Losses from the cold

[Finchman]

Has anyone experience many loses from the cold lately,I lost a couple of parrot finches,but it was -4 degrees.A little bit more hulled oats for the others to fatten them up for winter.

[jusdeb]

Yep lost 3 quarrion chicks and 1 O/breast finch adult.
Its my goulds first year in the aviary and I hope I dont regret saying it but they are thriving.
-3 here last night and it feels like that already .
Ive stopped mixing extra sunflower , linseed and red panicum in to various bird mixes they now have access to full feeders of the higher fat seeds , I kinda figure they know what they need .
All the grassies here have been picking out the sunflower anyway which they have never done b4 so thats like a sign to me that they are craving it ...of course it all changes when it warms up again.
The finches dont touch linseed in summer but they have been pigging out the last few weeks.
They will probably all be on Jenny Craig come summer lol no worries so long as they survive this cold weather.

[Buzzard-1]

I have lost Cordon cock in the bird room(It was -5 deg) that I bought at Inverell, never had time to fatten him up,now have a spare hen have to find new mate for her before spring.

[Jayburd]

cheer up buzzard, when you lose a foreign finch, the hen's always the one you want alive and happy.
I have some contacts for cordon cocks if you like, but not sure if they would freight...

[jusdeb]

I guess Winter is the season when mother nature decides who is the fittest ...much to our sadness.

[Will_36]

Been super cold here lately & I have lost a few. Mainly the older or the youngust.
Such is finch keeping.

[E Orix]

Jusdeb
Your reply "I guess Winter is the season when mother nature decides who is the fittest etc etc"
is correct except the majority of our finches are tropical species who have evolved over thousands of years in warm climates and we try to keep them in an alien condition.
At the risk of repeating myself,if you live in an area which experiences very cold temperatures or wet grey days on end you need to
assist your birds. This applies to most finches except the English species and local finches from the cool climate.
The Gouldian is a fine example.It has evolved to a point of not having secondary downe feathers.
Why has this happened because the desert country can be very cold at night. There is very little air movement so the air between the feathers
is not pushed out and remains as an insulator.

[finchbreeder]

We just had 1.5 degrees overnight and that was the 2nd coldest on record. So technically I suppose it's not that cold here. But for birds and people who are aclimatized to the area it is cold. Lost my Orange brested cock and before that my Gloster Corona Canary cock (the pretty guy with the crest) a number of Bengo fledgelings and an old quail. All in all I guess that is not too bad. Though obviously not a happy chappy over it.
LML

[toothlessjaws]

its been bloody freezing in melbourne lately - though nothing in the minus' like it must be for those in rural areas. i put up some plastic curtains as a precaution but i have nonetheless lost an OB hen and a firefinch hen.

i found my hen gould virtually dead on the aviary floor about a week ago. she was so cold and near death i was sure she wouldn't make it. i had found her ill a few times before and brought her back but never anything like this. i placed her in a travel box next to my heater (being careful to monitor the temperature so she didn't fry) and blasted her with warm air. by late evening she was at least holding her head in a more natural upright position so placed some droplets of water on her beak which she eagerly swallowed. i put some water and seed in the box but knew she was far too sick to move let alone eat. i put her box by a radiator and went to bed.

in the morning i was shocked to find her alive. she started feeding and has been slowly on the up since. she will spend the rest of the winter indoors with her mate and a week later, she seems pretty good - fluttering around her cage and acting rather normally. still- i'm amazed to have brought back a bird who appeared to have such advanced hypothermia.

[jusdeb]

Ive only lost the 1 O/breast and that was with the first frost , the other losses have been Quarrions which are found naturally around here , which means jack sxxt since they are not wild caught anyway.
Anyhow its kinda so far so good with the goulds they seem to be coping well , of course Im watching for any signs of illness .
This has been the coldest winter since I have been here 5 years , usually the winters are not too bad here , cold but not frozen.