ISSN 1492-8132
Issue Number 55,
Copyright © 2002
All rights reserved,
No reprints without permission

If you think your bird may be ill, its a good idea to have an avian veterinarian look him over. I always recommend that the first thing all want-to-be bird-keepers do, is locate the closest experienced avian vet. But sometimes it's just not always possible to get a bird in to see the vet immediately, so, what do you do in the meantime?

Well, it's not a good idea to guess what the problem is and give him medication, unless you have had a lot of experience at dealing with similar problems. Even then you may guess wrong, as some very differing problems can have similar symptoms, and worse, by self-administering medicines beforehand, you may make it next to impossible for your vet to tell what the original problem was.

But you can help your bird while you wait.

A little heat can help tremendously - a sick bird spends most of his scant energy trying to keep warm, so if you can help him do this, it will mean he will have that much more energy to put into getting better.

I like to place a heating pad set on low under one third of the cage, and then half-fill a hot water bottle, pin a towel firmly around it, and place it over the area where the heating pad is. This moderates the heat, and helps prevent hot spots. A perch is placed so that it runs right over the top of the hot-water bottle, touching it, and another perch is placed fairly low on the far side of the cage. This way the bird has easy access to either perch, and is able to choose his own 'comfort zone'.

I check the entire area with a lit unscented taper candle to make certain there is no draft of any kind, and place food and water on the floor in the center of the cage, using short, heavy-bottomed containers that won't easily tip and that are too small to climb into.

This is important, as I don't want any wasted energy in a struggle to reach food and water, or, even worse, have the bird decide that he or she doesn't have the energy to try. A bird who does not eat and drink, is liable to be dead within 24 hours or less!

Such an arrangement can help keep a canary in fairly stable condition until a vet can be consulted. Please note that even with such a set-up, it is still important to see your avian vet as soon as possible, as some problems - for example, egg-binding - can kill a bird within a day or less if left untreated.

Flourish is a combination of herbal extracts, and it works in three ways.

First, it stimulates the immune system, therefore helping the bird to fight off all manner of infections and disease.

Secondly, it attacks some germs directly.

Finally, it helps create a more positive environment for the beneficial bacteria that live in the bird's guts, aiding their growth and helping them to keep digestive diseases at bay.

For more info visit birds2grow.com

Our next issue is due Oct 13th - until then, may you and your birds enjoy all the best of everything!

Robirda
Sept 29, 2002

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

Here's what readers are saying about Robirda's eBooks:

"I have all of your ebooks, and I think they're great! I can't wait to read the next one!"

"I read it straight through, I couldn't put it down, then started all over again at the beginning! I know I will be studying it over and over. Thanks so much!"

Learn more about Robirda's Bird eBooks - and how to get your own! - at robirda.com/books.html

This site is scarey. It claims to be a resource for reliable information on caring for canaries as pets, and also offers canaries for sale, yet offers incomplete, misleading and even wrong advice on their care.

I have never yet known an experienced canary breeder to allow his or her birds to produce more than two or three nests a year at the most - yet this site states that it is run by group of canary fanciers, implying that they are experienced, and casually comments that a pair can produce babies up to six times a year!

The real fact is that, sure, canaries may try to breed that many times within one spring breeding season - but the attempt is quite likely to kill them, and it will at the very least weaken them seriously. Every experienced breeder I know will agree that to allow such breeding in one year, is to court almost certain failure the next - any birds who survive such a program will rarely if ever recover in time to be able to breed successfully in the following year.

The posted advice on care and feeding is equally dismal - mark this site well, so you and your friends can avoid it!

Feature Article

Winter, when so many of us spend so much of our time indoors, tends to see more than its fair share of illnesses, including breathing problems that may be accerbated by the presence of bird dander. Sometimes these problems can develop into serious impediments to the health. This being the case, I have decided that this may be a good time to share my own experience with what is most often known as...

