Aussie Finch Forum

I noticed that one of my best breeding Blue-faced Parrot Finch hen had developed a sac on her abdomen it looks as it contains 3 undeveloped eggs with lots liquid around it. I bought this bird 3 years ago and it must have produced close to 100 young during this time, I felt sorry for her I have removed her from the breeding aviary so there will be no more breeding for her for the rest of the year. I have never seen that before, it does not look like hernia but you learn something new every day. Anyone any idea what that might be?

Prolapse maybe?

There will be no more breeding from her - period.
Its a large abdominal hernia - It's already complicated and will only get worse over time with continued distortion of the reproductive tract. Eventually, the abdomen will start to fill to a point where it impedes her air sacs. Retire her and euthanase her when quality of life is affected.

I totally agree with Danny's assessment.

That is quite an extreme case Netsurfer!

not a nice way to go after all the babies she has raised but Im sure she has had it good and will continue to ...

I looked at her again today I thought the sac had just about disappeared, she looks perfectly normal, I'll catch her tomorrow and take another couple of photos and post them here again. I just hope I was right, but I'll give her a well deserved rest for the rest of the year, or as you guys suggested for good! Anyhow it's getting harder getting rid of the young, most shops wanted fully colored young which means I had to keep them in a holding aviary for 3 months, but, she is safe for the rest of her life in my aviaries.

Those first pictures look awful! Hope you're right, and she has gotten a bit better.
Gee they're a nice finch. I love the red faces, but the green on these guys is unbelievable.

jusdeb wrote: not a nice way to go after all the babies she has raised but Im sure she has had it good and will continue to ...

Yes she was compulsive breeder 6 - 7 clutches per year no problem, stops only for a month or so while molting, every clutch consisted of 4 to 5 young rarely 3, and she is very tame. This is her (black ring) earlier this year.

What tends to happen is that the constant breeding weakens the abdominal muscles.
This is due to the increasing size of the uterus and ovary that occurs with each nesting cycle which stretches the abdominal wall.
It is also due to the direct effect of oestrogen which weakens these muscles.
We see this commonly with budgies and cockatiels also.
If you have a bird that breeds so well it is inevitable that eventually something has to give.
So long as it doesn't affect her quality of life then she has earned her rest.
Good on you for keeping her Netsurfer and not just trying to flog her off to the dealers.

Oh no, in fact I didn't know what to do with her, the BFPF's and the RFPF's with young out of the nest and another clutch just hatched consume most of the Mealworms meant for Wrens, I was going to get rid of all the Parrot Finches but I just couldn't do that to her. She was a perfect bird if there's such thing, she as I said before bred all the time, was a perfect mother, produced 4 to 5 young every time, I thought I'd keep her no matter what. On top of that I bought a pair of Diamond Sparrows which developed the taste for Crickets, so I had to get rid of those.

Here are another two photos taken this morning, I don't know is she's getting better or worse. If it's hernia as you guys said I guess it needs repairing just like in human and inserting some kind of mash fabric to stop it from popping out. But I doubt it if anyone would do that to a finch.
Otherwise the bird looks OK, flays around I can't see any discomfort, she looks normal.

Myzomela wrote:What tends to happen is that the constant breeding weakens the abdominal muscles.
This is due to the increasing size of the uterus and ovary that occurs with each nesting cycle which stretches the abdominal wall.
It is also due to the direct effect of oestrogen which weakens these muscles.
We see this commonly with budgies and cockatiels also.
If you have a bird that breeds so well it is inevitable that eventually something has to give.
So long as it doesn't affect her quality of life then she has earned her rest.
Good on you for keeping her Netsurfer and not just trying to flog her off to the dealers.