Egg Yolk found on bottom of cage....female puffed up.... :-(

[StarSpun]

Hi everyone!

I've noticed my male and female finch, er, doing the 'deed' lately. I haven't provided a nest for them, because I don't think she's ready to breed and I wanted to wait until the spring when things are less hectic around here.

I noticed her today breathing quite fast with some tail bobbing....one of her wings is set slightly lower than the other one too.
Upon cleaning their cage, I noticed what appears to be dried up egg yolk! No sign of anything else! I am totally panicking....

I have upped the calcium lately....and now put a drop on her beak. I've also rubbed olive oil on her vent. I don't feel anything protruding there....but then again I'm not an expert. She flies around fine but rests a lot poofed up. She has been pooping fine it seems....I took her out to make sure it was her poop and not her mates....

Should I set her up in a hospital tank with high humidity and heat? Or is it too late now that the egg may already be broken inside her?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
I and her mate, Prince, would be devastated if anything happened to her:-(

[David]

StarSpun,

I'm sorry to hear that your bird is not feeling well, it's never too late to trey your best at least. What you can do now is if you have a heated lamp, which will help her to stay warm by put it on top of her cage at least 2 inches distance in case too warm if get too close to her . If you put olive oil on her vent which will be hard to clean later on, and not as effective because the yolk already broken like you said.


You can try to put her in the restroom with shower head running hot water, for about 15-20 min, the steam may help her to get rid of the rest of the broken egg part (if any still left inside). Make sure you also should feed her more egg food, fresh water and vegetables since she loose calcium or maybe get egg binding from this time. Hope she can feel better after a day or so, good luck and please come back here if you have more questions.

David

32 zebra finches

[Smurf]

You don't say what species finch you have, if i were to make a guess i'd say zebra from doing a search of "prince" ?

If the pair are in same cage and eager to breed/laying eggs then i'd introduce a nest box

[Sally]

Dried up yolk on the bottom of the cage can either be from a soft-shelled egg, or it could be that the birds ate the shell after the egg broke on the floor. I'd go with the soft-shelled egg, which indicates a lack of calcium. You can start giving her some liquid calcium in the water. She also could lack vitamin D3, which would mean that even if she had access to plenty of calcium, she may not be able to utilize it in her body. Adding hard-boiled eggs to her diet will supply D3, or most of the liquid calciums for birds have added D3, or you could offer her a multi-vitamin that contains D3 and calcium.

[StarSpun]

Thanks everyone for the wonderful advice. A few hours after I posted this, she started looking better, and soon afterr completely normal. So strange! I have upped the calcium and D3, and have also provided a nest. I will update....as I can't believe there is just one egg....

Thanks again for everyones help!

[David]

StarSpun,

I'm happy to hear your bird is doing well and normal afterward, pleased observe her more make sure everything is good these days, good luck! Let us know if you have any questions to ask!

David