One dropped wing - sick ???

[Cacoonkitty]

Hi, I have recently purchased a lovely male crimson finch, he looks very active, he's eating and drinking and flying around his quarentine cage, I've had him a week or two now but yesterday I noticed that he had one wing that had dropped down past his body, he is able to fly with no problem yes it has changed since the other day....does this indicate sickness ??? He also has some stuff in his "hair" area ....( know finches don't have hair but it was the best way I could describe it) the vet said he may have throw up , I haven't seen him do this but I have seen him look a big sleepy yesterday, but he was sitting in the sunlike so he may have been resting.....should I give him some in water antibiotics ??? he gets everything he needs reg supplement and fresh grees and freshwater and Ikeeep his enclosure nice and clean...he gets fresh air and morning or late afternoon sun (not when it's hot)..... The vet said I can send his droppings down for a gram neg stain...but aim worried it may take to long to get the results back..and the meds sent to me (my aivian vet will post it to me) but the turn around time will be a week ...:-/

[Myzomela]

Hi Cacoonkitty,

One dropped wing usually indicates a wing injury but if the bird has sticky feathers on the head and is fluffed or less active then you likely do have an illness as you suspect.
If you are worried about the turnaround time for sending droppings and getting antibiotics from your vet then your best bet is to bite the bullet & take the bird to your vet & get him and his droppings checked out. If you just treat him with random antibiotics you may fluke a cure or he may just get worse if you choose the wrong drug. There is no way of knowing without examining him and his droppings.

In the meantime make sure he has adequate heat (28-30 degrees) by providing a heat source especially overnight when the temps drop and you may add some electrolytes to his water ( e.g. Spark from Vetafarm) to help him.

Hope this helps

Myzo

[Cacoonkitty]

He has been very active, darting around inquisitively, eating and drinking, singing and generally acting like a very healthy bird...it's just so odd about his left wing, he has no problem flying or moving around, he isn't fluffy or sitting still, and since I moved him away from the others his messy "hairdo" is no longer there, I am wondering if it was juice from the cucumber I put in there enclosure or something , perhaps a dropping from one of the others ?? I am also wondering if there may have be a cracked egg in one of the nests??? as I have one breeding pair in there but have seen no babies yet...and haven't checked the nests through fear of disturbance. My main concern was for his left wing because there seems no reason for it to droop on one side like it is...and he can fly...I can see no obvious damage and it was a sudden occurrence,overnight.

Could it be a sickness on the horizon as have seen wing "droop" is a symptom ...I can of course take him down to see my vet that's fine..but obviously that cannot be until the weekend as I work full time and my vet would still need to "check" over night for bacteria ect..and the turn around time would still be a few days after sending the products up...I guess I just need to keep him isolated for now and monitor him for the next week or so and hope for the best reg the vet prognosis...I just wondered of the finch community self treat for general illness with in water antibiotics such as triple c , or sulpha 3