Urgent She laid an underdeveloped egg!

[FinchCanary]

Our girl canary laid an egg with no shell on it.

Obviously we're worried she has a nutrient deficiency. We feed her a rich variety of leafy greens and veggies everyday, but she can be quite fussy.

For example, whenever we put broccoli in for them she won't touch it.

She's okay with Cauliflower but I don't know how that is for calcium. She fusses with egg and will only eat a small amount. She's better with watercress and lettuce than spinach or kale, preferring the former.

After doing some reading following the incident I have started today crushing up egg shell and mixing it over their greens.


Can you help us out with nutritional tips and Calcium rich recommendations please ??

p.s. we have an egg powder supplement, a moulting powder
supplement, and grit as well for sprinkling with their food.

 

[Birdbabe]

Liquid calcium in the water could help,the crushed eggshells is good as long as they're boiled for safety sake. Cuttlebone isn't all that great but it's better than nothing.

 

[karen256]

I would call a vet and ask advice. I wouldn't recommend bringing her in to the vet unless she shows signs of egg binding, but they should recommend a calcium supplement to add to her food or water.

About egg binding - it's more likely to happen with her laying abnormal eggs, so keep a close eye on her. Egg binding is very serious and requires immediate vet care. But if she seems comfortable and lays her other eggs without problem, I wouldn't take her to the vet yet as the stress and being away from her nest would be worse for her.

 

[FinchCanary]

Yes, we spoke to a vet this morning.
And they said the same about egg binding; there being a risk of the egg getting caught up or bursting on the way out that can be dangerous.

They couldn't see any problem with our diet but recommended we not have seed available for them all of the time. Does that sound like good advice?

I had been putting the equivalent of a teaspoon each in the morning and the same in the afternoon.

I will look up a calcium supplement for their water.

Calcium rich food recommendations would be good in the mean time.

 

[expressmailtome]

Some calcium rich vegetables are kale, watercress, spinach, arugula, broccoli, butternut squash, sweet potato, and carrots all have calcium. The trick is finding one that she will eat.

Also, egg food, such as this, Quiko® Egg Foods Bird Diets , is very high in calcium, and some birds eat it more willingly than vegetables.

 

[FinchCanary]

Yes, we have that and sprinkle it over their food.
We typically tend to find it has fallen to the bottom of their feeder and they've ignored it.
We may have to try sprinkling it on something a bit stickier like soft foods to see how that goes.

 

[expressmailtome]

You could put just the egg food in a cup such as this: Hook On Biscuit Treat Cups for Small Birds w Perch 2 pc [10401501009] - $3.00 : The best selection of bird food bird cages and toys for macaw parrots, cockatiels, budgies and all pet birds, We speak bird @ Windy City Parrot .

 

[JLcribber]

and grit as well for sprinkling with their food.

Your bird does not need grit. It could actually cause a problem.

You should also not be adding supplements to water. Be very sure your bird actually keeps drinking water after you add it. They usually shy away from anything that is not clean, clear water.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I don't know the recommended diet for canaries, but two tsp of seeds a day sounds like a lot. My tiels get less than that in the morning, and when it's gone they are forced to eat their other food. Cutting back as advised sounds like a good idea.

 

[FinchCanary]

okay so as of today we are trying a teaspoon of seed for their breakfast with some crushed oyster shell that we got and some sprinkled egg powder. They will get their fruit/veggie dish in the afternoon.

I watched them with the calcium water yesterday and saw one have a drink right near the end of the day but didn't see any of the others and the level didn't look to have gone down at all. So today we have clean water in there again.

Does this sound okay as a feeding plan?

 

[FinchCanary]

You should also not be adding supplements to water. Be very sure your bird actually keeps drinking water after you add it. They usually shy away from anything that is not clean, clear water.

Update on this:

We did a day of the calcium supplement water when we were in and could monitor the situation.

The canary we need to drink it (her name is Lemon and Ginger) was actually good and we saw her drinking it.
Problem is she lives with two Zebra Finches (Latte, and Cappuccino) that we didn't see drink through the day and they're usually having a quick sip every once in a while.

So following day we thought we were clever by putting two water bottles in the cage, one clean, one with supplement... and, they are only drinking from the clean water.

Although, Lemon and Ginger likes to splash her face around in the water bottle after she's had a bath for some reason, and she has still been using the calcium water for that, so that's something at least, she has a calcium enriched face wash!