Help my society finch nestling died
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- Hatchling
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Help my society finch nestling died
I have a pair of fawn pied society finches who laid three eggs. One hatched! The little chick lived to about 13 days and then died. They are housed indoor. I feed them seed from ladygouldianfinch.com, provide egg 1-2 times per week, change water daily (they're always taking baths), and give millet and various treats (switching between herbal salad, egg shells, etc.). The parent birds seem very healthy and I bought them at separate bird stores (one was a chain store the other was not). If you have any suggestions and info, I'd really appreciate it.
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- Pip
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
Hi. I am sorry about your chick, but this does happen occasionally. One thing I feed proprietary egg food everyday to my canaries and they feed the chicks with that, your feeding sounds ok. I have an aviary so my birds get a lot of choice in food as I feed them fruit veg egg food top quality seed Versele Laga. have the birds laid again introduce some nesting material and see what happens. Good luck and let us know how it goes.finchescb wrote: I have a pair of fawn pied society finches who laid three eggs. One hatched! The little chick lived to about 13 days and then died. They are housed indoor. I feed them seed from ladygouldianfinch.com, provide egg 1-2 times per week, change water daily (they're always taking baths), and give millet and various treats (switching between herbal salad, egg shells, etc.). The parent birds seem very healthy and I bought them at separate bird stores (one was a chain store the other was not). If you have any suggestions and info, I'd really appreciate it.
Ceri. Wales Uk.
- lovezebs
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
finchescb
Sorry to hear about your baby.
It's difficult to say what might have happened. It could have been one of many many things, from parents not feeding enough, failure to thrive, some sort of intestinal issues, an infection, organ failure, etc....
Regarding diet:
When you have a breeding pair, raising young, I would supply hard boiled egg food every day. Also a variety of greens, along with some sprouted seeds. Some vitamins in the water every second or third day can be helpfull as well.
Good luck.
Sorry to hear about your baby.
It's difficult to say what might have happened. It could have been one of many many things, from parents not feeding enough, failure to thrive, some sort of intestinal issues, an infection, organ failure, etc....
Regarding diet:
When you have a breeding pair, raising young, I would supply hard boiled egg food every day. Also a variety of greens, along with some sprouted seeds. Some vitamins in the water every second or third day can be helpfull as well.
Good luck.
~Elana~
Linnies~ Canaries ~ Zebras ~ Societies ~ Gouldians ~ Orange Cheeks ~ Shaft Tails ~ Strawberries ~ Red Cheek Cordon Bleu ~ Goldbreasts ~ Red Brows ~ Owls ~ Budgies ~ Diamond Firetails ~ Javas ~ Forbes Parrot Finches ~
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- Molting
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
As Elana said, feed egg more often.
I feed breeding birds with egg every day. And when the chicks arrive, and the parent eat more, I have to feed them egg more often, up to 4x a day.
Obviously in the wild they don't have egg food, but given the captive condition, I do the best that I can to improve the odds of successful raising of the chicks.
Is the dead chicks crop empty or full? If empty, the parents may have stopped feeding it.
One thought is the seeds. Finches seem to not dig through the layer of seed hulls. So if the feed dish is covered with a layer of seed hulls, they won't dig down to the seeds below. If they feel they don't have enough food, they will eat for themselves, and stop feeding the chick. A better idea is to use a WIDE dish or feeder, so there is more exposed seeds.
Don't get discouraged.
Let the birds raise another clutch and see what happens.
I feed breeding birds with egg every day. And when the chicks arrive, and the parent eat more, I have to feed them egg more often, up to 4x a day.
Obviously in the wild they don't have egg food, but given the captive condition, I do the best that I can to improve the odds of successful raising of the chicks.
Is the dead chicks crop empty or full? If empty, the parents may have stopped feeding it.
One thought is the seeds. Finches seem to not dig through the layer of seed hulls. So if the feed dish is covered with a layer of seed hulls, they won't dig down to the seeds below. If they feel they don't have enough food, they will eat for themselves, and stop feeding the chick. A better idea is to use a WIDE dish or feeder, so there is more exposed seeds.
Don't get discouraged.
Let the birds raise another clutch and see what happens.
