Your "new birds" routine aka keeping birds alive

[natamambo]

These been lots of chatter the last few days about bird sales and everyone's new purchases. Sadly, there's been a few sad stories about rapid deaths too. I thought it might be timely if we let each other know our new bird routine so that others might have some hope of keeping their new purchases for more than a day or two.

Mine (new, now I have enough space for it!)
* Check every bird before accepting delivery - vent and breastbone myself, never rely on seller.
* I have multiple & divided carry boxes and try not to mix birds from sellers on the day of the sale (requires a sherpa - my wife )
* Quarantine cage, keeping birds from different sellers in different cages where possible
* Good seed, plenty of grit and water for 2-3 days. Haven't used electrolyte mixes yet but now I can effectively use them I'm going to get some.
* Worm with moxydectin plus after 3-4 days
* Move in to quarantine flight after 1 more week (just a bigger cage really), mix different breeders birds up at this stage. I am now ringing every bird before it goes into the flight so I can still tell who is who.
* Move to main flights after a few more days and weather is good, move all quarantined birds at once so that one at a time isn't being introduced to the colony.

[jusdeb]

Much the same but I dont hurry to worm them . I mainly buy from breeders and that's a question I ask but even shop / sale bought birds are not wormed for sometimes a fair while but yes before going in with other birds .

[Redwing]

I would like to add keeping a cover over half the quarantine cage to reduce stress.

[Myzomela]

The most important thing is to put the birds somewhere quiet & comfortable, with plenty of food and water available. I place one open dish of food on the floor, and hang a dish at perch height. Then let them settle over the next week. They may get electrolyte in the water, especially if they've had a long trip or come from a bird sale. If they scour I may add apple cider vinegar or baycox but I usually check the droppings under the microscope to see what's causing it & treat appropriately.
I used boiled water for the first week to minimise the chance of gut upsets. Then I gradually mix in tap water with the boiled water over several days.
I keep them separate for much longer- usually 6 weeks.

I check them for external parasites during this time. Worm them twice, usually 2-3 weeks apart. I don't trust the seller as far as worming etc goes because a) not all sellers are honest and b) not everyone worms their birds efficiently.

Birds are only released into the main aviary if ALL the quarantine birds are fighting fit- not just because the 4-6 weeks is up. Releases occur before midday during good weather.

If any bird gets sick during quarantine and is successfully treated, I restart the quarantine again from when the bird appears healthy ( yeah, I know, very inconvenient!!)

In my opinion most losses occur in new birds because they are stressed and dehydrated. Unfortunately, many are not prepared properly for sale by sellers particularly when it comes to bird sales so I try not to buy finches at bird sales unless they look very fit and active, and I know/trust the seller. If you give a stressed bird a restfull warm environment and plenty of water ( with electrolytes) & food available, then most come good.

[mickw]

Me too 6 or more weeks....mostly due to delays in building new facilities ......gentle in first week, boiled water with electrolytes, etc, then at least two rounds of worming and Baycox separated by 2-3 weeks like Myzo........one round of antibiotic through the middle followed by a probotic and some nice food.......all inside in canary/gouldian cabinets.........pretty noisy at the moment with Little Lories, Varieds, Scalies, and Blood finches ..............

Check out Danny Searle's (of Queensland Finch Society fame) "40 Day Quarantine" article.........I think it was posted a while back....very thorough

[avishoot]

for the first few days i provide night lights , enough so that the birds can find feed and drink . i also provide more than one source for both seed and water . if you consider a bird purchased from a sale it has endured transport to sale , gawked at , at close range by a few hundred people then purchased and transported to unfamiliar surroundings. so the birds my not have eaten or drank much over this period. also with some species it is important to know what seeds and or supplements the breeder provided their birds . rightly or wrongly some species can become quite partial to a particular seed type or supplement and it should not be removed suddenly from their diet . if you do not wish to feed or disagree with the provision of this seed or supplement you can stage its removal from their diet.

[Myzomela]

I'm not a particular fan of overmedicating during quarantine, despite what I wrote above.

For example, why use antibiotics unless you have a problem? If you have a problem, do you know what you are treating? Using antibiotics as a general preventative or "just in case" is often useless and may create problems eg yeast/fungal infections or resistant bacteria. Electrolytes, probiotics and apple cider vinegar are fairly harmless and can help the bird boost its own defences.

Everyone will have their own way of doing things, anyway.

These are just my thoughts!

[monotwine]

I like to keep any new birds seperate for at least 3 weeks, but usually longer if I dont know the birds history.

I treat as a preventative during this time for worms, mites and protozoan nasties (cocci too), but thats about all as those are the common things here that Ive been "burned" with in the past. Everything else I will only treat if they show symptoms / show up in fecals.
Mostly I watch them alot for behaviour, give them a calm environment, slowly change their feeding regime over to mine and give them good vit etc to help them through the whole process.

[Nathan Morleyy]

I should try the apple cider vinigar idea how much do you put in the water?.

[shox]

I'm similar to myzomela, dont use anitbiotics initally, i use a probiotic with boiled water for 3 -4 days, then worm twice. I leave them in a three sided enclosed cage with only open wired front, put the cage in the corner on a stand, they can see what is happening without any sudden disturbances sacring them and make sure seed easy to get to. If seem well, then put into a holding aviary and leave there for three weeks after 2nd worming. In the holding aviary rotate the water mixture with either, spark, apple cider vinegar, plain water or probiotic. If all ok then release into main aviary.

I have never bought from a show, sorry this is just me, I only buy from people that I have known for extended period or come recommended from someone i trust. I may pay a little extra sometimes but i feel comfortable in that i believe i am getting a quality bird. Also find if there is ever an issue it can be resolved.