Aussie Finch Forum

It is going to be a little difficult to explain the symptoms however I think my Fire Tail hen is not well. She looks a little 'ragged' with her wings slighlty held out and up, appears to have 'blown' up a little, spends a great deal of time on the aviary floor in any one spoty for a length of time and yesterday I could have almost picked her up by hand without a net. When she flys she seems to do so awkwardly as you would expect a newly fledged bird. She also appears to have some minor scale growth on the beek (might just be my eye sight). Generally she is very lathargic.

The male and all the other birds seem fine and healthy although I did loose two Ruddy chicks during the week which had fledged over a week and a half ago with my diagnosis being that the colder weather was too much for them or their young parents abandoned them.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

No answer here but while you wait for one are you able to take her out of the aviary and put her inside or somewhere where the temp is warmer and more stable.
This would be a way also to see if their is some thing funky on her beak.Good luck with her .

Thanks Deb, I have put her into a small bird cage and brought it insode and covered it with a towel. Just went to Bunnings and got a desk lamp with a 35w halogen bulb to throw a little heat into the cage from outside which the towel will hopefully trap and keep things warm. Sghe was a little bugger to catch in the end but having done so and put my glasses on the beak does not look too bad. She seems to have settled OK and is eating so will wait and see. I have a feeling it may be egg binding although I am not sure of her age so it may be that she is getting on a bit. I have put seed, Endive lettuce and water with vitamins into the cage so all I can do now is see how she goes over the upcoming days.

Any idea how long I should leve the light on, is it best to turn it off regularly to simulate night or in this instance leave it on to keep the heat up?

I must build or buy a hospital box and will have to search the forum to see what they look like as well.

i wouldn't be worrying about day / night ratios now Id be just keeping her warm . If it is egg binding then warmth is vital . Hope someone else can help you but in the mean time youve got her warm and eating which is all you can do except a little oil around the vent but then you also need to let her settle so you need to time that , you want her to relax which is often enough to get a slightly bound egg out .

Hope your emblema hen picks up.

Note for when you are building a hospital cage......try reptile shops for heating pads, rocks and lights, they stock all that kind of thing.
I scored a heating pad from my son from when he bred snakes. Works pretty well under a small carry size cage. I have been told they also sell extension cords with a screw in fitment at the bulb end, ideal for the infrared bulbs.