egg binding killed my finch this morning

[lovebird1503]

Hi everyone,

I have just joined the forum.

I had 2 society finches...a male and a female and ive had them for 2 and a half yrs. My female, Jazz, was very puffed up last night trying to lay a egg, which has always been quite normal with her...however her breathing was very fast and short and i was worried something was wrong so i put their cage next to my bed and watched her until i fell asleep around 1.30am this morning. I woke up at 5 to find she had died!! i was so shocked, and feel awful, like i could have done something. i picked her up to see a lump underneath which i know is the egg which was stuck. i just dont understand what else i could have done really to stop that happening...i gave her cuttlefish and even gave her a boiled egg shell to eat last week but she wouldnt touch it. can anyone tell me if there is anything else you can do to have prevented this? i just have rocky now who is alone...i played a video on my phone of them from last yr and she is cheeping and he went crazy and was cheeping and singing so loud..i feel bad for him. im going to get him another friend this afternoon. any advice would be much appreciated.

thankyou,

heartbroken bird lover

[5borders]

Roxanne, I am very sorry to hear about your little friend and for you. A lot of birds will not touch cuttlebones or egg shell, boiled or otherwise. But you are on the right path, unfortunately too late. I am sorry to say it that way, and mean no harm in what is already a hard situation. What I mean is calcium is what you needed or rather she needed. 90% of all birds who become egg bound, become so from lack of calcium. Most will suffer or struggle but finally pass the egg after a very stressful and exhaustive time. Birds, even when not laying eggs should still be given calcium with Vitamin D as well as iodine. Outside of laying once a week is fine, during the egg laying period this should be increased due to the extreme calcium depletion occurring in their bodies from egg production. The calcium should also then carry on as well as iodine for the young’s development. The easiest way is liquid calcium added to their water, this way you are certain they are getting it. A lot of people will sprinkle powdered calcium on their food as well as liquid in their water during laying to just be safe. There are old techniques people have talked about for years and I will not mention them here because no one should ever due them. Since society finches are very social a mate should be good for him. Morning Bird makes the most popular liquid calcium, as well as, a very easy to use liquid iodine. I know this is too late to help now but adding these items will avoid this in the future. Sorry again for your lose and do not beat yourself up to bad, your description was perfect. You stated exactly what a bird looks like when this is occurring.