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © Sept 2002

"You should probably get rid of all of your birds," my doctor said, eyeing me seriously. "There's been many cases of problems like yours amongst bird-keepers, and the best solution is usually to get rid of the birds."

I gaped at her, speechless. Get rid of my birds? Unthinkable!

But it was clear, too, that something had to be done, as to not be able to breathe is unthinkable too. I had recently had a three-month long bout with a serious flu, and had emerged at the other side with multiple allergies and seriously damaged lungs, and my doctor believed my birds were making it worse.

But I couldn't believe it. I had even noticed that my breathing tended to be worse when at work, and improve a little at home - but that could be a time-delayed reaction, she argued, saying that allergies to birds and bird dander were common, and tests were not really needed.

Still, I insisted that tests be done - I was not going to give up my birds until I had solid proof that they were making me worse.

'Bird-Keepers Lung' is the term most commonly used for a respiratory ailment that can afflict, well, bird-keepers, (and their birds). One of the most widely held theories is that it is caused by inhaling too much of the airborne dust from feathers, seeds, chaff, and dried droppings that is so often associated with keeping birds indoors, especially when there is a lot of them and cleanliness is not scrupulously maintained.

It is most often assumed that this problem is due to an infection in the lungs - but the fact is that allergies to inhaled substances can often have very similar symptoms.

I already knew, due to my recent research on my newly developed food allergies, that factors such as allergies to seeds, seed dust, or even seed-dust mites could be involved. As I read more, it seemed that these factors were seldom considered, yet I had a feeling that such details could be quite important - maybe even as much as the 'cleanliness' issue.

Testing for the exact allergens my body was reacting to called for multiple visits to the usually-crowded allergist's office, with a long wait often in store, but I found I didn't mind. That office was stocked with magazines filled with the exact same information I was trying to research, and more than once, I stayed longer than I had planned, because I just had to finish reading some article or another.

Among other things, I found that what kinds of seeds go into making up seed dust can make a huge difference in how people might react to it (or not), as can the age of the seed, and the presence (or not), of a tiny, seldom-mentioned critter - the seed-dust mite. These little bugs are relatives of the house-dust mite, but live and thrive in seed dust, just as much as their cousins do in house dust.

It seemed that older, dusty seed, if looked at under a microscope, is often found to be swarming with these little critters, and that many people react very strongly to them. Just as with the house dust mite, they are known to trigger allergic reactions, especially if breathed in.

In fact, just as with house-dust mites, I read that if somebody without any allergies was exposed to heavy concentrations of these tiny bugs for long enough, their chances of developing an allergy to them would grow increasingly high. I also noted that they tend to be very few or non-existant in fresh seed, and that freezing would kill any adults (although not their eggs).

But one article I found, tucked away in a magazine dedicated to allergists world-wide, fascinated me no end.

This article did not mention birds, but discussed research on reactions produced in people through the inclusion of a certain seed in the diet, both ground as a component in prepared foods, and as an extract (as in oils).

But that seed is common as a component in seed-based pet bird foods, too - they were talking about canola.

It seemed that studies in hospitals in Britain had shown that canola, especially when inhaled in particulate form, can be what they termed an 'allergen trigger'. This meant that they had found that regular exposure to the dust of this seed could begin to trigger a body to produce allergic responses to multiple substances in the diet or environment, not just to the seed itself.

They found that the longer the exposure, the higher the odds were of general allergic reactions to all sorts of common substances beginning to develop.

This information fascinated me, and thinking back, I realized that I had begun to show mild allergic reactions within a year or two of beginning to live with birds in the house, although I did not at the time recognize them.

There doesn't seem to have been much attention paid to this research yet amongst the allergy-oriented community at large - but I believe it could be a factor in understanding why allergies sometimes so suddenly arise, in some people at least - and I especially believe it could make a huge difference in many bird-people's lives.

