Dead Cordons

[flippenheck]

I have a an Aviary with a mixture of birds, Cordons, Gouldians, RFPF, Emblemas, Stars, Double Bars and Fire finches. This morning I came out and found my pair of Cordons both dead. They had been sitting on eggs and I couldn't believe it. I wondered if a spider had got into the nest, because every other bird in the aviary is fine.

Gee it can be frustrating some times

The birds were both 12months plus and had finally gone to nest, so I have know idea what went wrong

Any thoughts would be good

Flippenheck

[jusdeb]

Just my opinion but if a bird is going to just drop dead it will likely be a Cordon .

I had the pleasure of owning a beautiful pair (boy was pied) for approx. 15 hours . Found them both dead without a mark on them the first morning home with them .

Sorry for your loss and no answers from me on why . Just sad.

[djb78]

Sorry to hear about the cordons both dying in one night. Cold weather comes to mind but I dare say that you have had them for a while so cold might nit he the exact answer. Hen might have got egg bound happens with them during the early parts of spring usually brought by colder nights and lower calcium levels. But as deb said they sometimes can be finiky little buggers. This has me a little bamboozled if its not the cold that got them. Were they in good breeding condition, has their diet changed dramatically, any new inhabitants anything at all that might lead you to another cause except for the spider conclusion. As for spiders I don't think that might be the cause, is there alot of spiders around your aviery? What types?

[SamDavis]

Very disappointing and frustrating, particularly when they were nesting. Difficult mystery to solve when both died. Were they dead in the nest or out on the floor? Any sign of physical damage? Maybe a rodent attack or they've eaten something poisonous?

[tonytoast]

Sorry to hear about your loss and yes, very frustrating!

Were they dead in the nest or were they dead on the floor and if so, were they close to each other or at different locations of the aviary. If the latter is true, and it was a coolish night, it may have been a night fright.

Other things you may consider are:
- Have you introduced a new bird(s) recently who may have introduced disease
- Has there diet changed (removal of live food)
- Have you wormed them recently....if so, may have resulted in a compaction
- Do you have a resident Butcher Bird
- When did you last notice them alive....it may not have ocurred during the night
- Was there plenty of seed available to them the previous afternoon and first thing in the morning

[Diane]

Sorry to hear that flippenheck.
Re the temps, that could be the problem, as you know, it has been really lovely weather all week here, even the overnight temps were good, however the night before last was colder than any we have had for a while and again last night so maybe that was the cause.

Still frustrating and sad though.

[Nathan Morleyy]

Mate that happened to me when I tried to keep cordon blues,
First I bought a pair then the male died a week later then I bought a male as a replacement for the one that died then 2 days later the female died so I got fed up with it and so I sold the male to NRG.

Thanks Nathan

[flippenheck]

Sorry, I could only just get back to the computer

Recently I purchased a new Cordon Hen and placed into the aviary. The Hen and nearly all the birds have come from the same breeder, so I am not sure that something is wrong with her. The Hen in fact is doing well still.

It just seems odd that out of 35-40 odd birds in that aviary, I have a bonded pair that are on eggs, both drop on the same morning. Anyway, welcome to the world of bird keeping

Thanks for all the reply posts, it is always interesting to gather thoughts and think things over as to what might be up?

Flippenheck

[toothlessjaws]

ah bummer.

i've had really bad luck with cordons (in fact don't have any ATM), but nothing as weird as that. i found that the females are likely to get egg bound, but here's my bad luck wrap sheet...

originally bought 2 pair. of those:

1 hen dead the next day. (early days of bird keepeing should have quarantined indoors)
1 hen flew the coop (running late for a date, weighed it up and decided not to try and catch her back despite the fact that she stayed in the yard wanting her mate!)
1 cock just "disappeared"

replacement hen bought for last cock

1 hen lost to egg binding
1 cock found dead down back of bamboo screening on aviary wall. concluded this was likely the fate of male number one.

and i gave up.

[VR1Ton]

I hope the date was worth it