Sick Gouldian Hen

alvin · 10 Jul 2009, 00:30

Hi all, this is Alvin's wife,,,,,we both use this site and find it very helpful. My concern at the moment is for our sick hen. Her babies hatched about a week ago(6 of them) and today I noticed that she was looking extremely tired. She kept nodding off on the perch for long periods of time while the cock did all the feeding. When we checked on them this evening, the hen was sitting on the aviary floor in the dark. We brought her inside and put her in a cage which we covered with a warm towel. I've also turned a lamp on and put that next to the cage. Should I do anything else? Also, will the cock manage on his own or should we return her to the aviary in the morning if she is looking a lot better?

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

D.

alvin · 10 Jul 2009, 00:44

Poor thing didnt even make it through the night. Thanks guys. Hopefully we can still get a few answers as to why this happened and what signs to look out for next time so that we can act on it straight away.

10 Jul 2009, 11:25

Sorry to hear about your loss. I believe the cock bird would continue feeding the young if hes already doing that, its just going to be a lot more work for him. I guess its going to be "hope for the best and plan for the worst"
So if it were me I would be reading up on hand rearing and where to get the food if if things start to go wrong.
Let us know what happens

alvin · 10 Jul 2009, 15:11

Thanks Diane, i'll keep you posted.

10 Jul 2009, 17:00

hi. with the crappy weather we have over here at the moment the shock of going from the warm nest to the cold out side of it would be the biggest problem. breeding in the cold cant be helped sometimes but shouldnt be done. goulds lack the second layer of feathers to help keep them warm in winter thats why drafts are a big killer.....pete

10 Jul 2009, 17:26

That's an interesting point and makes me wonder why they tend to breed in the cooler months of the year. Has anybody had luck breeding them during spring/summer?

I too had one drop off the perch last month. I think she suffered the same way by coming from a warm environment to a cooler one (different aviaries).

10 Jul 2009, 19:19

i had the same experience about 6 years ago with one of my first pairs she came out of the nest and started spazming and dropped dead in front of me .. i learnt the hard way. but know i know better i chalk it up to the learning curve and know research everything before i buy these days .....pete

10 Jul 2009, 21:01

Sory to hear your bad news.
I have started using some vetafarm products.such as tripple c, polyaid plus and spark.with great success.I keep these products on hand,in case of emergencys.And without a doubt these have saved the odd bird that may have died.
Maybe one of these may have saved your hen.might be worthwile starting a medicine chest for the future.

alvin · 11 Jul 2009, 00:06

Thanks guys, we'll definitely take all your advice on board. We havent had finches for very long so this has been a learning curve for us.The biggest hurdle now are the 6 babies. Since discovering that the hen was no longer in the aviary, the cock has not gone into the nest to feed them. I've since removed them from the aviary and I'm attempting to feed them. They've lasted through the day so I'm hoping and praying that they will survive. I've also brought the cock in and put him in a small cage with them but so far, he doesnt seem to want anything to do with them. Here's hoping that tomorrow will be a better day. Cheers.

D.

11 Jul 2009, 08:13

cranberry wrote:That's an interesting point and makes me wonder why they tend to breed in the cooler months of the year. Has anybody had luck breeding them during spring/summer?

Mike Fidler has an article on the Gouldian Life Cycle Calender and in this he states the life cycle is controlled by diet not daylight so their breeding could be manipulated by a change of diet.

Full article can be found
http://www.savethegouldian.org/articles ... ticle.html

makes for interesting reading.