My test results, when they finally came in, reinforced the ideas that were slowly developing in my brain as I read. I was relived to find that I was not allergic to my canaries, my finches, my waxbills or my softbills - but I did react very strongly to parrot dander, chicken and chicken eggs, and dust mites. And yes, I was allergic to canola.

I had to face the fact that I could no longer keep my hookbills, and began with a heavy heart to look for good homes for them, while at the same time taking some basic steps to remove as many house-and-seed dust mites from my environment as possible. Seed was bought in smaller lots and kept in the freezer, and I bought a vacuum that used water for a filter - I could vacuum to my heart's content, and no dust would ever escape that filter!

At the same time I removed all canola from my house and diet. I began to scan labels when shopping, and stopped buying any foods containing canola or canola oil, and I designed special seed mixes for the birds I was keeping, containing NO canola seed. This generated some surprise from my dealers, as canola or rapeseed is a common ingredient in most small-bird seed mixes.

Finally, I bought and set up air filters. After some research on initial cost, filter-replacement costs, and overall effectiveness, I settled on small units that used easily-available and relatively inexpensive Hepa filters, and included a built-in ionizer to increase their effectiveness. I found that these worked quite well, although it was true that I had to replace the filters up to twice as often as the manufacturer recommended.

To my great relief, once these steps were accomplished, I immediately noticed an improvement in my breathing. I also find it very interesting that over the longer term, I have noticed a gradual decreasing of the number and degree of my allergies - if this keeps up, within a few years, I will be back to having few if any allergies at all!

My birds have continued to do well without any canola in their diet. I was careful to see that my new seed mix presented a similar balance of nutrients as the mixes that include canaola, and my birds don't seem to miss it.

It's certain that there's a lot more to learn, on these issues - but I find what's come to light so far v-e-r-y interesting indeed. My breathing continues to slowly but steadily improve - and more than ten years after my doctor told me I would probably have to get rid of all of my birds, I still have most of them!

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com/
Copyright © Sept 2002

Sometimes it can take a little while before a bird will try a new toy, but that was certainly not the case with this swing - my birds took to it like ducks to water!

This very effective toy is a simple basic swing, hanging from a single point at the top. What makes it unique, is the short lengths of raffia knotted thickly all up and down the sides and top. A bird can sit anywhere on it, and gleefully pull and tug and chomp to his heart's content - and do they ever enjoy themselves while at it!

This is a great solution to help keep any pet bird busy, and as a bonus, it takes even a larger chewing bird a lot of work to destroy - the proprietor of our local bird store assures me that a macaw who can demolish a wooden toy in a half-hour, has to work several days to strip this swing. The beauty is that once it's been stripped, you will not even have to buy a replacement, if you don't want to - all you have to do is get some more raffia, and knot it on!

This toy is apparently not yet available online, but you can easily make your own version of this great toy, with a plain swing and some dried raffia grass.

• Do you have or sell a great bird product? Send us a sample, and have it reviewed for Flock Talk readers! We will be reviewing foods, cages and cage accessories, toys, and other bird items we have direct experience with in upcoming issues. To arrange for a review, send your inquiry and a brief description of your product(s) here, to Robirda

A small bird is not necessarily a quiet bird. Some of the largest voices in the bird world belong to some rather small birds. In my own bird room, a single society finch 'singing' at top volume, has produced sound waves intense enough to set off a traditional mouse trap placed beside a nearby wall! (I had to stop using these traps when rodents intruded, because of this unexpected factor.)

But that doesn't mean that larger birds are quiet, either. The real fact is that very few birds are really what most people would term 'quiet' - most birds like and enjoy noise, and produce lots of it. Yet the one fact so very often not researched when planning on getting a new bird, is the sound factor.

Even if the birds are not actually very noisy, they may produce annoying sounds. Some people find the incessant small beeping noises produced by some finches extremely aggravating, for example.

So if you are planning on adding another species or breed of birds to your home, please save both you and the birds grief and aggravation, and make sure beforehand that you can live with all the kinds of sounds they will make.