The information provided by Cuckoo’s Nest Aviary is based on our experience and research. We in no way claim to be veterinarians and will always advise you to seek professional advice from a certified Veterinarian.

We strongly recommend you establish a relationship with a qualified avian vet right away. Do not procrastinate until your pet is sitting ruffled up on the bottom of the cage. Scheduled veterinarian visits are much less money than an emergency visit! You can often avert emergencies with proper veterinary care. There are only a limited number of certified avian vets in Canada. If there are no certified avian vets in your area, look for someone who has experience with birds in their practice. There are plenty of excellent vets who don't have the avian certification.

Molting is nothing more than replenishing old or damaged feathers with new ones. Typically, birds will go through a molt once, perhaps twice a year; in and around the same time. The smaller species of birds will molt more frequently than larger species; typically starting around 4 months of age, while the larger birds will molt anywhere from 6 - 12 months of age.

During a molt, the discarded feather is pushed out by the proliferation of the cells at the base of the feather. Flight is not inhibited as a result of molting because only a few feathers will molt out at a time. The entire process of molting can take up to two months in some cases.

The presence of pin feathers is the easiest way to identify molting. Pin feathers, also called blood feathers, will surface sheathed in what is called a quill. The quill is dull in colour, almost transparent with a plastic-like appearance. The quill will contain a blood vein. As the feather grows inside of the quill, the blood vein retracts and the quill flakes off.

Molting Senegal

During molting your bird will be scratching more often. It is beneficial to provide extra moisture to prevent feather sheaths from becoming dry and hard. Bathe or spray your bird daily with plain warm water.

Additional Points

It is not natural for a bird to have bare or bald spots during a molt. Bald or bare spots should be examined by an avian vet to rule out any underlying skin ailments, or feather plucking problems.

The new feathers are sensitive and can be painful to the touch. Itchiness caused from the flaking feather sheaths, may make your bird uncomfortable or even moody, which would be considered totally understandable…

After molting check the flight feathers, chances are they have returned. This would be a good time to clip your parrot's wings but be sure there are no blood feathers prior to clipping.

Detecting problems in a bird is difficult as birds instinctually hide signs of illness to prevent themselves from appearing weak. This disease-masking trait can be damaging because most sicknesses can be treated if detected in the early stages. For this reason you as a bird owner must be alert to understated signs of sickness.
Birds are all different and may show dissimilar signs of illness, even when having the same diagnosis. Learning what normal behavior for your bird is imperative to discovering sickness as soon as possible.

Possible Signs of Illness:

Weight: Perhaps the first noticeable signs of illness are weight loss. Weigh your birds when their crop is completely empty if you suspect your bird is losing weight and try to weigh them at the same time each day. Take your bird to the vet for an examination if you see any weight loss of 10%.

Droppings: Urates, urine, and fecal matter make up bird droppings. You should check droppings every day looking for changes in color, volume, consistency, and number of droppings. A change in your bird's diet will affect the appearance of their droppings. However, this change is temporary and should be no reason for alarm. Any change that lasts for 12 hours or more should be reported to your vet immediately.

Urates: The urates should be white and the volume of urates in each dropping will vary. If urates are missing for more 12 hours then a vet exam is recommended. Yellow urates can be a sign of liver damage, kidney problems, or peritonitis.

Urine: The clear fluid is urine. Amounts will vary with each dropping. If you see continuous large amounts of urine it could point to signs of stress or digestive problems. A visit to the vet may be necessary if it continues. Eating large amounts of fruits can cause an increase in urine output.

Fecal Matter: Fecal matter, the solid portion of a bird's dropping and can range from shades of green, yellow and brown. Consult your vet if you see bright red or black droppings, bright lime green droppings (sign of Psittacosis). Some foods can affect the color and should not be considered a problem, however do monitor. Food or seed undigested is another serious of illness which requires an immediate trip to the vet. Diarrhea can be from bacterial or fungal problems and being too dry is a sign of dehydration.

