# Chicks keep dying



## type.rst

Hello guys i had 10 chicks in total in 4 nest boxes in my outdoor aviary. 5 chicks in one, 2 in one, another 2 in another and 1 in the last box.

But they all seemed to have died over a period of 2 weeks. Some were dead and placed in a corner of the nest box, some just died for no apparent reason with full crops and some were just abandoned by the parents.

The youngest chick which died was 3 days old and the eldest died this morning an was 14 days old.

I really dont know why this is, The temperature seems fine, there is plenty of space in the aviary, i have a night light and a few feeding stations. I have a total of 8 breeding pairs in the aviary.

The only thing i can think of is this was the first time to breed for all of the pairs, can inexperience be the cause??

Thank you.


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## Cryren8972

Inexperience could be the cause, but I have the feeling something else is going on. It would be hard to know for sure without asking you a ton of very specific questions about diet, housing, state of the parents etc. It's possible that it's just coincidence, but you may want to figure out if something else is going on. 

So to start maybe help you pin point...could you give me very specific diet details? I need to know even down to the supplements that you may be feeding.


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## type.rst

Diet includes cockatiel mix seeds, fresh veg, cuttlefish an mineral blocks placed around the aviary


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## Cryren8972

What condition did you find the chicks? Were they fed? Were they pushed to the side? What sort of nesting material are you using?


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## xoxsarahxox

Yes, what did the chicks look like? I would think that all of the babies dying like that isnt a coincidence. Were any babies pale looking? Just one thing that comes to mind, maybe red mites, I know they can be a problem with outside birds and they will feed off blood from the babies and weaken and kill them. Heres one thread, http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=14542&highlight=mites, if you search theres more threads on red mites.


Heres the wikipedia page on red mites so you can see a picture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermanyssus_gallinae. 

It might not be mites but its better to cover all the bases, so we can stop your babies from dying.


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## srtiels

In addition to what others have posted....a few thoughts, as to acute sudden deaths. My first thought is how is the seed stored?....such as in a sealed container, or is it open? If open there could be contamination from insects or rodents. rodents are especially bad because they can contaminate food with the pasteurella (sp) bacteria, which is fatal within 24-36 hours, especially the babies. Parents regurgitate so the babies would get the bad food first. Parents may or may not get sick because they have stronger immune systems than the babies. OR if seed is stored in containers, and in bulk, de3pending on the weather, some containers can sweat, which puts excess moisture in the food which can cause mold and fungal growth (which can't be seen, except sometimes under black-light)

If not how the seed is stored, and insects or rodents get into your flight and cause a disturbance?

One thing I do suggest, is that you might consider taking the most recent dead baby to a vet to have a necropsy done to determine cause of death. In doing so, this info may be helpful to figure the cause and how to prevent it from happening again.


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## Mentha

Another thing comes to mind is there may be a stray cat or something scaring them off the nest at night. We have hawks that scare our doves every once in a while. The damage is tremendous.


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## roxy culver

In thinking about diet, do your tiels eat the sunflower seeds? When I was losing babies one of the things mentioned was a Vit. E deficiency. You can try putting garlic cloves in the aviary to see if that helps any.


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## type.rst

I do not appear to have any of the problems listed above. Seeds are bought in a 20kg sealed bag and stored inside and the parents seem to be eating well. Its a new aviary with brand new nestboxes with aspen shavings for the bedding. I have been checking the nestboxes daily and never seen any mites, i have a night light so if they leave they can find their way back to thier nest.

Im really hoping its down to inexperience


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## kryten67

Hello type.rst, I was wondering when the nest boxes were built and did you use a glue?


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## Injood

I think it has something to do with the nest box maybe the smell inside can effect it could be strong or something like that


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## roxy culver

What kind of aspen bedding? I made the mistake of using small animal aspen bedding (not bird specific) last year and it was too dusty and ended up killing all my babies.


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## type.rst

I got the bedding from a local pet shop in the reptile section. It does not seem dusty. I will try and upload a picture when i get home.


