How to Help an Egg Bound Finch

When breeding pet birds, aviculturalists sometimes find themselves dealing with serious avian health issues that require quick thinking and care. An egg-bound finch is one of those problems. Egg binding is when a female finch is unable to pass a fully formed or partially formed egg and can result in her death. The condition is often caused by a deficiency in the bird's diet.

Things You'll Need

  • Hospital cage
  • Heat source for cage
  • Vegetable oil
  • Calcium drops for birds
  • Antibiotics
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Instructions

    • 1

      Look for signs of egg-binding. The female finch will often stop eating, become depressed and sit with her feathers fluffed up. You may also notice her straining to pass the egg. Check to see if she has had droppings recently as the egg can prevent fecal matter from passing. The finch's abdomen will look swollen. In the latter stages of egg binding, the bird will leave the nest and go to the floor of the enclosure, stretching out her head and wings in obvious distress.

    • 2

      Give the egg-bound finch warmth and humidity. You must act swiftly as finches can die within hours from egg binding. Extreme care should be taken when handling the bird to avoid rupturing the egg. The bird should be separated from her flockmates and placed in a separate, "hospital" cage with a heat source. The temperature should be a warm 79 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Provide an increase in humidity by placing a small dish of water close to the cage. The finch must be kept calm and quiet.

    • 3

      Increase the finch's calcium intake. Place some drops of calcium in the female bird's drinking water if she is still eating and drinking. If she is not, use a dropper to directly feed the drops down her beak. This does not help harden shell of an already-formed egg, but it may help improve the muscle movements needed to push out the egg.

    • 4

      Massage the bird's vent area with vegetable oil. Gently rub the oil around the area where the egg is felt on the bird's bottom. Wait an hour, and if the egg does not pass, try to carefully massage the egg out. This is a more dangerous option but if the egg is not passed, the bird will die. After the egg passes, give the finch antibiotics for a couple of days to help with her recovery.

    • 5

      Assess the cause behind the egg-binding. Do not breed your bird again until you determine the cause of the condition. Give her time to rest. Most of the time, egg-binding is caused by a lack of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the bird's diet. Good sources of fatty acids are oily seeds like hemp, flax, rape, oily seeds and sunflower. Sources of Vitamin A in a finch's diet are hard-boiled eggs, insects and mealworms.