Male Gouldian with swollen vent area

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

I have a male RHYB split-to-blue that has some internal issues.

He recently pulled some feathers from around his vent and now I see that the whole area is swollen. His mate is sitting on 6 eggs (for the past 4 days) but now I'm doubting that any of those are fertile because of his illness. This young pair already had one clutch of infertile eggs. They usually sit on the eggs together so I'm wondering if he could actually be an egg bound female. A red tipped beak definately means he's a male right? I haven't seen him do the courtship dance either but I read that mating usually takes place inside the nest box.
Can someone help me with a diagnosis and maybe some suggestions for a cure?

Thanks,
Paul

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

I didn't see any replies to my question above so I did have this bird vet checked yesterday by an avian specialist.

Apparently, this is an egg bound female with a red tipped beak that makes her appear to be a male.
The estimate was $150 to $325 for veterinary services to remove the egg so I requested a calcium shot and some calcium/D3 food supplements and took her home for some warm baths, heat treatments and KY applications.

Not sure if I will be successful but at least this resolves the infertility question between this bonded pair of females. My other BB female (now on 6 infertile eggs) will be released to fly with the rest of the colony in the outdoor aviary. Hopefully she'll find a mate she likes this season.

If anyone has a favorite remedy for egg binding I would appreciate any new advice you can offer short of expensive vet services.
Any thoughts about breaking the egg to allow it to pass?
I read almost all the threads and links here on the subject of egg bound hens. Doing all I can to save her.

Thanks,

Paul

[Stuart whiting]

I didn't see any replies to my question above so I did have this bird vet checked yesterday by an avian specialist.

Apparently, this is an egg bound female with a red tipped beak that makes her appear to be a male.
The estimate was $150 to $325 for veterinary services to remove the egg so I requested a calcium shot and some calcium/D3 food supplements and took her home for some warm baths, heat treatments and KY applications.

Not sure if I will be successful but at least this resolves the infertility question between this bonded pair of females. My other BB female (now on 6 infertile eggs) will be released to fly with the rest of the colony in the outdoor aviary. Hopefully she'll find a mate she likes this season.

If anyone has a favorite remedy for egg binding I would appreciate any new advice you can offer short of expensive vet services.
Any thoughts about breaking the egg to allow it to pass?
I read almost all the threads and links here on the subject of egg bound hens. Doing all I can to save her.

Thanks,

Paul

Hi pual,

To be onest I had a suspicion that your bird was a hen,

What normally happens is that the hen is trying to lay an egg when a sudden drop in temperature happens and stops the egg from being layed, hence the bird being egg bound,

If you ever experience this again I'd surgest in placing the bird in a hospital cage or any cage with a heat lamp as the heat can sometimes help the hen to pass the egg through the cloccla ( vent )

What ever you do, DO NOT break the egg inside the bird thinking it will then come out as this can certainly kill the bird as the egg shell will more than likely rupture the lining of inside the bird, I've actually seen this happen before with a few canary fanciers over the years who thought that they knew better and to their horror the bird went within seconds lying in their hand avoid this at all costs

Hope yer hen bird gets better soon

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

Thanks for the advice Stuart,

She's in a hospital cage with a heat lamp and getting warm baths in the vent area 3 times a day with a little KY jelly applied after each soak. Guess all I can do now is
Is a red beak female very common? She was sold to me in January as a male.

P

[Stuart whiting]

Thanks for the advice Stuart,

She's in a hospital cage with a heat lamp and getting warm baths in the vent area 3 times a day with a little KY jelly applied after each soak. Guess all I can do now is
Is a red beak female very common? She was sold to me in January as a male.

P

That sounds ok pual

Yea mate I've seen a few red beaked hens over the years and to be onest pual I wouldn't necessarily go by this as regards to sexing them as once the birds have gone through there first moult all Gouldians should be easily visually sexable being diamorphic,

All birds that are non visually sexable are monomorphic

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

What would your guess be of the YB bird in the first pic above?