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## mitch2006

so sorry for your loss
a necropsy(autopsy) on the baby(s) is your best bet if you cant pin point any obvious
problems in this aviary problem...i hope you find out soon whats happening with your babies


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## mitch2006

another thought could you take any pictures of inside your aviary,nest boxes,babies,food
provided ,water dishes ,food dishes ,etc and post them maybe someone might see something your not:blush:


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## type.rst

Hello guys Im starting to get really confused now as one more chick has died and 2 more have been left abandoned in the same clutch by a proven breeding pair. The only thing i can think of is the bedding, it is aspen bedding and was recommended to me by users on this forum but it is the only thing i can think of as all of the other things seem to be perfect. It it a new aviary and the nest boxes are brand new and so are the feeding dishes.

But the eldest chick died at 2 weeks of age if it was the bedding wouldn't it have died sooner?

Any advice would be appreciated.


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## Cryren8972

What is your water source?


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## Cryren8972

Also, are you set up to take on the abandoned chicks yourself?


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## type.rst

I use normal tap water, i have one water feeder and also a shallow dish of water.


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## roxy culver

It sounds similar to what happened to me last year and it was the bedding for me as well. The bedding I used wasn't bird specific and contained too much dust, even if it didn't seem like it to me, and when I got a necropsy done on one of the babies there were particles in his lungs. So I think you may need to change out the bedding. And you're going to have to pull the babies for hand feeding as they've been abandoned. I went with kaytee's pine bedding that my pet store carries this year and had much more success. I had one baby make all the way to 18 days old before he died so yes it can happen.


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## type.rst

Ok thank you for your reply. I have took some pictures of the bedding and attached them if its any help. I will be changing out all of the bedding as soon as i can locate some decent pine bedding.

I have checked the chicks and the parents are feeding them as their crops are quite full but dont seem to be spending much time in the nest box. I will be doing regular checks on the chicks and will pull them for hand feeding if needed.


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## roxy culver

Yea I would change out the bedding just in case.

As to the chicks, if they are two weeks old, the parents aren't supposed to spend much time in the box. At this point the chicks are old enough to start keeping each other warm and the parents don't need to be there all the time. If they aren't chilling then they should be OK.


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## type.rst

I have called all the local pet shops and none of them seem to sell pine shavings. The only one i can find is from an online store, this is the product:

http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/p...g-world-pine-shavings-35l.html?ref=googlebase

The only issue is that it is fragranced, forest fresh. Do you think this is a problem?


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## Mentha

Do not use fragranced bedding. Do you have a feed or farm supply nearby? Usually you can get pretty good pine bedding there. I buy mine in 2 cf bags. Sift it with a colander first to get rid of any dust, but it would be much better than what you've pictured.


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## tielfan

They're probably talking about the natural pine scent, not an added fragrance. Pine is safe for birds and aspen is even better. It's cedar that you need to avoid.

The pet shops probably have similar products but they might call it bedding or litter rather than shavings. It's sold primarily for small mammals (rodents) so you'll probably find it in that department, not the bird section.

Some brands of shavings have a lot of dust in them. If you get a dusty brand, you can put the shavings in a colander and shake out some of the dust before you put the litter in the nest. Dust is an inhalation hazard for the birds.


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## type.rst

yes im trying my best to find a good bedding. What do you think of this?

http://www.drybird.co.uk/Default.aspx

The website just sells one product which is bedding for birds which they produce. I have tried calling to ask what type of wood it is made of but there was no answer, i will try again in the morning.

This is a description which i copied from their website: It is produced from kiln dried, untreated wood and is dedusted which means less breathing and eye problems with your birds.

Please tell me what you think of it. Thanks.


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## roxy culver

That sounds like a good idea if you can't find anything at a feed store or pet store.


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## type.rst

Ok does that look like a good product? I cant seem to find out what type of wood it is made from.


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## Mentha

What concerns me is that they are fire kilned, this usually means it's pellets which are not good bedding.


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