Question for Budgie experts from Australia

[Aussie Bird]

Hi Im a new member and live on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Ive recently purchased a house that came with 12 budgies in a lovely aviary on the property. Although my husband & I have had various pets over the years and he had budgies as a kid, we really dont know all that much about them. We already have some babies that are hatching, so the general "clan" appear to be happy, however two hens recently got into a bit of a scrap (about 10 days ago) over a nest box. We immediately relocated the injured bird and her mate into another large cage for recuperation. She seemed OK, although had a bit of blood on her head. Other than that, she appeared OK. A couple of days later, I noticed that she was a bit quiet and sitting by herself, almost looking a bit sleepy, her little head was tucked under her wing, but after the stress she had been through, and we had relocated her, I imagined it was just a bit of stress. Unfortunately a couple of days later she was dead on the floor of the cage, with her poor little mate still grooming her ..very sad. The 2nd hen involved, is now showing similar signs, a bit quiet/lethargic, she is still sitting up on a perch, she is not rocking or anything like that to indicate that she might be egg bound or exhibiting any signs I have read on hens being egg bound, she doesnt appear to have diahorrea. Any suggestions as to what might be the matter with her and if its a trip to the vet or should I take her out of the aviary and put her into an individual cage inside and keep her warm and monitor her more closely. Do I bring her mate as well? Oh I know so many questions at once from the Aussie Bird, sorry. Im just a little concerned at the moment what I need to be doing. Thanks in anticipation of your replies. Cheers !

[Ashling]

You've done the right thing so far by separating them. Stress can affect birds badly, or it may have been an infection- who knows.
If the other one appears sick, you should bring her inside in an individual cage and keep her very warm and hydrated. If she gets cold, her defenses will go down and she will be too weak to fight any illness. Keep her mate with her so she doesn't get stressed out at being alone, cause as you know stress wears down on the body just as well as any physical ailment might. Put her in a cardboard box and please take her to the vets. They will know what to do. See if you can find a certified avian vet in your area who specializes in birds.


Off the more immediate issues- what is their diet? Budgie seed? You can supplement this with pellets designed for budgies which have a more complete nutrition. They will also need fresh vegetables and some fruit: things like grass seed, spinach, corn on the cob, native flowers (like bottlebrush- they love it!) millet spray, carrots, apples, broccoli, beans, lentils, sprouts; anything finely chopped or grated always goes down a treat. You can make your own sprouts using a normal seed mix soaking them in water for 24 hours then rinsing every 8 hours until they begin to sprout, then refrigerate. Very nutritious. Feeding them only on seed is like feeding a child only on very hard bread- it wears away at their palate if they have nothing soft to eat.

You can also put some toys, ropes and fresh eucalypt branches (leaves, nuts, flowers and all) in there for them to chew, climb and play with.

Enjoy your new little friends, sounds like they're lucky to have you :)