Not sure of your terminology. Can you explain what you mean by:

"easily visually sexable being diamorphic"...
and
"birds that are non visually sexable are monomorphic"

One more question.

If I pair up a BHBB female with a RHGB male will I get all green back split to blue babies and no actual BB?
Or should I try to buy a green split to blue male?

The goal here is to develop a new blue strain to contrast with all my other birds.

Thanks

[Sally]

When I've had an eggbound hen, the first thing I do is give liquid calcium, one or two drops directly to the side of the beak. This usually makes the hen open her beak, and at least some of the calcium gets into her. Since you've done a calcium shot, I'd think that would have the same effect.

In addition to the calcium, a heat lamp and some extra humidity. You can supply the humidity by wetting a small towel or dishtowel, wringing it out well, and draping it over one end of the cage (away from the lamp). Good luck with this, I hope you can save her.

FYI, monomorphic means the male and female birds look exactly alike, so that you can't sex them just by looking at them. Orange-cheeked waxbills would be a example. Some say there are differences around the vent, but it is so subtle that it is not a reliable way to sex them.

Dimorphic means the males look considerably different than the females, so that you can easily tell which is a male and which a female just by looking at them. An example here would be Red-cheeked Cordon Bleus, where only the male has the red cheek patches.

Gouldians are considered dimorphic, since they normally are fairly easy to sex, but it seems that some of the mutations can be confusing.

[debbie276]

On gouldians the beak color is the same male or female. When the females are in breeding mode their beak turns black. Then goes back to red or yellow depending on the mutation after they come out of breeding mode.
To get a Blue chick you must have the blue gene in each parent to pass on.
I would have bet money your Pastel was a male, dark purple breast, clear red head and a dark yellow belly. Did it pass an egg?

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

Still waiting.
She's still lively even after 48 hours. I have some calcivet in her drinking water and the warm bath water and lubricant seem to be soothing. Is there anything else available that would help her dilate the vent? I'll try the wet cloth on the perches now.
Temps are steady at around 105F.

Thanks
Paul

[Stuart whiting]

What would your guess be of the YB bird in the first pic above?

Not sure of your terminology. Can you explain what you mean by:

"easily visually sexable being diamorphic"...
and
"birds that are non visually sexable are monomorphic"

One more question.

If I pair up a BHBB female with a RHGB male will I get all green back split to blue babies and no actual BB?
Or should I try to buy a green split to blue male?

The goal here is to develop a new blue strain to contrast with all my other birds.

Thanks

Hi pual,

To save me writing it all out again I've noticed that Sally has explained very well as regards to my original mentioning about monomorphic and diamorphic,

As regards to the sexing of some of the mutations which can be a little trickier I tend to keep away from the mutation birds as I only prefer to stick to normal colour birds IE with Gouldians the likes of black, red and yellow headed normals

In truth I should think Debbie is the one for mutation Gouldians

[Stuart whiting]

When I've had an eggbound hen, the first thing I do is give liquid calcium, one or two drops directly to the side of the beak. This usually makes the hen open her beak, and at least some of the calcium gets into her. Since you've done a calcium shot, I'd think that would have the same effect.

In addition to the calcium, a heat lamp and some extra humidity. You can supply the humidity by wetting a small towel or dishtowel, wringing it out well, and draping it over one end of the cage (away from the lamp). Good luck with this, I hope you can save her.

FYI, monomorphic means the male and female birds look exactly alike, so that you can't sex them just by looking at them. Orange-cheeked waxbills would be a example. Some say there are differences around the vent, but it is so subtle that it is not a reliable way to sex them.

Dimorphic means the males look considerably different than the females, so that you can easily tell which is a male and which a female just by looking at them. An example here would be Red-cheeked Cordon Bleus, where only the male has the red cheek patches.

Gouldians are considered dimorphic, since they normally are fairly easy to sex, but it seems that some of the mutations can be confusing.

Totally agree, well said Sally