What could be wrong?

[Diane]

Gouldian, just a youngster, hatched out 10 April 2010
All good so far.
Moulting nicely, its a hen.
Then a couple of weeks ago I noticed that she was spending more and more time low in the aviary then on the floor and her left wing was being held low. I thought she might have had a mid air collision and hurt herself.
Checked her wings and everything seemed to be normal, but decided to move her to a quieter area to recuperate.
So off to a smaller, warmer cage, she has been in there for two weeks now, she went through a bad patch of not being able to balance, sort of missing landings and when she fell she just laid there.
She seems a bit more together now moving around the cage a lot better, although she climbs and hops her way around rather than flying, but Ive noticed its like she dosnt know where her wing is...... I have seen wing feathers tucked under her leg and she makes no effort to correct it. She looks normal, eating and drinking well, normal poops.
The other young from same clutch are flying around no problem.
Any suggestions?

[spanna]

have you checked under her wing for any injuries?
got a grassfinch that had similar symptoms and a huge gash under its wing was the cause... missed it at first (not a common injury for me), but found it on further inspection and treated/isolated it. doing well now

[shanny2]

i hope everything gets better

[Diane]

Ive just been and given her wing another look, no cuts, I very gently held it out and moved it, then tried the same thing on the other wing, big difference in the ease of movement. Im no vet but it seemed the sore part is the joint where the wing joins the body.
I think more heat and leave her be.
Even if the wing dosnt ever get any better I will just adapt the aviary for her, with plenty of low down branches leading to higher ones.

[spanna]

it could be a dislocation, but i really wouldn't know. try calling your local bird vet and ask for some advice. i've done it a few times and they're usually very helpful, and can give you a price on treatment if you wish to take that option as well.

i've got a little masked grassfinch that was born with only half of its left wing... no idea why or how, have never had any other problems with the babies from the same parents. it lives on the floor most of the time, even though i have a few branches going from the ground to higher up. has befriended the 'teenaged' quail in the aviary and is usually huddled up with them! it still tries to fly but just kind of does backflips... saw it clamber up a perch today. will never be able to sell it so i'll just put some rings on it and leave it in the big breeding aviary with its quaily friends

hope it all works out for you.

[Jayburd]

do birds get arthritis?
if it feels stiff, could that be it?
hope it all clears up.
Half a wing???

[jusdeb]

Dunno about arthritis its possible however calcification of minor fractures would be possible I guess this would cause stiffness .