Gary
gouldians (GB,YB,BB), blackbelly firefinches (trying to breed), societies (foster parents).
red factor canary
gouldians (GB,YB,BB), blackbelly firefinches (trying to breed), societies (foster parents).
red factor canary
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
Canary
Thank you for your suggestions! I put some nesting material in and he already built a nest. I'm just waiting for them to lay eggs!
Thank you for your suggestions! I put some nesting material in and he already built a nest. I'm just waiting for them to lay eggs!
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- Hatchling
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
lovezebs
Thank you for your help! It sounds like I'll need to provide the egg more often next time! I'm providing my zebra finches pretty much the same environment and their five little chicks are doing great. I guess the society finches must be pickier.
Thank you for your help! It sounds like I'll need to provide the egg more often next time! I'm providing my zebra finches pretty much the same environment and their five little chicks are doing great. I guess the society finches must be pickier.
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
ac12
Thank you! Yes, the chick's crop looked empty. I actually use vacation feeders in that cage but I guess that wasn't enough for them. I'll have to see if there's something different I can do. I'm looking forward to them laying more eggs!
Thank you! Yes, the chick's crop looked empty. I actually use vacation feeders in that cage but I guess that wasn't enough for them. I'll have to see if there's something different I can do. I'm looking forward to them laying more eggs!
- lovezebs
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
~Elana~
Linnies~ Canaries ~ Zebras ~ Societies ~ Gouldians ~ Orange Cheeks ~ Shaft Tails ~ Strawberries ~ Red Cheek Cordon Bleu ~ Goldbreasts ~ Red Brows ~ Owls ~ Budgies ~ Diamond Firetails ~ Javas ~ Forbes Parrot Finches ~
Linnies~ Canaries ~ Zebras ~ Societies ~ Gouldians ~ Orange Cheeks ~ Shaft Tails ~ Strawberries ~ Red Cheek Cordon Bleu ~ Goldbreasts ~ Red Brows ~ Owls ~ Budgies ~ Diamond Firetails ~ Javas ~ Forbes Parrot Finches ~
- Sally
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
finchescb So sorry for your loss. Often when babies die, we have no idea what went wrong. I agree with the others, egg food should be offered every day with breeding birds. Sometimes when there is just one baby, the parents decide to abandon and start another clutch.
- Fraza
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
I create an egg mix boil egg mash up and add tea spoon of honey then freeze this so it doesn't go off and every day put a slice in the cage and they will eat it and imediatly feed to the chicks
hope I helped

FINCHES I HAVE
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zebras
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java x beng hybrid
PETS IVE HAD
dogs
Fish
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My favourite is COCO my grey pearl society cock been here since the start my flock leader
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Bengalese
zebras
Java sparrows
Silver bills
java x beng hybrid
PETS IVE HAD
dogs
Fish
Cocktiel
Doves
Hybrid cherry x Bengalese
Stars
Heck’s
Canary’s
My favourite is COCO my grey pearl society cock been here since the start my flock leader
YOUTUBE CHANNEL
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- Fraza
- Molting
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
And sorry about the chick
FINCHES I HAVE
Bengalese
zebras
Java sparrows
Silver bills
java x beng hybrid
PETS IVE HAD
dogs
Fish
Cocktiel
Doves
Hybrid cherry x Bengalese
Stars
Heck’s
Canary’s
My favourite is COCO my grey pearl society cock been here since the start my flock leader
YOUTUBE CHANNEL
https://m.youtube.com/results?q=fraser% ... de101&sm=3
Bengalese
zebras
Java sparrows
Silver bills
java x beng hybrid
PETS IVE HAD
dogs
Fish
Cocktiel
Doves
Hybrid cherry x Bengalese
Stars
Heck’s
Canary’s
My favourite is COCO my grey pearl society cock been here since the start my flock leader
YOUTUBE CHANNEL
https://m.youtube.com/results?q=fraser% ... de101&sm=3
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- Hatchling
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
Sally
Thank you for your comments! They laid another clutch! I'm excited and looking forward to them hatching, hopefully!
Thank you for your comments! They laid another clutch! I'm excited and looking forward to them hatching, hopefully!
