this happen?!?
I am devastated and her little mate is lonely now.

[lovemyfinch]

So so sorry for your loss. Hugs...

I am wondering if maybe she had such a hard time that she ended up hemoraghing(spelling)?

[cindy]

I am sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you. I hope someone can offer some advice. Again, sorry for your loss.

I am tending to think along the same lines as Janine, perhaps when she was trying to push the egg out she may have torn a little and ruptured a blood vessel.

[Animal Quackers]

I have absolutely no advice or suggestions...but want to send my sincere condolences to you.

Rest in peace, little hen!

[Pukasand]

That is really too bad ((hugs). I'm sorry you lost her.

[Meagan83]

RIP little girl.

It's unfair that she died simply because she wanted to lay eggs. She had lived with her sister for the past two years. If I had just left her with her sister she would still be here. I feel terrible.

[cindy]

Meagan, you can't blame yourself. You could not forsee this. Just hold onto the thought that for those two years she knew she was loved and well cared for. She was beautiful and had a good life with you.

She may have had a underlying condition that you may not have been able to detect.

I feel so bad for you, thoughts are with you.

[Meagan83]

Janine and Cindy, I think you are both right.
Thanks for your kind words.

[L in Ontario]

Aww I'm so sorry to hear this Meagan! She was a beautiful hen. I also agree with Cindy - don't blame yourself. She had a wonderful life while with you!

[CandoAviary]

So sorry for your loss. She was beautiful. Always the worst part of finch keeping is when we lose one.
I will offer some advice since no one has mentioned it. Many may not be aware..... Calcium cannot be absorbed properly and utilized without Vitamin D. Make sure, especially your breeding hens get plenty of vitamin D, eggs are a good source, sunshine is the best or there are products like calciboost, calcium plus that contain a readily absorbable calcium with mag. and vitamin D.
Also, many time it is not the calcium defincientcy but the lack of muscle conditioning of the hen. They may not be in strong enough physical shape that they can expell the egg. Overweight hens have many more problems than toned hens.
I'm not saying this was the case with your hen as even hens in the greatest conditions sometimes fall ill to eggbinding, perhaps from an oversized egg or odd shaped egg, or soft shell egg, rupture, hemorage, inverted duct, etc.

[Sally]

So sorry for your loss. Cod liver oil is also a good source of vitamin D. I was watching old movies at my sister's house last weekend, and my mother was giving me a spoonful of cod liver oil (I was a helpless baby, forced to swallow that awful stuff!). People used to give that to their kids, especially in northern states where there were many gray, sunless days. Birds need D3 so they can utilize the calcium in their diet.

[Meagan83]

Well, as far as vitamin D, my birds get their own room and the cages are stationed against or next to the windows with the blinds always open. They get plenty of natural sunlight. Maybe I should try some more suppliments. I have been wanting to purchase a moulting suppliment as well anyway, this would be a good time to get it all in the same order. Are there any particular products you can suggest? Does gouldianfinch.com carry this sort of thing? I have ordered from them before. Seems to be a good company.

[Pukasand]

I give my birds Palm Oil Meal, it's supposed to help them in the laying process. Just a thought you may want to investigate.

[Finch Fry]

Well, as far as vitamin D, my birds get their own room and the cages are stationed against or next to the windows with the blinds always open. They get plenty of natural sunlight.

Unless the window is open, and surely its not given that its winter, they are receiving no useful sunlight. Have a search on the forums about sunlight and D3. The glass in windows is designed to remove ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light is what converts the oils excreeted by the preen gland on birds to D3. When the bird cleans itself, it inevitably gets some of that in its beak. Thus supplying and administering its own D3 source to itself. So, with sunlight through a window, you remove the ability to convert preening gland oils to D3 vitamins that they need... which in turn doesn't let them absorb calcium. So the solution here is go out to petsmart and pick up a 3 dollar bottle of water soluble bird vitamins and add a drop or 2 to each water dish daily. Also, feed fresh egg food daily. Finally, you can pick up super high D3 intense vitamin supplements from most bird specific stores online.

And like Candace said, most calcium suppliments you get will have significant amounts of D3 to assist calcium absorption.

I really think with this small change, you wont have an egg binding issue again.

[L in Ontario]

I have to agree 100% with what Chris said. I've also researched this and found sunlight ultraviolet rays cannot penetrate glass or plastic. So liquid calcium and finch vitamins are standard in my birds' routine.