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Health Care for Birds
Birds are one of the fasted growing pet groups in the country. They are a very diverse group, including everything from finches to macaws. Many of these species have unique characteristics and problems, but in many ways are very similar.
Like any animal, a good diet is required to keep a bird healthy and happy in your home. Malnutrition is the number one cause of illness in birds. A poor diet is an underlying cause for a bird’s inability to fight infections, parasites and internal problems.
A good diet for a Psittacine (parrot family) bird consists of a variety of food groups. A commercial seed diet should make up only 1/3rd of the total daily intake. The total seed diet in the store is really just seed mixture. If they are labeled as “vitamin enriched”, the vitamins have usually been added to the outside of the seed hulls and are therefore not available to the bird.
Two/thirds of the diet should consist of fresh food from the four food groups.
Fruit has a large water content and therefore is not a good source of calories, but can provide vitamins for the bird. Fruit must be clean and fresh when given to the bird and should be removed from the cage after a few hours, especially during the summer heat. I recommend feeding fruit 2-3 times a week. AVOCADO has a toxin in the pit, DO NOT feed it to your bird.
Vegetables area an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Carrots have high levels of Vitamin A and broccoli has high levels of calcium, etc. Many birds like the taste of iceberg lettuce but it has no nutritional value.
Dairy products in very small amounts can be good sources of protein and calcium, especially yogurt and cottage cheese.
Birds enjoy many different tastes and appreciate variety in the diet including cooked meat, peanut butter, whole wheat bread, eggs (cooked), pasta, and healthy cereals.
Also available for birds are pelleted foods which are easy to use and less messy then seed. They contain a combination of ingredients offering a better mixture of nutrients than seed diets. Pellets in combination with fruits and vegetables make a good diet for most birds. Many birds unfortunately are used to eating only seed diets and resist changing to pellets or even adding any fruit or vegetable to the diet. You can try mixing the pellets with seeds and gradually increase the amount of pellets daily. Another way is to limit the seeds to 10 minutes daily, but leave the pellets in the cage all the time. Some birds can take up to several months to fully accept new foods.
Fresh water should be provided daily. Calcium is need in the diet and increased amounts can be provided by offering a cuttlebone, soft side must face into the cage, mineral block or oyster shell.
Vitamins in the powdered form can be sprinkled on soft food at least weekly to help with nutrition. Adding anything to the water can be detrimental and can cause the bird to stop drinking water all together if it doesn’t like the taste.
Grit is not considered essential to digestion in most species and for those that do use it a very small amount is adequate. A few grains every few months are plenty. Sick birds may sometimes impact themselves on large amounts of grit, so you should remove it from the cage at the first sign of illness in your bird.
Your bird’s cage location should reflect the personality of the bird. Some birds are very shy and the cage should be in a quiet area of the house. Other birds need activity and variety in their day and the cage can be kept in an area with more traffic. It is a good idea to provide some area in the cage for the bird to get away from being seen. Providing a hiding place for a bird can help lower the stress levels in shy birds. Make sure the construction of your cage shows no sharp edges and the paint is lead free.
Many birds like to look outside during the day, but being too near a window can cause stress if predator birds can be seen by the inside bird. Also the greenhouse effect can cause the location near a window to become very hot during certain times of the day. Try to find a place that does not have an air vent blowing directly on the bird.
Most birds need approximately 10-12 hours of sleep nightly, so if you are a night owl, it may be necessary to find a place to put your bird’s cage to allow for quiet during the night hours.
The bedding in the cage should be clean and easily changed at least weekly. It should also allow you to monitor the droppings from your bird to watch for diarrhea, increased numbers of droppings and any signs of blood in the stool.
Perches should be provided in various sizes to prevent sores from developing on the bottoms of feet from standing in one position for too long.
Many companion birds enjoy the freedom to exercise outside their cage. Any time outside the cage should be monitored and hazards minimized, turning off ceiling fans, keeping birds away from cats and dogs that may attack, open windows, etc.
Because birds have air in hollow bones as well as lungs and air sacs in the body, a respiratory disease can be very dangerous. Signs to watch for are increases in sneezing with discharge, coughing, listlessness, fluffed feathers, breathing heavily, not eating well as well as discharges from the eyes and nostrils. Many birds can harbor bacteria and viruses that become symptomatic when stressed. Any new bird coming into the household should be quarantined for at least one month to observe for any signs of upper respiratory disease as well as any other sign of disease.
Female birds may lay eggs whether there is a male present or not. Some birds continue to lay eggs even after the original clutch size is reached. This can be very debilitating condition for birds that are on poor diets. Birds lacking calcium in the diet will pull it from their own bones and can cause serious weakening of the bones. If calcium is low in the shells the eggs can be very difficult to pass and some birds can become egg bound. This is a life-threatening condition and needs to be addressed very quickly.
One of the most frustrating conditions for a bird owner is “feather picking”. This can be excessive grooming due to stress or a disease condition. It is best to eliminate the possibility of a medical condition before assuming stress is the cause of the picking.
One disease that is a concern in birds is known as “Chlamydia”. It can cause upper respiratory diseases but may by without symptoms in many carrier birds. This bacteria can be transferred to humans causing a flu-like disease that fails to respond to regular treatment for the flu. It is mainly a problem of sanitation because it is transmitted from dry feces that become aerosolized. Many birds from pet stores and some breeders carry this disease so it is very important to separate any new birds in the house for at least on month for observation.
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