HELP WITH SEVERELY BATTERED FINCH-pics attached

[goldelf]

HI ALL, i DONT KNOW IF THE HEADING IS THE RITE WAY TO PHRASE IT, BUT THE SHORT STORY (oops sorry about the capitals) is that i have 2 female zebra that a friend gave me about a year ago , and i have them in a 1m x 60 cm patio type cage as i didnt want them in my aviary's. Anyway recnetly i saw a male zebra i liked and got him for them-yes just one-well about 4 to 5 weeks later i found one of the females all mangled and eaten-my husband says she has been pecked but to me it looked much worse with almost a wing gone-i moved her to a small cage in my bedrrom and she seems to be doing fine except for the way she looks.
can anyone take a educated guess as to whether it was the male zebra that did this or could it have been a tiny mouse-as the bars of the cage are very narrow. I do know we get possums here and also rats sometimes but i have never seen a mouse-although doesnt mean there isnt some around! aNYWAY IF you could look at photos and advise me it would be greatlty appreciated. She is currently on anti-biotics in case of infection by the way.
My apologies for the terrible photos but they should shpw more or less what i mean

[Mr Tino]

Hi there could it be done by a butcher bird by any chance...? .It sad what happen to zebra finch.Just the thought.

Cheer from Mr Tino

[Mortisha]

a very stressed bird ( are they chasing the hell out of her?) or a veterinary issue like mites or is my guess, poor little thing!
She will be very vulnerable to getting sick in that state. I'd isolate her in a warm, quiet spot until her feathers grow back.

[Craig52]

First of all,are you sure she isn't a he,they are not good pics but is that a bar across its chest,secondly it was not a good idea to put a single cock in with two hens,it probably wasn't the cock that attacked her but the other hen in defence for mating rights. Craig

[Tintola]

Looks like another male to me also. The other cock probably bashed the crap out of him.

[Finchy]

You say you have them in a patio-type cage... Are they actually on the patio?

If yes, then it is almost certainly a predatory bird. A Butcher bird would probably have succceeded in taking the entire finch so it was possibly a Magpie (though they usually succeed as well) or even a Minah bird. After moving house I had to keep finches in large outdoor cages and lost 80+% of them to predators over several months, despite going to absurd lengths to block access using extra cage panels and mosquito mesh - eventually on every last half inch of the cages. It was horrible.

Mice, even rats (I've seen them do it!!!) can get in through ordinary cage wire and decimate birds, and Magpies can just drag a finch right out through the wire (also seen them do it!). If they are outside you absolutely must, as a matter of urgency, either bring them indoors or do as I did and leave not an inch of cage wire unreinforced. In all my years I have never seen a finch do more than a bit of mean spirited plucking of another finch. I doubt the Zebs did this. That's not to say it isn't possible; it could be them. I'm just saying that urgent issue #1 that occurs to me is to prevent access to the cage by predatory birds, rodents and cats.

But if the cage is indoors and you don't have mice, rats or cats, then scratch that - it was them!

[Tintola]

I think Finchy could be on the money with Noisy Miner attack if it wasn't the other Zebs. Did it all happen suddenly or over a period of time?

[goldelf]

iT ALL HAPPENED OVERNIGHT-i too have had problems years ago when i moved with butcher birds killing my Cape doves that i had to have in cages. The thing is only one bird in a cage of 3 birds has been attacked.
And well i didnt realise that it could have been the male-my husband actually got these zebs and i really dont know what to look for in a male when the finch is white..so i havent thought that the hen could have done it...but wow to this extent?
Also i have quarantined other birds outside on my patio in similar cages for at least 30 days with no ill effects. ie: butcher birds
But i am also very shocked to think another finch could do this much damage-and yes the bird is inside now in a small covered cage, and he/she seems to be in high spirits, but then is on antibiotics to prevent any infection.

Ok NEWSFLASH-just spoke to my hubby-which rarely happens anyway ! and he has now told me the bird that has been attacked is a female. Now the other female that was in the cage is now with the new male and they are nesting-so Craig (crosnshas) -you actually could be rite that the female has attacked her..sheesh i really do feel awful about this.

[SamDavis]

Wow that is a mess. Although it's amazing what small finches can survive. I find it hard to believe another zeb inflicted that damage. I'd tend to agree with finchy and others that it was a predator of some sort - maybe a cat (as it was overnight).

[Finchy]

Yes, birds sleep at night and have terrible night vision, so no fighting will have occured at night. They also don't rip each other to shreds when they argue; they are just seed eaters afterall.

All of my birds which were lost in the outdoor cages during the worst phase were lost at night, so cats, rodents or gawd knows what night time critters were to blame. Your bird was damaged by a visiting predator. It was not the other Zebs.

You have been lucky having your birds outside in Australia unprotected with no consequences for so long. Unfortunately, now that a predator has discovered a source of potential food, there is a high risk that you will see the birds gradually picked off over time, one by one, unless you take action to prevent it.