Aussie Finch Forum

One of my Painteds is fluffed up and currently with head under wing. I need to know how to make an emergency hospital cage and what I put in it. How do I keep it warm?

It just had a tiny amount of seed and did a poop but it looks tired and remains very fluffed up. Not being active like my other Painteds are at this time of the day. The nearest I have to something warm is a heat mat for seedlings. I could put a small cage top directly onto this if that would be any good. It has a carpet on the top.

If you have a desk lamp & one of those old fashion light bulbs 25 watt to 60 watt you can have that at one end of the small cage.
The painted will sit under it if it it chilled and be able to move away if it gets too hot. Let it find its own temperature.
Warmth & quiet is the best.

Thanks Mortisha. I don't have one of those lamps unfortunately. I've put the bird in the cage on the heat mat. It's resting in the seed bowl now. Sadly I lost a Double Bar hen from that aviary - just found her after I checked as I hadn't seen her for several hours. Just like she was sleeping in a hollowed out bunch of November grass. I had noticed her male wasn't defending the empty nest any more and had been worried. She had been fluffed up last week but seemed fine other than that and the fluffed up look went too. Don't know what I'm doing wrong and am very sad at the moment.

Losing birds is devastating, but as others have said "If you have livestock, at some time you will also have dead stock" Re heat Ive had success with a terracotta plant pot with a light bulb inside hung near a perch.
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If it is only hens that are fluffed heat is best.... they may be lacking in calcium.....is there damp areas in aviary? Do you feed boiled egg and crushed eggshell? Numerous things could cause this...but to start off heat first..

I've never had a hospital cage but just put any birds requiring warmth into a carry cage & place them in a warm & quiet room undisturbed over night. Any eggbound hens found early enough nearly always pass the egg & are tight-feathered & active again next morning.

Sorry to hear of your sick birds Maureen after what I recall seemed to be such a great start. I don't recall seeing pics or reading a description of your aviary - size, aspect, roofing, floor cover, etc. Given the weather is now cooling this information might help isolate the issue. In any case we all lose birds so don't lose heart.

Sam - The aviary is made of colorbond - half roof covered with colorbond and other half clear laserlite. Mouse-proof wire 6mm, dimensions 3m x 1.2 x 2m. Alongside an identical aviary. Floor is pavers covered with sand. In one are the DBs, pair of Painted, pair of Goulds and a lone male Plumhead. In the other are 3 pairs of Goulds and a young pair of Ruddies. I had a tragedy today - feel like such an idiot!! Been preoccupied as my daughter is in hospital. Somehow I have managed to let a gould hen escape from the safety cage. That's the only explanation as she is gone. To make matters worse she is the excellent mother of 6 thriving 2 week old nestlings. Will the dad manage on his own to rear the babies or should I give them to the manikins? The Painted seems fine now after a night in a warm cage. I am sooo upset about the gould hen getting out. I am in the process of turning a large glasshouse into an aviary where I am sure birds will be very happy!

D

maureen_g wrote:Sam - The aviary is made of colorbond - half roof covered with colorbond and other half clear laserlite. Mouse-proof wire 6mm, dimensions 3m x 1.2 x 2m. Alongside an identical aviary. Floor is pavers covered with sand. In one are the DBs, pair of Painted, pair of Goulds and a lone male Plumhead. In the other are 3 pairs of Goulds and a young pair of Ruddies. I had a tragedy today - feel like such an idiot!! Been preoccupied as my daughter is in hospital. Somehow I have managed to let a gould hen escape from the safety cage. That's the only explanation as she is gone. To make matters worse she is the excellent mother of 6 thriving 2 week old nestlings. Will the dad manage on his own to rear the babies or should I give them to the manikins? The Painted seems fine now after a night in a warm cage. I am sooo upset about the gould hen getting out. I am in the process of turning a large glasshouse into an aviary where I am sure birds will be very happy!

Had The same thing happen to me the other day I was in a rush to go to work and I let my Talpacoti Dove hen out of the safety flight opened it without looking to see if any birds were inside the flight with me and then she was gone havnt seen since.And she was my best breeding Talpacoti Dove Hen.first time has happened to me.