My new sad excuse of a Canary. :(

[Maleficum]

Today this poor fellow moved in. He/she can't fly, don't have any feathers on its head, have to long claws and is in really bad condition. It has lived with a lot of other canaries and a lot of zebra finches (the zebra finches changed home recently because of fighting). It has lived in a cage like this so a bit overcrowded. And they lived in a church. I have no idea of the birds age or how long they lived in there previous home.

Tomorrow my vet (who is the one taking the bird home to me) is going to take home some Ivomec but do anyone here have any tips of what to do to make this poor baby better? Right now it's in a smaller cage in my bathroom (for warmer and more moist air) with water prepared with Vircon S, seeds, pellets, eggfood, coal, grit, crushed seashell and greens. All bowls are on the ground with easy access.

[lovezebs]

Maleficum

Poor kid.
What a life these poor birds must have had.

I obviously can't tell you whether it's male or female.
It has however been severely plucked, and is in very poor feather condition.
The nails need to be trimmed, but I can't tell from the picture whether there is a mite problem or not (wouldn't surprise me).

I would offer a roomy cage, so that this babe will learn to fly (probably doesn't know how).

A good diet, can do amazing things.
- hard boiled eggs, every day, fortified with pulverized freeze dried meal worms and crumbled spray millet. Shells, crushed and offered on the side.
- veggies and greens, some apple slices, and orange slices.
- a very good quality canary mix, with Finch seed added and mixed in.
- vitamin supplements added to drinking water. Cuttlefish bone and a mineral block.

I would also place a warm light over a corner of a favorite perch, and then wait for the miracle of transformation.

It might take quite a while to bring this birdling back into good condition, but I would say that it will be worth the effort.

Good luck.

[Maleficum]

lovezebs

Thank you!

Right now he/she is in a smaller cage so it's easer to catch for treatment. Right now she/he don't really sit on any of the perches instead he/she sits on the cage floor or on the cage grid(?) like in the picture.
Seams to have a bit more energy today but haven't seen him/her eat anything but the canary seeds.

Boiled egg is on its way! (Have many days can ju have a hard boiled egg in the fridge before it go bad?).

How about feeding greenfly? Malte (my other canary) loves them!

[Sally]

Poor baby, it looks so pitiful. To answer your question about eggs, I leave mine for three days in the refrigerator. I keep egg food in the freezer, since I have a lot of birds, but with just a few, I'd fix fresh every three days.

[lovezebs]

Maleficum

I will usually keep my egg food in the fridge no longer than two days. My kids prefer their eggs fresh, but will eat them a second day if they don't have a choice.

As in regards to green fly , I have never heard of them. What are they?

This poor little guy only eats Canary seed, because that's probably the only thing he was ever given. Try a little piece of spray millet. Most birds find it irresistible. When he gets a taste for it, mix a bit of egg in with it.

Let me know how it goes.

[Maleficum]

Sally
He/she looks all wet today like he/she taken a batch even if he/she haven't so he/she have done no grooming at all

@lovezebs
Aphids? (they are named bladlöss=leaf lice in Swedish).

It's a few different kinds of millets in the seed mix but he/she don't touch them (Malte don't like them ether but can eat some if they are sprouted).

Have given the first Ivomec treatment today and trimmed the claws so he/she can sit better.

[Maleficum]

Tonight was the first night "Ruggugglan" slept on the perch! And the first day I actually spotted him/her drinking. And he/she moves around a lot more today (even if it's was only on the floor).

[Zebrafincher]

Put little thing! Needs a major vet visit, and mite check, and general care! Glad it has a great owner like you.

Hope the bird lives and has a good life.

Zebrafincher

Proud Owner of
*”Merl” Merlin – Starfinch – Very old starfinch, can’t fly, has deep relationship with own reflection!
*Beaky “Beakster” – Gray Zebbie, Bossy Boots, into everything. Naughty little Boy!
*Itchy – “The Flying Golfball” – White Zebbie, Sweet little Boy!

[Maleficum]

Ruggugglan is much more alert and sits more on the perch and I also witness some preening!
And I was told he/she is about 4-5 years old.

Sadly it looks like she/he has cataract on one eye but that may just make her/him fit in more in my blind and half blind menagerie ;)

[Jamm972]

Maleficum Just give it TLC and feed it a healthy diet. keep the food easy access until his flight feathers can grow back in. I'm sure their isn't much more we can tell you that the vet hasn't already.
Keep us posted and best of luck

[Maleficum]

He/she got its second dose of Ivomec yesterday and have coughed a lot this morning. Now He/she eats pellet and prefer the sprouted seed before the dry seeds and he/she are trying some lettuce and spinach and I've seen him/her bathe!
He/she is more active and almost always sit on the perch know.

[Sally]

Sounds like he is well on the way to recovery, lucky bird to have been adopted by you!

[Jamm972]

Maleficum sounds like he/she is coming along nicely. Just takes time and patience is all
thanks for the update

[lovezebs]

Maleficum

How is little Rugg doing? Any new pictures?

[Stuart whiting]

The best way to get this bird back on its feet is a proper quality diet,

I personally have never really know many canaries to eat mealworms and virtually all serious European canary breeders would never need to use em, some canaries might eat millet but again this is not the norm, millet is not found in canary mixes, definitely not in Europe

Std seeds for canaries are :

Carbohydrate seeds : plain canary

Oil seeds : red rape, black rape, linseed ( flax ) hemp

These are all the seeds that a canary will ever need as a basic diet

To condition the birds with a conditioner seed mix it will consist of the mix above and with other added seeds IE Niger, teasel, blue more ( poppy seed ), and various wild seeds like thistle, dandelion etc.

These are all oil seeds and should be fed in moderation with the plain canary seed, the plain canary should be fed at about 50 % to the rest of the other seeds

A good quality egg food should also be used as this and the oil Seeds are all full of protein

Some carrot, broccoli grated up and eaither feed as it is or mix it in with the egg food,

This will definitely help when the canary goes through its moult as this is the time when it's gonna need as much goodness from the foods as poss,

I personally would not feed oranges as this is far to citrus and will continuesly have loose bowls,

Canaries will not moult properly if fed on a rubbish diet,

The sought of diet that many European canary breeders would use would be similar to what's mentioned above,

It's a simple no nonsense diet but effective

Do not give the canary any form of heat, it will actually make it worse and could possibly make it go into a prolonged soft moult

Also make sure the bird can bath regularly as this will improve the new feather growth immensely,
If the bird is not used to bathing then spray the bird with a fine mist spray in a garden plant sprayer

Hope your canary makes a mends