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- cindy
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
Chicks in the nest can pass for various reasons... as many mentioned the egg food needs to be 24/7 when when raising young...fresh egg food should be rotated out every 2 hours so not to grow bacteria, fungal. If you can't rotate it out use dry egg food instead. Young babies do not need fruits and veggies when being fed... too much water, sugars in fruit and high water content in veggies can displace other nutrients the babies need. save the veggies for near fledge time or after fledging you want the baby to wean out on what you will feed normally to your birds. sprouted seed is fine as long as it is prepared properly.
Baby birds can pass due to bacteria and fungals in a water source the parents drink out of, parents eat, drink and go feed...leaving food particles and saliva in the water source...change that out often and avoid using vitamins in the water also... they too can grow bacteria 100 fold within 24 hours.
Baby birds can become ill, pass from internal parasites, protozoa, cocci, giardia passed from the parent to the baby while feeding. The babies become weaken, stop begging, parents stop feeding. Parent birds sensing the baby is ill will stop feeding. Check the belly over for swelling, dark liver, inflamed intestines (will look enlarged and loopy), white infection areas, liver bleeds.
Baby birds can have genetic issues, issues that were created during incubation.
Mom birds if fed soft foods when going to nest before eggs were laid can pass bacteria to the egg.... hens hold their dropping longer when sitting prior to eggs being laid, soft food can sit and stew in the intestines, grow bacteria... this can be passed to the egg. Chicks with either pass after hatching, or shortly before fledging, begging becomes faint and suddenly stops.... keep your hen's diet dry when nests go up... use seed, millet, dried egg food and pellets if using them. you can add soft foods, boiled grated egg back when the eggs hatch....
keep your egg shell powdered if feeding it to parents while feeding to the young... it avoids little sharp crushed shell from tearing or getting lodged in the tiny GI tract of little ones. Tears in the GI tract provide a pathway for bacteria to enter the organs.
There are several reasons for young to pass in the nest.... so sorry you lost yours.
Baby birds can pass due to bacteria and fungals in a water source the parents drink out of, parents eat, drink and go feed...leaving food particles and saliva in the water source...change that out often and avoid using vitamins in the water also... they too can grow bacteria 100 fold within 24 hours.
Baby birds can become ill, pass from internal parasites, protozoa, cocci, giardia passed from the parent to the baby while feeding. The babies become weaken, stop begging, parents stop feeding. Parent birds sensing the baby is ill will stop feeding. Check the belly over for swelling, dark liver, inflamed intestines (will look enlarged and loopy), white infection areas, liver bleeds.
Baby birds can have genetic issues, issues that were created during incubation.
Mom birds if fed soft foods when going to nest before eggs were laid can pass bacteria to the egg.... hens hold their dropping longer when sitting prior to eggs being laid, soft food can sit and stew in the intestines, grow bacteria... this can be passed to the egg. Chicks with either pass after hatching, or shortly before fledging, begging becomes faint and suddenly stops.... keep your hen's diet dry when nests go up... use seed, millet, dried egg food and pellets if using them. you can add soft foods, boiled grated egg back when the eggs hatch....
keep your egg shell powdered if feeding it to parents while feeding to the young... it avoids little sharp crushed shell from tearing or getting lodged in the tiny GI tract of little ones. Tears in the GI tract provide a pathway for bacteria to enter the organs.
There are several reasons for young to pass in the nest.... so sorry you lost yours.
Last edited by cindy on Wed Aug 16, 2017 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- cindy
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Re: Help my society finch nestling died
I would avoid honey in egg food... egg is very complete... honey can carry bacteria and fungal... something a tiny baby with little immune system can handle.... plus they do not need the sugars, sugars encourages yeast growth.
Egg is complete, no need to add anything but perhaps a powdered vitamin, mineral supplement to it.
Egg is complete, no need to add anything but perhaps a powdered vitamin, mineral supplement to it.
Zebra, Gouldians, Java, CBM Shaft tail & Grasskeets
~ My Facebook groups ~
*Finchaholics ~ finches, hookbills, softbills & canaries are welcome here!
discussions regarding species, housing, breeding, preventatives, treatments
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