House Finch Conjunctivitis (1 Viewer)

[ssmith1627]

Have a sick house finch. Little guy has one crusty eye. Stays around the feeder when most other birds are gone but he eats a lot while he's there. Flutters when he flies -- reminds me of a captive bird that has its wings clipped. Is it possible that's just the result of molting right now ? None of the other finches seem to be going through that. He works himself to death flying from one place to another. I've seen the same bird for about 3 days now. He lets me get close and I even had him sitting in my hand for 2-3 minutes yesterday. (yes, I washed thoroughly after that)

Any suggestions ? We've been cleaning the pavillion feeder I built with a bleach solution. I hate to think of that one bird spreading it to all the others but what are the options ? Seems cruel to just kill the little guy.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Steve
Knoxville, TN
USA

 

[morning light]

You should probably take it to a vet or local wildlife center. They should be able to tell you if it is sick or not and if it is, provide the necessary care. In the mean time, I'd have to recommend against handling it.

 

[Transformer]

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/hofi/

 

[ssmith1627]

Seems like I've got at least 2 or 3 birds with that same type appearance now. Frustrating. Certainly can't capture multiple birds to try to take to a vet. All I know to do is clean everything regularly with a bleach water solution.

Steve

 

[SquirrelOsO]

Seems like I've got at least 2 or 3 birds with that same type appearance now. Frustrating. Certainly can't capture multiple birds to try to take to a vet. All I know to do is clean everything regularly with a bleach water solution.

Steve

im in PA and my house finches have it too. it started about 2 months ago when one bird was sick, i thought it would be an isolated case but sadly it has spread. i threw out all the feeders they used and replaced them with feeders that are open and airy and dont encourage the finches to stick their heads inside to grab a seed. the constant rubbing of their eyes, mostly due to tube feeder use, keeps it spreading even with constant bleach and water cleanings. seams like this is all in vain since once the infected bird(s) feeds at the feeder it is now infected again.
i recommend NOT to use tube feeders, and no gazebo type feeders or anything that the finches have to tilt their heads to get seed.
i now use only platform feeders (open no roof) and this great feeder called the NO/NO feeder that is a wire mesh that holds black oil sunflower. it is rated as the best for decreasing disease

 

[ssmith1627]

Thanks very much. It's good to hear from someone who was seeing the same type of thing. The only tube feeders I have are the inverted type for the Goldfinches. I haven't seen any problems with the Goldfinches -- is that a concern ?

The other main feeder that I have is a "pavillion" type platform feeder that I built:

http://ssmith1627.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album01&id=152_5238_IMG

I just keep cleaning it down with a bleach water solution. I wish I had built it shorter really -- we don't get many doves eating out of it but it does happen. I have not seen feces on that feeder -- was worried they would just walk around inside and actually "go" in the seed itself but apparently they're kind enough not to do that.

Hate to think anything I'm doing is making this worse. The feed is for my pleasure but it's also to help the little guys out -- horrible to think of bringing disease to them at the same time. I'll keep watching and cleaning and we'll see how it goes.

Steve

 

[SquirrelOsO]

that feeder is fine, im surprised that your finches came down with this disease. its usually blamed on tube feeders.
the thistle upside down feeder is fine, it doesnt cause that rubbing of the eyes trying to pick out seeds.
it could be possible that your birds are feeding at a close by tube feeder around your neighborhood. birds make there rounds, there not very loyal.
who knows, someone could have a gross disgusting feeder that there picking at.
you can try removing the feeders all together for a week, that should spread the birds out looking for other food sources. and then when you put yours back up more than likely the sick ones have past on and only the healthy ones will return
the east coast has been hit hard by finch conjunctivitis. it should create a stronger bird in the long run resistant to this disease, or worse it could wipe them out entirely (in my opinion)

 

[ssmith1627]

Thanks for the information. It does help as I try to learn about some of these things. I want to be responsible in what we're doing.

The only other feeder I have -- don't have a pic handy -- is I guess a small hopper type. Two plexiglass sides that the feed sits in, made of cedar, "ledges" on each side as a perch and also to hold the seed in and the top just slides down the cord that the feeder hangs from. I built it by copying an old one that we had -- tore the old one apart to get dims to build copies.

Thanks for the feedback.

Steve

 

[scampo]

Thanks for the information. It does help as I try to learn about some of these things. I want to be responsible in what we're doing.

The only other feeder I have -- don't have a pic handy -- is I guess a small hopper type. Two plexiglass sides that the feed sits in, made of cedar, "ledges" on each side as a perch and also to hold the seed in and the top just slides down the cord that the feeder hangs from. I built it by copying an old one that we had -- tore the old one apart to get dims to build copies.

Thanks for the feedback.

Steve

I found this site useful:

http://members.aol.com/FinchMG/Index.htm