Silverbills, What went wrong?

[tobyneilson]

OK,unsure if i have this in right place,feel free move it

I had a pair of silverbills,they raised one chick last year,this year they had 2 chicks,both fledged around 3 week ago,they spent all their time on the floor,they would fly up but seemed unable to land properly, anyway I put it down to age etc, well unfortantly both chicks have now died,Just wondering why, the parents were with them so I would presume they were feeding them,and I never heard them call for food whereas when they were in nest they were very noisy!
Did they fledge to young?
Ir is it likly to be a gene deficit or something?
Just trying to work out why/where to improve so can try again next year

[ac12]

Check the chicks crop, full or empty.
Feel both sides of the breast bone, is there flesh or does the breastbone stick out. No/little flesh = not fed enough.

Availability of enough food. Finches don't normally dig down, so a layer of seed hulls will stop them from eating the seeds below.

What was the activity level around the cage? Too much activity could scare them away from the chicks.

Did you remove the nest? Keeping the nest in might encourage them to start another clutch and abandon the current clutch.

[tobyneilson]

There was little flesh on the breastbone,so looks like they dod not get enough food for some reason
The activity around the cage is minimal as it is in the corner of the bird room,only interaction is twice a day when I change seed and water
I removed the nest a couple days after the chicks had fledged

[tobyneilson]

They fledged at around 3 weeks old
There was plenty of food in there for them and the parents,changed seed twice a day so no hull chuffs(whatever ya call them lol) and fresh food given as well

[tobyneilson]

Yep everything was in there,the parents were still with them as well,that is what is making me wonder,as to why the parents did not feed them if they were not eating

[cindy]

Toby, this is an article on "going light" or wasting away.

http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/featur ... glight.php

It may not be anything that the parents are doing, they may have been feeding the young but for some reason their (babies) bodies were not absorbing the food.

Parasites can be passed to young even if the parents do not show signs. The young have very young immune systems and may succumb to the parasites.

It could be bacterial also.

When reading the article you can click on the underlined blue words, then click on the picture of the product to read more about symptoms and cure.

[tobyneilson]

Thanks for that cindy,some interesting reading there

[tobyneilson]

No not treated them with canker,but the adults dont show any of those symptons listed there

[tobyneilson]

OK thanks will start to treat them for it