The Health Programmes

Breeding Health Programme |  Finch Programmes |  Soft Food & Soaked Seed

There is no more important time for the health of the entire aviary than the breeding season. Dr Marshall's health products provide your breeding birds with the extra levels of protein, energy, vitamins and minerals required to produce robust and healthy youngsters. Detailed information on Dr Marshall's Gouldian & Finch Health Programmes is available in the clients only section.

Breeding Nutritional Health Programme

The breeding programme provides the breeding flock, fledglings, moulting juveniles and new birds with the very best opportunity for continuing good health.

* Refer to page 112-123 of the "Gouldian and Finch Health" book.

Lice and Mite Protection
Lice and mites are an underestimated cause of ill health in finches. They cause intense irritation preventing the birds, especially feeding parents, from the rest they require to remain healthy. Sick breeding birds and dead babies are common complaints associated with lice and mite infestations. Red mite is another serious and deadly moult that must be controlled during summer when most finch continue to breed.

The monthly administration of ivermectin into the drinking water for two consecutive days concurrently with the application of Coopex spray into the nest is recommended. For finches, regular water cleanser baths are extremely helpful in controlling lice and mites that worry finches in summer.

Worm Protection
Internal parasites are a common cause of poor development and illness in juveniles and adult birds. For finches, medicines that kill roundworms and tapeworms should be given each month during the summer months and every three months for the remainder of the year.. A wormer (including tapeworms) is available through consultation with Dr Marshall. This preparation is ideally suited for treating tapeworm in finches and other birds. Continue using ivermectin for roundworms. This remains the safest and most effective medicines for finches. The combination of ivermectin and a tapewormer offers finch enthusiasts the best method for controlling lice, mite and worms.

Summer Rains: Wet Weather Programme
Dr Marshall recommends that a coccidiosis treatment be given for three days every five weeks until May. For Coccidiosis outbreaks a sulfa antibiotic may be required to halt deaths. Please refer to the exact treatment for outbreaks in the Gouldian and Finch Health Book. Finches, especially juveniles, succumb to illness most commonly after wet weather. Coccidiosis, E.Coli, thrush and mould infections are the most common "wet weather" diseases. Megamix has been developed specifically for wet weather problems and should be administered to the drinking water for the duration of the downfall. A five day course of coccidiosis treatment should be introduced when it continues to rain for more than three days.

Mould and bacterial infections are controlled in most aviaries with a one day a week administration of a water cleanser. In susceptible aviaries, a water cleanser may be required for several days each week.

Overcrowding of Young Birds
Outbreaks of disease should be anticipated with overcrowded young birds. The breeding programme should protect strong juveniles from the effects of overcrowding, however, overcrowding does not provide the most favourable environment for the enduring health of young birds.

Dr Marshall's Health Programmes for Finches

The health programmes for finches differ markedly from those described for exhibition birds such as canaries and Zebra Finches, or for the colour mutation Gouldians. They have been designed for a natural but potentially unfriendly aviary environment and focus on maintaining a strong level of natural resistance. Finches required a dry, warm, stress free aviary environment, appropriate feeding practices and exceptionally clean food and water conditions if they are to remain healthy and breed prolifically. By allocating a time for an annual moult many diseases are controlled. During this time breeding activity must stop. Similar types of finches must be are housed together to facilitate the breeding and moult cycles. Special attention must also be given to overcrowding and intra/inter-species aggression.

Individual treatment is less important than an understanding how best to help the flock manage its particular health problem. Sick individuals are treated in isolation. The flock is treated with water cleansers. Antibiotic treatment is withheld unless several birds have died and only after the exact nature of the problem has been determined. This may require veterinary assistance and the microscopic examination of droppings or dead birds.

Above all the natural resistance that has been developed in the aviary must be preserved. When medicines are required they must be administered under veterinary guidance.

Routine treatments against worms, lice, mites and environmental germs should be administered regularly to all finch aviaries. These preventative treatments enhance natural immunity within the flock.

Breeding results improve and disease is controlled when the health programmes and routine treatments are combined with good management. Overcrowding, species incompatibility, nutritional deficiencies, poor drainage, exposure to inclement weather conditions and the introduction "new" birds are the major causes of most disease outbreaks. Good management requires knowledge of the exact needs of every finch species kept and is the best means of controlling disease.

Bird keepers should be aware and well informed of the importance of a healthy flock for breeding success. True and continuing health relies upon good aviary management that nurtures a strong level of natural resistance. The use of medicines should be limited to routine procedures that control worms, coccidiosis and environmental germs. Antibiotic medicines should only be used in the event of serious disease. The nature of the disease must always determine the choice of medicine and this is best achieved by the microscopic examination of fresh droppings or dead birds. The health programmes described here first and foremost develop a strong natural health within the flock and then use medicines in an informed manner to maximise breeding success.

The following programmes should be used for finch aviaries.

