Outbreak(?) in aviary?

[Animal Quackers]

I have been so busy lately - I have had three days off in the last 8 weeks, although I am only working part-time days. Still, it gets busy! I apologize for being so absent, and missing so much of what is going on in the other aviaries!

I need some advice and suggestions!

About one month ago, I woke up to find my Red Factor male canary dead at the bottom of the cage. I was heartbroken! I only have a small number of small birds - less than ten each of canaries and finches, and two Ringneck Doves - in our TV room, so I do not have a lot of birds and he was an amazingly beautiful and special former showbird! He was living with a Red Factor female, so I took her to the vet immediately! We treated her for ten days with Baytril and Fluconazole, although my avian vet said she appeared healthy. She and my other four canaries are well and happy (knock wood!).

Yesterday evening, I came home at 5:00 and checked the small bird room. Everyone was fine. At about 7:30, I found one of my Societies on the bottom of the cage, panting. I believe she was a female, and she had been mating with a male Indian Silverbill for about a week, so my first thought was that she was eggbound. I took her out of the cage and inspected her vent area, and gently felt it to see if I could feel an egg. I could not. I immediately gave her one drop of Calciboost in her beak, and put her in a small box with some water and millet and a soft towel for her to sit on. I put it near a heat source, but checked every ten minutes to make sure she was not too warm. By 9:30 she was dead.

I immediately again checked her vent area, to see if I could see any signs of her being eggbound. She absolutely did not appear to be to me. I had read here last night while she was sick about "panting" finches, and I do not believe she had air sac mites as she had no other symptoms. I have no idea what happened to her!

She looked so uncomfortable, and I am now scared to death that whatever killed her might be "going around" ths bird room.

I called my avian vet to get some advice, and unfortunately (for us, not him!), he is out of town until Monday. So I am here to ask for all the advice I can get:

What should I do to help protect my bird room now? I do not have a TON of antibiotics or nutritional suppliments on hand, although I do have a few. We just finished a round of Apple Cider Vinegar in the water for ten days, followed by ten days of probiotics in the water. I add 10 drops per gallon of water of GSE to the birds' water on a daily basis, and from time to time mix that up with 1/2 teaspoon Vanodine instead. The finches eat Zupreem Natural Diet pellets on a daily basis, with a breakfast of cous cous, veggies, quinoa and soaked and sprouted seeds every day. They have dry egg food available at all times, as well as cuttlebone and Herb Salad mix. I add a couple drops of red palm oil to their wet food about 3 or 4 times a week, and about 1 or 2 times a week a sprinkle of both spirulina and Nekton-bio. Because they eat pellets as their main diet, I do not provide additional vitamins (just the Nekton-bio a couple times a week). They get about 14 hours of full-spectrum light every day, and are offered (and generally take!) a bath every day. I give them a treat of millet about once a week.

What can I/should I be doing differently, and what can I/should I do now, after Speed Racer's (named by my husband, not me!) death, to help protect and ensure the health of my current flock?

I thank you all in advance for reading this, and for any advice or suggestions you can offer!

Best!

[MLaRue]

I'm sorry for your losses.

How old are the birds dying? Where did they come from originally? How long have you had them?

Are you seeing any signs of illness in their poops before you can visually see they are ill?

I have to ask why the Vet would treat the other bird with Baytril and a Fungal medicine without just cause? Just because the Canary died doesn't mean the cage mate is ill too?

How much time passed between the Canary dying and the Society finch dying? This almost seems viral to me - something that is going to have to run its course.

[Animal Quackers]

Misty, Thank you for the kind reply!

Truthfully, I have no idea how old Speed Racer (the finch) was. In December, my husband and I went into Petco to get some supplies and there were two finches - a Society and a Spice - in a cage right in front of the store by the rats and ferrets. Every time the door opened, a blast of cold air came in and hit them. They were returned to the store by a customer to be rehomed. I figured if the fear of the ferrets and rats or being out in the wide open in a tiny little cage didn't kill them, the cold New Englandk December air would! The manager told me they were $5 for the pair, so we bought them. Speed Racer had no band, so she COULD have been very old!

Jupiter, the Red Factor who died about a month ago, was purchased from a breeder locally. I had him about 2 years and he was about one year old when I bought him. I think my vet was just being very cautious and just assuming that Jupiter COULD have died from a bacterial or funcal infection, and if he did, it would be wise to treat his cagemate. Blaze never showed any symptoms, but I was afraid that if he had something contagious, he could have given it to her, as they were mated and he often fed her. There was no proof that Jupiter's cagemate Blaze was sick - just a "better safe than sorry."

I'm just looking for suggestions as to how to treat the other canaries, finches, and doves in the same room now, as a preventative measure.

Thanks again!

[MLaRue]

Michelle,

It is hard to suggest something because we can't see all your birds in person. Not just your birds but their actions, poops, vitality, etc...

Baytril and Fluconazole aren't medicines I would use as a preventative medicine. Both could do more harm than good if the bird is not sick to begin with... or not sick with something these would treat. If the birds have a parasite problem then it would weaken their immune system and allow the parasite to take over the bird faster - for example certain bacteria will keep yeast in check but a medicine like Baytril will wipe out that bacteria. Thus allowing the yeast to take over.

I know when we loose them we tend to go into panic mode. I'm guilty of this in the past (many years ago) and from experience I feel my birds suffered more from this type of a reaction.

The female Society could have been old or she could have been egg bound and she just didn't respond to the treatment in time.

How does the overall flock look? Are they active? Eating normally? Sleeping with heads tucked all through out the day? Poops look good and tight with no odors? If you can say 99% of the flock looks normal and is acting normal then you would need to isolate the bird (s) that are looking off or ill. At that time I would decide what to do with them based on their symptoms.

I have to confess I'm not a big fan of ACV, GSE or Vanodine. I use to belong to a group that would openly recommend using GSE with the birds. I then happened on a group of people that believe it is to strong and caustic for birds (internally). I've never seen any real benefits from using ACV either. Most say you have to use too much to see any real benefit with our birds. As for Vanodine - well I've never seen anyone mention using it internally for birds?

If there is a viral thing going on it will have to run its course. If there is a bacterial, fungal, parasitic problem we can tackle. Tell me when you get new birds or when you got all of these birds did you treat them with anything during quarantine? This may help us decide what course to take for your birds.

Did your Avian Vet do any lab work at his office? Did he do a gram stain? Did he check for parasites? This also would help us knowing what he might have seen or not seen in the fecals of the other bird (s) he suggested you treat.

[dfcauley]

I LOVE the vanodine, but only use it for cleaning. I have never used it internally for my birds.

I am so sorry for your loss.....