New here. I just adopted three zebra finches from my brother. One of the females has a swollen chest or a lump of some sort. She hasn't laid any eggs in a couple of weeks. She is eating and drinking OK. I thought maybe a binded egg but seems like an odd place? Photo attached. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Swollen chest/lump female zebra finch
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kim68046
- Pip
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- Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2019 9:41 pm
Swollen chest/lump female zebra finch
Hi!
New here. I just adopted three zebra finches from my brother. One of the females has a swollen chest or a lump of some sort. She hasn't laid any eggs in a couple of weeks. She is eating and drinking OK. I thought maybe a binded egg but seems like an odd place? Photo attached. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
New here. I just adopted three zebra finches from my brother. One of the females has a swollen chest or a lump of some sort. She hasn't laid any eggs in a couple of weeks. She is eating and drinking OK. I thought maybe a binded egg but seems like an odd place? Photo attached. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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wildbird
- Brooding
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- Location: Ocala, Florida
Re: Swollen chest/lump female zebra finch
It isn't egg binding. That is in the area of the crop. I don't know what you can do about it. What are you feeding, and was she like this when you got her? How long did you have here?
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kim68046
- Pip
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Re: Swollen chest/lump female zebra finch
They have only been eating commercial seed mix. I plan to start introducing them to some fresh foods as well. I just got her yesterday and my brother said he noticed it about two weeks ago.
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Icearstorm
- Weaning
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Re: Swollen chest/lump female zebra finch
kim68046
Could you part her feathers (water is good for this) and take a few pictures of the area in good lighting? This may help rule out some things. Gently palpitate the area, too; does it feel hard-packed, or squishy like a balloon? It looks to be a crop issue, which includes sour crop (infection), yeast infection, impaction, or slow crop, but there's also a chance it is air sac rupture, goiter (likely caused by iodine deficiency), or a fast-growing tumor instead.
Chickens and other poultry are often treated for crop issues by feeding water and little food for several days, but unfortunately this isn't practical for finches, since they have a much higher metabolism and may starve before their crop recovers. Some people hand-feed apple cider vinegar to decrease crop pH and hopefully kill anything infecting the crop, but it is unclear how much this helps. Air sac rupture can be treated by poking a hole in the skin and draining the air, but obviously you don't want to do this without being sure what the problem is, especially since it has the possibility of making everything worse. Goiter is relatively easy to prevent; feed foods with iodine, such as egg and spirulina. It is highly likely that they are malnourished considering the plain-seed diet.
Could you part her feathers (water is good for this) and take a few pictures of the area in good lighting? This may help rule out some things. Gently palpitate the area, too; does it feel hard-packed, or squishy like a balloon? It looks to be a crop issue, which includes sour crop (infection), yeast infection, impaction, or slow crop, but there's also a chance it is air sac rupture, goiter (likely caused by iodine deficiency), or a fast-growing tumor instead.
Chickens and other poultry are often treated for crop issues by feeding water and little food for several days, but unfortunately this isn't practical for finches, since they have a much higher metabolism and may starve before their crop recovers. Some people hand-feed apple cider vinegar to decrease crop pH and hopefully kill anything infecting the crop, but it is unclear how much this helps. Air sac rupture can be treated by poking a hole in the skin and draining the air, but obviously you don't want to do this without being sure what the problem is, especially since it has the possibility of making everything worse. Goiter is relatively easy to prevent; feed foods with iodine, such as egg and spirulina. It is highly likely that they are malnourished considering the plain-seed diet.
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wildbird
- Brooding
- Posts: 1246
- Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2013 3:51 pm
- Location: Ocala, Florida
Re: Swollen chest/lump female zebra finch
Provide a high quality seed mix for finches and some millet spray. I get California golden millet, new crop, from ladygouldian.com in Georgia, 770-939-4531. Mine won't eat store bought millet. It is easily digested. You should also provide a good mineral mix like Higgins Sunburst mineral grit with oyster shell for small birds. I add some kelp granules and you could get an iodine block from the pet store and scrape a little off into the mineral mix. Kelp is also a good source of iodine. Keep a cuttlebone available for her too on the side of the cage where she can use it. Another thing you could provide would be mixed, dried herbs like Higgins Sunburst or a really good one is Twin Beaks Herb Salad from either ladygouldian or ladygouldianfinch.com. Birds will often self-medicate themselves, by picking out what they need from an herb mix. Fresh organic dandelion greens, finely chopped organic kale and organic broccoli tops are very good. Be sure to rinse several times with clean water, even the organics. This should help improve her diet.