Abdominal tumor in zebra finch

[Sally]

A few people we have helped have had birds die from crop impaction of both charcoal and grit... the crop was packed and the birds literally starved to death.

My personal opinion is that a bird that eats so much charcoal and/or grit to have an impaction had some underlying problem. I don't believe a normal finch will eat so much grit and/or charcoal that its crop would be packed full. I feed oyster shell grit, egg shell, and charcoal without problem.

[Stuart whiting]

cindy arh....I often thought that you must of had some kind of connections with a local vet and your daughter working for an avian vet all makes perfect sence as your knowledge on avian vettinary and medication is quite extensive


Yes I have to agree cindy as I've also mentioned above that I've seen various freinds birds half starved because I've realised that they've been feeding grit and has become clogged in the GI tract / Gizzard but is then all to often to late for the birds,

I've aslo learnt that as much as a lot of people state how good egg shell is to feed to yer birds especially when breeding because of the calcium levels contained I've now for a while decided to avoid using this as for the very reason you've just mentioned,

If one thought about the fact that a sharp piece of egg shell could quite easily get fed to a youngster with some egg food or soak seed for example and the poor chick could easily have its tiny throat torn and scratched, this could then in reality lead to infection in its throat or worse,

Nowadays I tend to grate loads of cuttlefish for added calcium

[debbie276]

My personal opinion is that a bird that eats so much charcoal and/or grit to have an impaction had some underlying problem. I don't believe a normal finch will eat so much grit and/or charcoal that its crop would be packed full. I feed oyster shell grit, egg shell, and charcoal without problem.

Absolutely agree with you Sally.
I have always had oyster shell, egg shells and charcoal available to young and old birds without ever once having an issue. The birds actually like to play with and break off pieces of larger eggs that I offer.

[cindy]

the charcoal if the bird is over eating it there is an underlying issue, illness that needs to be addressed.


Generally birds do not over eat grit, takes very little to cause an issue. The grit pieces it is the size shape and roughness as with crushed egg shell can be an issue.... grinding removes the possibility of impaction (piece is too large to leave the crop, covers the opening of the crop to the GI tract), tears to the organs which can cause pain, internal bleeding and even death... necropsy on one friend's bird showed the egg shell lodged in the lining of in the upper intestine.

Xray on another (my bird) showed the same thing. It is recommended to grind you grit and eggshell to prevent this especially if parent birds are feeding and you are offering egg shell and grit.

It does not always happen but is a possibility... I have seen other birds from members on my group have the crop closed off by a few pieces of grit that were too big to pass, the bird continued to eat seed, since the seed could not pass the bird continued to eat seed because it was hungry..the crop was stretched and full.... the bird died, lower part of the body was extremely thin, the bird was starved despite the fact it was eating.... this is just a suggestion regarding grit and crushed eggshell..both grind to a powder in a coffee grinder, add some shaved cuttlebone, the birds love it.

[Sally]

I make my egg food by pulsing the whole hard-boiled eggs, shell and all, in the food processor, along with my vitamin mixture and dry commercial egg food. The resulting mixture has small pieces of shell throughout. Never had a problem with it. I am far too lazy to sit and peel three dozen eggs at a time when I make egg food! The shells from my cooking get zapped in the microwave for 3 minutes and then crushed in the mini Ninja.

[cindy]

I do the same, zap them in the microwave and grind in a coffee grinder....I also have a Ninja which I love, does chops in tiny pieces for the birds!!!

[ONUnicorn]

Thanks everyone. He's getting worse and weaker and weaker. Last night we decided he was suffering too much, so we're taking him back to the vet to be put down. I was hoping he would go naturally, but I don't want him to suffer.

BTW; I don't feed them grit, so it's not that.

What do others think about Phineas? I know these are social birds, and I don't think he'd be happy alone. How should I go about introducing a new bird or two?

[slwatson]

ONUnicorn

I'm so sorry....I know it's tough to lose one!!

[cindy]

Very sorry.

[Sally]

I'm so sorry you are losing this one, it is never easy. If you have a vet put the bird down, you could ask for a necropsy. Be aware that they are usually expensive and often still don't yield any answers.

Here is an article on how to introduce new birds. Phineas will be fine for the time being.

http://www.finchinfo.com/general/introd ... _birds.php

[Babs _Owner]

ONUnicorn

Sorry you lost the little guy