1. Winter (Pre-Breeding) Programme
2. General Breeding Programme
3. Prevention Programmes
      New Bird (quarantine) Programmes
      Coccidiosis Prevention Programme
      Mites, lice Prevention Programme
      Worm Prevention Programme
4. Special Health Programmes.
      "Wet Weather" Programme
      "Cold Weather" Programme

The Winter (Pre-Breeding) Programme is recommended for flocks that have previously experienced infertility and poor breeding results.

A General Breeding Programme is recommended for most of the year. It has been designed to stimulate a strong, natural occurring and enduring level of health in breeding pairs. It is often combined with the pre-breeding programme to improve fertility and breeding performance by ensuring the birds are vital at the time they come into "breeding condition" and maintain their vigor throughout the entire breeding season. The General Breeding Programme also provides the breeding pairs with the energy and nutrients needed to rear robust young.

The Prevention Programmes use finch friendly products to help prevent illness in finch aviaries. They include a quarantine programme for new birds and a routine disease prevention programme for coccidiosis, worms, lice, mites and environmental germs.

The Special Health Programmes have been devised for finch aviaries during the high-risk times of autumn and winter when breeding and aviaries full of young birds coincide with the onset of cold weather and seasonal autumn rains. Mice and rodent worry are also more prevalent at this time.

Detailed information on Dr Marshall's Gouldian & Finch Health Programmes is available in the clients only section.

Soft Food & Soaked Seed

Soft foods
In nature, insects provide the additional protein requirement during the breeding season. Protein in the form of an egg or soft food mix must also be provided to canaries. Traditionally, soft foods were called egg food. At first, they consisted of a crushed boiled egg mixed with bread or biscuit crumbs and provided to the birds during the breeding season as an additional source of protein. Over time, additional protein sources became readily available (Farex protein cereal, powdered eggs, wheatgerm and so on) and were added to the egg food. Observant fanciers changed the soft food recipe further by adding more bread or carbohydrate products based on their experiences of feeding parents leaving some of the egg food uneaten in preference for the biscuit or bread crumbs. Others combined the soft food with soaked seed with further improvements in breeding results. Nowadays, most soft foods recipes contain both protein and energy for the feeding parents.

Soaked Seed
Soaked seed may also be used as a source of protein and energy for breeding finches. When prepared hygienically soaked seed offers breeding finches the most concentrated form of energy available. Soaked seed also offers the fancier the best medium in which to add those extra vitamins, minerals and trace elements required for breeding success. Soaked seed is, however, easily contaminated and may become lethal to nestlings and feeding parents, unless proper precautions are taken during its preparation. Experienced fanciers administer a special water cleanser continuously in the drinking water at a very low dose to combat soaked seed related nestling deaths and improve breeding performance.

Soft Food/Soaked Seed Combinations
With the addition of vitamins, minerals and trace elements, soft foods/soaked seed combinations offer the finch with everything it needs for breeding success. However, not everyone has time to prepare these recipes hygienically, nor to remove uneaten remnants before they spoil. Products such as Turbobooster, Energy supplement, F-vite, Dufoplus, Ioford and NV Powder have been developed to provide the additional protein and energy, as well as vitamin, mineral and trace element requirements for breeding success in a convenient and hygienic form. They can be added to all of the dry seed, soft food, soaked seed or combined soft food/soaked seed recipes with equal success.

Soft Food & Soaked Seed Recipes
The following soft food recipes offer the finch breeder with quality soft foods that are also simple to prepare. The very nature of soft foods requires that uneaten remnants should be removed within 6 hours from the aviary. There are countless soft food/soaked seed recipes available that are usually chosen pragmatically from personal or shared experience. Whatever recipe is selected, they must always provide the breeding birds with an extra source of quality protein and energy. They are also an excellent method in which to add vitamins, trace elements and minerals to the diet of the breeding finch.

Soaked Seed Options
This soaked seed recipe must use seed free of bacterial or fungal contamination. A number of seed combinations may be used.

Soaked seed preparation technique
The seed selected for soaking must be pre-tested for cleanliness by culture testing or sprouting on cotton wool. Seed that bubbles excessively, smells bad or grows fungus must be rejected.

1. Soak seed mix in a water cleanser in a 4 litre plastic ice cream container overnight.
2. Wash thoroughly through a 25 cm (10 inch) sieve with tap water, then final rinse with a water cleanser. Allow sieved seed to drain thoroughly before placing in an oven or on a warm surface for 24 hours.
3. Next morning wash out with a water cleanser again.
4. Wash again in the evening a water cleanser. Make sure it is drained well. Repeat morning and night until seed shoots appear or seeds are opening wide enough for birds to pull sprout out. The amount of time to germinate varies upon the air temperature. Make sure the soaked seeds are not too wet nor too dry.
5. Seeds should have a short sprout only. Add Dr. Rob's Nutritonal Supplements to soaked seed. Supplements: Turbobooster, Dufoplus, IofordNF, Energy supplement. Energy supplement and Fvite should be made available in finger drawers at all times. Soft food may also be mixed into soaked seed now.
6. Sprouting equipment must be thoroughly sterilised between use.
7. Reject seed that smells “off” at any stage or develops a mould.

Copyright © 2004 Rob Marshall, All Rights Reserved.