Campylobacteriosis is caused by the campylobacter bacterium
is found in the intestines of not only poultry but humans as well

symptoms in Estrildid finches include the bird sitting with its head under its wing
and heavy yellow/ whiteish droppings
youngsters are often thrown out of the nest with full crops within a week or so of hatching.

common causes are contaminated soft food, eg eggs which are not boiled properly
or egg shells which are not microwaved or oven treated for long enough. 
to use boiled eggs in soft food, they must be boiled for a minimum of seven minutes

it can also be spread by other birds which are moulting and rearing
we also pass it on by not washing our hands properly before feeding and handling birds

I use Erythromycin to treat
I give this for five days and then provide a multivitamin for two days

I go on to repeat this for one more week

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:Campylobacter.jpg

Coccidiosis is a common disease faced by bird keepers
it affects not only estrildid finches but also pigeons and poultry

conclusive diagnosis of this disease is the presence of oocytes in the droppings
the droppings are a dark brown colour and sometimes whole seed can be found

the disease is spread by contact with infected faeces

symptoms
very sleepy birds which spend a lot of time around the seed pots pecking but not really eating
they lose weight even though they appear to be eating frequently

treatment for coccidiosis is E.S.B.3 - which should be given as directed

everything in the cage and everything that may have come into contact with the diseased bird
must be cleaned to stop coccidiosis spreading
if possible cages, their fronts and utensils should be steam cleaned

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coccidia.JPG

Avoiding disease - care when feeding fruit

parrot-finches love fresh fruit including figs, pears and apple

however, this can be a very common source of infection in their cages

the birds take a small piece of fresh fruit to the perch and hold it in their foot and eat it.
they then wipe excess moisture and fruit from their beaks onto the perch

bacteria and mould will grow rapidly in the unseen fruit residue left on the perch leading to infection

to avoid this, if fresh fruit is used, perches must be changed and utensils and the cages cleaned very regularly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit