Aussie Finch Forum

Hi,

I am a newbie to aviculture, and have just had my second clutch of Zebbies hatch! Although this is joyous, all three babies seem to be hunched over, missing back feathers and have a yellow, fleshy patch on their neck that almost looks like seeded mustard. The first clutch of babies were not like this. What is going on, is this like some sort of 'deformation', are these birds worth anything, should I contact my avian vet???

Thanks

The yellow patch would be the crop containing seed. They don't get feathers until 10+ days old. Should just have some fine down. If they are still hunched over when they fledge they may have a problem but as hatchlings they are generally quite weak.

Could be that your first batch were older/bigger when you first saw them. Don't get too worried, just give the parents a few greens, and look into the nest a little less often, they may be shyer. Enjoy.
LML

These birds are fledged and now they're around 25 days old!!

And they still are hunched over, missing back feathers and have a yellow patch on their neck. Should I be worried?

I named this topic wrong sorry.

Can you take some pics and post?
LML

Sorry they're too flighty to take pictures. They're about 12 days out of the nest now. One of three is perfectly fine now. The other two, however, still both have a giant patch of skin on their chest but lost the yellow, seedy patch.

Thanks.

If one is fine and the others are progressing. Maybe they are just maturing slower than the first batch. Or left the nest earlier, so you first saw them at a younger age.
LML

Thanks. Now, all of them are completely fine except for one which is still hunched over, but he’ll probably grow up fine.