Finch Aviary - Care

Illness - Introduction

Part of maintaining an aviary involves plain and simple observation. Why? Because if you don't take the time to watch your birds regularly, you don't get a chance to become familiar with their regular behavior. If you don't know what is normal, you will not be able to recognize the abnormal. And even if you know what is normal, if you let your guard down for a few days, you could fail to recognize illness in a bird during the period when it may still be treatable. Be aware that birds cover up their ailments very well. By the time they start showing symptoms, they are often extremely ill. But if you are familiar with the regular behavior, you can frequently detect a problem before it reaches that point.

A sick bird in an aviary is a ticking time bomb. It is absolutely essential that a sick bird be identified as early in the illness as possible, be removed from the aviary and quarantined, and its illness be identified and treated to the best of your ability (preferably by taking the bird to an avian veterinarian). When possible, preventive actions should be taken to protect the other birds, including cleaning/disinfecting the living environment and preventive treatment where indicated.

We found this out the hard way. (You can read about Our Tragic Experience here.)

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