Owl Fledglings dying

[ppg5tu]

Hey everyone,

So I have a question for the owl experts. We had a coupe of pair of adult owls breeding and one pair in particular is having issues. They raised a clutch of 4 babies to fledgling age and weaning age but one day I walked into the aviary and saw one of the babies on the floor breathing heavy and looking really bad. I tried to save the bird but nothing worked. I treated all the owls with Scatt and also they had just gotten Ronivet as I treat my whole flock during breeding season. Today I walked in this morning and found another baby and one of the parent on the floor of the cage. Does anyone know what this could be? I have not seen any obvious signs of illness like puff up appearance, labored breathing, etc. They are given water through a lixit bottle so they have access to clean water all the time. I provide egg food, crushed egg shell, charcoal, grit as a mix, millet is always available and fresh seed. Thanks

[Sally]

It is odd that it is just the one cage that is having problems. Two weaned babies and one parent, so it doesn't sound like a food problem. Could there be problems with the Lixit waterer, where it is occasionally sticking and not letting them get water? Were the babies using the Lixit waterer?

[MiaCarter]

Ooh, that is concerning.
I'm sorry about your losses.
I'm not quite sure what to say. I agree with Sally that it doesn't sound like a food issue.

I know those Lixit bottles can get hung up. I won't use them for this reason. The ball bearing in the tube can get stuck for no apparent reason. Of course, if they un-stuck the ball on their own, there would be no trace of a problem. I think that water bottle is highly suspect, so I would put another water source in there. That will, at minimum, rule out dehydration as a problem.

Another thought would be whether they're ingesting too much of the Ronivet in the water. I'm sure that could be fatal. Is it especially dry in there due to heating, perhaps?
Do they have lots of moisture in their diet with fruits and veggies? Or are they totally reliant on the water bottle?

[ppg5tu]

MiaCarter

There is a second source of water in there when I wasn't treating them with Ronivet. We generally use the Lixits and also I use a normal water bowl for them. Generally speaking there is usually a few Lixits on each cage in case one gets stuck but we actually never really have any get stuck. Everyday we can see water levels dropping.

It is not too dry in there, it usually stays around 40-50% humidity, so not too dry. I'm at a loss as to why we had such losses with these owls.

[MiaCarter]

Huh. That's just odd. Not sure what to say about that!

Perhaps some sort of virus? But if that were the case, I'd expect it to strike other birds too.
I'd isolate the cage as much as possible, just in case.

[dutch]

ppg5tu....what is the ronivet for ?

Is this used to treat canker?

[ppg5tu]

Yes canker and any other protozoa infection.

[josh1810]

I can't help any, but I just had a pair get babies to weaning and fledge!!!! Then 1 by 1 babies dropped like flies...

They looked awesome, then a little puffy, then heavy puffed breathing, then dropped head, then dead....

I hope you figure it out soon... Its horrible to loose babies all the way that far along...

[MiaCarter]

josh1810 - I'm so sorry to hear this.

Is it possible the parents stopped feeding too soon?
That's a common cause of death in older birds who are right around weaning age. The juveniles can fade and ultimately die, usually of dehydration.

ppg5tu - How are your guys doing? No more losses, I hope?