Just an update from my “Sick Gouldian Hen” thread and another question about Gouldians...
Firstly, it’s been a miserable, miserable week
19/05 – Normal Gouldian hen, Rosie showed symptoms + 5 dead chicks in nest with empty crops
20/05 – Rosie and her underdeveloped fledgling from previous clutch, Pip, passed on. Rosie’s mate, Bandit, started showing symptoms
21/05 – Yellow Gouldian cock, Baby, started showing symptoms. Bandit passed on at approx 9pm. Treatment for Coccidiosis and bacterial infection started 21/05 9:30am on advice from specialist. Avio-Cox (Sulphadimethoxine 12.5%m/m, Trimethoprim 20% m/m. Dextrose qs 100%m/m) for a 5 day course, not 3 days as I incorrectly said earlier (3 days is for prevention)
23/05 – Baby still showing symptoms and his mate, Violet started to show symptoms. Nest of 7 checks lost , empty crops
26/05 – Baby passed on just before 10am this morning. Violet however, is looking better and her droppings are starting to look more solid as of this afternoon. Please say a prayer for her
Only the Gouldians have shown any symptoms. Symptoms started with fluffing up and quickly went downhill to shivering, diarrhoea and a wet/dirty vent area. Baby fought until the end but I obviously didn’t get the meds in time for him. The good news is, that I have 3 youngsters from each pair in the juvenile flight who are all (thank the Lord!) as healthy as can be. So for those I have lost, at least their legacy lives on. They have also been on treatment along with everyone else, including the Cordon Bleu’s in quarantine. All birds were started on probiotics this morning, Protexin.
Besides relooking at my entire aviary (I made some changes to reduce damp spots around the bottom water/bath dish and pot plant area’s), I also made a dropdown for in front of the aviary, so that now only a ¼ of the front is exposed during the winter nights and days during periods of bad weather (roof and 3 sides completely covered). This will help block out more wind. Prevention for coccidiosis is now on the list, along with their current worming routine.
Out of all the birds I have, only the Gouldians, Society’s and Canaries are indoor bred and this is their first winter outdoors (the indoor bred birds were purchased between Sept - Dec 2012 and have been outside since). The rest have all been bred outside in aviaries. When I spoke to the specialist, he told me that Gouldians in particular are prone to sickness and battle with temperature changes. We have been having some weird temperature fluctuations the last few weeks going into winter (hot, cold, hot, cold) and I’m pretty sure this did not assist the indoor bred Gouldians to strengthen their immune system against getting the infection. Most articles I have read online have pretty much reiterated what the specialist said.
This all brought me to a lot of researching, as I have been wondering how best to condition the next generation of Gouldians to be “tougher” for outdoor living conditions year round. I read quite a few articles about indoor bred birds having their immune systems “weakened” due to the more sterile environments and constant temperatures compared to birds kept outside.
I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on the subject of conditioning for outdoor living and what you have personally done before that has worked successfully. I have always been against treating my animals for prevention, preferring to treat only for diagnosed conditions (except for de-worming and fleas, lol) but the birds are now making me rethink my policy. They pass on so quickly once sick
