Aussie Finch Forum

Hey guys went out to the birds this morning to give them greens and change water etc and one of my RFPF's was dead on the ground. They all looked ok yesterday arvo and couldn't see any signs of sickness. Now he was in the middle of the avairy under a perch they use for roosting at night could this have been night fright?? The only other thing I could think of was mabye I stupidly left a silverbeet leaf in the avairy in the sun and forgot to take it out when I was on lunch(I normally take greens out after 3 or 4 hours) but yesterday I was stuck at work all day with meetings and thinking mabye the silverbeet went toxic? But no other birds seem affected... I had 5 of them in there and I think the ratio was 3 cock birds to two hens and I think the one this morning was a male. But if that is not the case and it was a hen I will be removing the two other males. I just have to see after work

Zeddy, silver beet wont go toxic just limp and not very appetizing. Would suggest that it could be night fright, did you check it for any signs of trauma or egg binding. Did you know the age of your birds when bought them, could just be old age.

Hi
I sounds like a night fright, my friend peals the scalp back on every bird that dies, he has found bruise or other marks on skulls, I have never done that, but I suppose if it bugs you, it would be worth checking its skull

Hi BlackCobra,

Bruising on the skull does not necessarily indicate night fright.
Blood will often pool under the skin on the back of the head after a bird dies, regardless of cause.You would need to find the neck broken or see an indentation into the skull or neck area to be suspicious of night frights
True cerebral haemorhage is seen when you peel the skull back, not just the skin, and find blood on top of the brain or a damaged brain.

The cause of Zeddy's RFPF death could be almost anything.
Without a post mortem examination we are all just guessing. I would love a dollar for every dead or dying bird I see which was fine yesterday, only to find out it had some underlying illness which had been affecting the bird for some time, without the owner being aware of it.

I'm not saying that it wasn't a night fright. I'm just saying many illnesses can appear to kill birds overnight.

As aviculturists we tend to blame night fright, partly because it is convenient to do so. This is not always the case.

I would check the bird closely. Was it thin, in good body condition or fat? Was the vent stained? Was there food in the crop?

Hi
I was just pointing out a way he can check the bird if he is really concerned, I have lost lots birds over the years, some defiantly be to night frights, that is why I stopped keeping quail in my aviaries, at first I started trimming there wings but I just stopped having them all together, also because they call out & attracts the Cats.
Its hard to tell with some birds if there sick, some birds put on a front so predictors don't know there sick.
I just normally check there chests to make sure there not gone light, & to make sure no diarrhea ect ect.

Fair enough BC,

You make several very good points.

I just wanted to point out that many bird deaths are incorrectly attributed to head trauma based on the points made above.

As Myzo is a bird vet He would know.
LML