broken beak

Question
hi, i recently introduced a female budgie into my avairy. she seemed to settle in, and even paired with one of my existing males and laid one egg in a nestbox, which she was incubating. but then today i went to check the birds and she was out of her nestbox, with her upper mandible broken at the cere. can she be saved, and can you please offer some advice? thanks

Answer
Hi, Joe.

You need to get this female to a certified avian veterinarian IMMEDIATELY.  This bird cannot eat and drink without an upper mandible.  If she can't eat/drink, she will die.  Only an avian vet can tell you if she can be saved.

If you are colony/aviary breeding budgies, you need to separate pairs into individual breeding cages.  I would suspect another female and this female got into a fight which resulted in the broken mandible.  Fights happen often between females when they are colony bred.  Other females will also raid the nests of other pairs and break eggs open and kill babies of others.  Separate your pairs into individual breeding cages.

Chrys