Cordon Bleu Male Deaths

[Farlie]

Hi Guys

I recently bought a pair of Cordons and the Male died the first night. I put that down to stress from the drive however the female is still going strong 4 weeks later. The other week I found a new male so I housed the Male and female in a small cage away from my avairy for a week then transferred them into the aviary last weekend. Today I found the Male had passed overnight again in a nest box yet the female is still going great. I know it's getting colder but is it a coincidence or is something wrong. My avairy of mixed finches all get along fine. Are the males just weaker than the females?
I am tossing up wether I try a third time and get a new Male as I love these birds but I am not wanting to lose another one.

[starman]

Farlie,
Recent temperatures in Sydney should not be a problem for healthy birds.
My poor record with this species excludes me from giving any helpful advice, but your problem reminded me of my own plight, circa 40 years ago when I lost quite a few RCCBs in quick succession. Back then I put it down to lack of experience/poor husbandry and gave up on keeping them. A few years later I found that other local breeders had similar experiences to mine, and on further discussion we realised that all of the problematic birds had, more than likely, come from the same source. Whether they were genetically weak or diseased was questionable but possible.I don't recall if the issues were sex related. Today, they are regarded as being 'not too fragile' so I'd persist with them.

P.S. I'm assuming that it is RCCBs we are talking about and not their more delicate cousins.

[Farlie]

Thanks. I am fairly new to the hobby however I though I was doing all the right things. I'll keep at it but its frustrating.

[vettepilot_6]

What time do you release them? What other birds are in with them? as cordons don't use nest boxes something maybe bullying them?

[Rod_L]

If they are dying during the first night in the aviary, they are panicking during the night and flying into the wire and cracking their skulls. You might have a cat that is hanging around or mice/ rats that are causing this. Check the aviary for mouse holes and pop outside at various times during the night to see if any neighbourhood cats are using your aviary as their play house. Maybe even set up a cat trap near the aviary.

Make sure any birds you put in an aviary have been outside in an aviary before you get them so they are use to being outdoors and there is no sudden temperature fluctuations. Alternatively keep the new birds indoors until spring and then put them out in the aviary. Keeping them indoors for a while will also give you a chance to monitor the birds overall health, while they are quarantined.

When you do put them outside, have a night light on the aviary for the first few weeks. I use a 2ft fluorescent light unit. It provides enough light for the birds to see but not too much so they can't sleep. You can use LED lights or even a rechargeable torch.
Make sure any power cords/ points are not going to get wet.

You can also hang some shade cloth on the ends inside the aviary. Don't attach it on all sides, just hang it from the top and have it a few inches from the wire. If the birds panic fly into it, the shadecloth will hopefully reduce the impact and stop them ploughing head first into the wire. Having live plants at the ends of the aviary do the same thing.

If this continues perhaps get the dead birds autopsied and see what the vet says. It will cost you a little bit but you will know what caused the death and can then work on preventing that.

And don't add birds in the afternoon. Add new birds to an aviary in the morning so they have the entire day to learn the layout and find somewhere to roost for the night.

[starman]

I'll keep at it but its frustrating.

If you trawl through the pages of this forum you will see that most of the contributors here have experienced setbacks at some stage.
As long as you are prepared to doggedly research, and try to rectify the reasons for your losses, your birdkeeping skills will quickly improve.... the AFF is a great information source for that purpose (just keep asking questions). You can avoid many of the mistakes that I have made by keeping fewer species and getting a good grounding in those, rather than acquiring "a pair of everything" and inheriting the problems of incompatibility and overcrowding (as I well found out). This creates unnecessary stress, often a significant contributing factor to ill-health in finches. Keep at it and good luck....

[CathyCraftz]

Either the males are bad quality or they have been panicking during the night. Did you buy them from a breeder or a pet shop? Pet shops usually have bad quality birds as they are crammed into tiny cages with no room to fly. If you decide to try again, watch the aviary during the night for any disturbance. I’d be frustrated too if I were you.
Good luck.

[Farlie]

What time do you release them? What other birds are in with them? as cordons don't use nest boxes something maybe bullying them?

I put them in first thing in the morning to give them as much daylight. The second Male was ok for a week before he passed.

[Farlie]

Either the males are bad quality or they have been panicking during the night. Did you buy them from a breeder or a pet shop? Pet shops usually have bad quality birds as they are crammed into tiny cages with no room to fly. If you decide to try again, watch the aviary during the night for any disturbance. I’d be frustrated too if I were you.
Good luck.

The first one was from a breeder and it didn't last the night the second from a pet shop and it lasted 2 weeks.

[Farlie]

The second Male that died was in a cane nest so really unsure what happened. I checked over the body and there were no signs of feathers missing or blood so unsure but observation over the week he was in the avairy he seemed happy and didn't seem to be bullied at all.

Mice aren't an issue and cats don't really care come near the avairy as my dog won't allow it. My dog generally stays on her blanket at night so unsure as to her disturbing the birds at all.