Sick youngster?

[Airlyn]

I have a late baby. He is 4 1/2 to 5 months old. He is starting to moult. He is breathing faster than my other birds and is lethargic. He just sits in one place.
Yesterday he was moved into another cage with a 7 month old. I noticed the heavy breathing then but out it up to stress of being caught and moved. He is still breathing hard. He is not being harassed by his new cage friend.
I have since thought back to when he was with his mom and another hen that he didn't fly much then either.
My birds are not on any supplements or medication.
They eat em finch seed. Get egg and shells 3 times a week and leaf lettuce. They have abba minerals.
He is not yawning and I don't hear him clicking.
What should I do?
I am moving him to a hospital cage and add heat.
Should I dose him with anything? If so what?
Should I add vitamins? If so what?
Please help.
I feel like a lousy mom

[Airlyn]

Hubs is going to pick up a variety of greens for me. I made some of the homemade electrolyte recipe posted above in a sticky. He is in a cage by himself now. I saw him pick at some millet. I have not added a heat source yet. I'm trying to find a light socket I can hang near the cage but not too near. I added crushed eggshell to all abba mineral cups.
I am going to improve the nutrition for everybody.
The moulting baby is the only one under the weather. All others have moulted and nice shiny, active and healthy appearing. If it was a disease wouldn't more be under the weather?
Should I worm everybody? Should I buy vitamins?

[Stuart whiting]

Hi there,

You haven't actually stated what bird it is that is sick,

At this sought of age and approaching its first moult with the symptoms that you've described it does sound like as if the bird has gone light which is a waisting disease known as coxidosis,

sadly if this is the case and your not supplying any sulphur drugs at this stage and beforehand from the time of when the bird first fledged then I'm sorry to say that it may not look good as there'll be very little that can be done at this stage,

Or it maybe just the fact that yer bird gas developed a bit of a cold in which case I'd place the bird somewhere warm near a heat lamp of some sought and its condition may improve with some additional tonic in the birds water to give it a bit of a boost,

Sorry but can't really say much more , not without seeing the bird,

Hope you're bird gets better soon

[Airlyn]

Sorry I forgot to mention he is a lady gouldian. He was parent raised. I checked his mom real good while ago since he has always been with her. She is in excellent health and condition. I think he is having a hard time with his moult. I am going to add more varity of greens, make the mineral mix posted. I am going to try Dr. Marshall products as well. I am not going to dose him with anything.

[Stuart whiting]

Sorry I forgot to mention he is a lady gouldian. He was parent raised. I checked his mom real good while ago since he has always been with her. She is in excellent health and condition. I think he is having a hard time with his moult. I am going to add more varity of greens, make the mineral mix posted. I am going to try Dr. Marshall products as well. I am not going to dose him with anything.

Ok mate, hope he pulls himself together and gets better

[paul-inAZ]

Making a diagnosis of coccidiosis and suggesting sulfonamides based on the information provided is a real stretch.
You would be best not being overly alarmed about that possibility without a vet's confirmation.
Shotgun therapy without a real diagnosis can be as dangerous as no therapy.

Good luck.

[Stuart whiting]

Making a diagnosis of coccidiosis and suggesting sulfonamides based on the information provided is a real stretch.
You would be best not being overly alarmed about that possibility without a vet's confirmation.
Shotgun therapy without a real diagnosis can be as dangerous as no therapy.

Good luck.

Without seeing the bird and from past experience it was basically a wild quess, Airlyn asked for help obviously what could be the cause,

You may also notice that I said it could be just a cold not definitely coxidosis,

If no one writes nothing then the poor person is not gonna know nothing

[Airlyn]

I appreciate everyone who replied.
I'll keep you posted on how he does.
Thank you for the well wishes for the wee fellow.
Kind regards

[Stuart whiting]

I appreciate everyone who replied.
I'll keep you posted on how he does.
Thank you for the well wishes for the wee fellow.
Kind regards

With full respect,

I hope yer Gouldian finch recovers back to its former self

[Airlyn]

Stuart, I don't think he is sick. I think he is stressed from this being his first moult. I posted originally on Tuesday morning. It is now friday afternoon. If he was ill as young as he is, wouldn't he be worse?
Thank you much for your replies.

[Stuart whiting]

Stuart, I don't think he is sick. I think he is stressed from this being his first moult. I posted originally on Tuesday morning. It is now friday afternoon. If he was ill as young as he is, wouldn't he be worse?
Thank you much for your replies.

Hi Airlyn,

Mmm...... you say he could be stressed because of his first moult, what is puzzling me mate is that if he truly was that I'll at this young age, he in all onesty probably wouldn't be here now,

If you think the bird is just simply going through his first moult then that is good as this would be normal as every youngster has to go through a first moult,

What I don't get is why would the bird be stressed as this is a normal part of his life,

When any bird goes through a moult they naturally quiten down and normally don't sing as much,

reason being that in a natural state in the wild a bird that is moulting doesn't want to advertise its presence in case there is a rival,
the bird would then naturally need to get away quickly but it now can't do that because it is in the moult and hasn't fully grown it's new set of feathers and won't be able to fly as fast or have the same strength compaired to once it's completely moulted.

Hope that sought of makes sence,

Keep us informed and hope that yer bird improves and feels better

[Airlyn]

That makes perfect sense!
He is just sitting there and breathing a bit faster. But not open mouth or anything. I really would not have even noticed him breathing "fast" except he was still with his mama and she was slower than him.
I gave him a heat light and he is eating good now etc. I increased his egg food etc.
Sorry for all the trouble. This is just my second year with babies.
Thank you so very much for your patience! You are so very kind!.

[finchandlovebird]

good luck with your little guy. Good advice has been given.
I will add that "lettuce" has no nutrients....you said you were getting a variety of greens to try....good Romaine lettuce is the best; spinach leaves, beet leaves, etc. are good too.

[Sally]

For whatever reason, Gouldians go through a much harder, more stressful molt than other species. They seem to drop more feathers at once, then have heads full of pin feathers--I have waxbills, and never see this with mine. They drop feathers, but it is only noticeable because I see feathers on the floor of the cage, the birds don't really have any obvious signs like Gouldians. The most visible of mine will show a small scattering of pin feathers about the head, but again, nothing like what a Gouldian experiences.

Hopefully, your little guy is just having a hard molt, as the first juvenile molt seems to be the most difficult. I wouldn't recommend any medications unless you know what you are treating. Heat is one of the best things to offer, plus a good diet high in protein, since protein is needed to make new feathers. For greens, Dolly has given some good choices, and my birds also love kale.

[Stuart whiting]

Totally agree Sally, spot on with everything said