Help/info appreciated, Diamonds dropping like flies!

[Havealookwhatuvedone]

Have lost 8 of 10 diamond firetails in last 3 months- most birds were last seasons young. Birds are wormed every 3 months and have been treated for coccidiosis/bacterial enteritis with sulpha 3 and doxycycline as I know diamonds are particularly susceptible. Birds show no signs of going light, have clean vents and have no fighting/ night fright injuries.
Aviaries are well protected during winter with only the fronts open. Have just replaced all the tan bark substrate and scrubbed walls etc but a few pesky mice persist despite baiting. Could they possibly be contracting something from the mice? Although the longtails and rosellas that share the aviary appear unaffected. Am I missing something? Any Ideas/ suggestions/ possible causes would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[vettepilot_6]

do they have floppy heads after you pick them up? if they do night fright from mice....they will hit wire or wall break their neck

[Havealookwhatuvedone]

I reckon you've just answered my question. Went out and checked the discarded birds- rigamortis(?) had set in, but head was floppy. Thanks for your help. Will have to seriously tackle the mice it seems.

[Tintola]

Although the longtails and rosellas that share the aviary appear unaffected. Am I missing something? Any Ideas/ suggestions/ possible causes would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Did you say Rosellas share the same aviary? What species of Rosellas are they? I'm guessing that unless they are western(Much smaller) then that could be your problem as all the others are too big and very aggressive.
How large is the aviary?

[Havealookwhatuvedone]

Aviary is 4m x 2m and I have, I'm waiting for the cringe a pair of Northerns in there, but they are definitely not the source of the problem as they have been all housed together for 18 months and get along fine. My long-tails and diamonds have bred prolifically under this arrangement, and the diamonds are fine on dark when entering their roosting nests at night, then I find them dead on the floor in the morning.
Think the other guy nailed it when suggesting broken necks from mice night fright. I appreciate your input though, thanks.

[jusdeb]

Might pay to keep a wee eye on the Northerns ...breeding season can bring out the worst in Rosellas.

Mice are going to be a HUGE problem this year after the good rain earlier in the year .

[desertbirds]

Maybe jusdeb hit the nail on the head. Breeding season will dramatically alter the behaviour of some parrots. The aviary is too small for that mix of species. If you have mice frightening birds at night then its a double wammy and the smallest occupants will suffer.

[Finchman1]

You said you bait the mice,The mice could be eating your bait, crapping in your aviary and the diamonds are eating the crap therfore eating the bait.
For night frights you can try plcing solar garden lights around your aviary so if the birds do get a fright they can see where they are going without crashing into the wire.Diamonds are normally fairly hardy .

[Diane]

I agree with Finchman, at the time I was feeding a biscuit mix that had different colour vitamins in it and I lost a pied parrot finch and one of the its young. After the loss I happened to see a mouse poop blue as it shot down a hole. Im convinced the birds thought it was the vit mix.
I don't feed that out any more and absolutely no bait in the garden, just snap traps.

[Myzomela]

I wouldn't be too sure that head trauma is the cause.

A floppy neck does not necessarily mean head trauma.

You would need to peel back the skin on the back of the head & neck and find a lot of blood there (a little blood may pool there after death anyway and many people misinterpret this to mean head trauma). Otherwise you will need to carefully remove the skull from the brain and look for actual bleeding on the brain- or a damaged skull. Far too many people blame head trauma as the cause of death in their birds, when the real cause is often left undiscovered. If it was head trauma it is very unlikely that only one species would be affected.

The only way to know for sure is to have a post mortem examination performed by an avian vet. Otherwise you may lose what's left.
If you find out the cause, you can then see what you can do to prevent it in the future.

I agree that the mice may be a problem, but at this time of the year it may be a bug that the mice are carrying.
It may also have to do with the new mulch. Do the diamonds forage in it more than the other birds?
Are there any wet spots on the aviary floor?

Good luck with finding out, and let us know how you go.