Loss of Appetite: A loss in appetite is certainly a cause for concern.

Breathing: Difficult breathing, gasping, clicking, or any other signs of respiratory distress are serious and cause for concern.

Fluffed Feathers: Move your bird immediately to a source of heat if perched with fluffed feathers.

Sluggishness: Can be caused from lack of sleep or a more serious underlying problem. Watch closely and learn your bird’s normal routine.

Plumage: Abnormal feather growth, dull feathers, or loss of feathers that are not associated with molting can be a sign of a vitamin or mineral deficiency. Causes could range from an unbalanced diet, lack of natural sunlight, or a more serious problem affecting the vital organs, or from Beak and Feather Syndrome.

Beak: Softening of tissue can be symptoms of vitamin or mineral deficiency.

Behavioral Changes: Molting, stress, sexual maturity, or illness will cause sudden changes in behavior. Any unexpected behavioral changes should be investigated immediately to determine the cause.

Bleeding: Because small amounts of blood loss are significant for birds, bleeding is always an emergency situation, regardless of the source.

First Aid Kit

Be prepared for emergencies. Assemble a portable first aid kit. Include the following:

• Veterinarian Phone Number
• Emergency Vet Number
• Eyewash solution
• Gauze sponges
• KY Jelly
• 3M "Tegaderm / Nexcare" transparent dressing
• Syringes
• Q-tips
• Gauze
• Latex Gloves
• Tweezers
• Rubbing alcohol
• Scissors (rounded edge)
• Feeding tubes (8F/10F)
• Pen light
• Large towel for restraint
• Corn Starch
• Betadine Solution to put on open wounds
• Ziplock Bags for saving specimens
• Paper and pen to record important information

Helpful everyday items:

Serious illnesses or accidents almost always require the advice and care of an avian vet, however it will be easier to cope with emergencies if you have these additional items available:

• Heating pad or heat lamp.
  
  
• Hospital cage or storage container. An aquarium could be used providing it is the correct size.
  
  
• Environment thermometer with humidity reader
  

Certain diseases, viruses, and illness have specific symptoms. The following are some of the medical conditions and symptoms associated with them.

Aspergillosis: Affects the respiratory system causing a clicking sound during breathing.

Giardia: An internal protozoal parasite that resides in the intentional tract. Symptoms include: diarrhea, feather picking.

Chlamydiosis (Psittacosis): Symptoms include weight loss, green urates, and lethargy.

Polyoma: Affects young chicks; daily weight loss, vomiting, depression, lethargy, dehydration, hemorrhage at injection and/or pluck feather sites.

Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease (PBFD): In the delicate form, which occurs in fledgling birds during their first feather formation, depression and the development of necrotic, bending, bleeding or prematurely shed feathers occurs. The advanced form is characterized by the appearance of abnormal feathers after each molt. Retained feather sheaths, bleeding within the pulp cavity, and short clubbed feathers may be present.

Proventricular Dilation Syndrome: A good appetite with weight loss. Undigested seeds in the droppings, regurgitation, enlarged proventriculus, seizures.

Pacheco's Disease: Caused by a herpes virus. This disease is dreaded by aviculturalists because it is very devastating and often fatal. Most susceptible to the virus are Macaws, Amazons, African Greys, Cockatoos, Budgies, Cockatiels and Conures. Patagonian and Nanday Conures are frequent carriers. Any bird that survives an outbreak should be considered a "latent" carrier of the virus.
Infected birds may die suddenly or show nonspecific signs such as lethargy, anorexia, ruffled feathers, sinusitis and intermittent diarrhea. Urates may become green, indicating that liver damage has occurred.

These are some of the major signs of illness which can alert you to a problem. Early recognition of an ill bird can literally save his/her life.

Many species of exotic birds are sexually monomorphic: male and female birds are indistinguishable. DNA sexing utilizes the fact that male and female birds have different sex chromosomes. Bird sex determination is the reverse of that in humans; the female chromosome determines the sex of the bird. Male birds have two Z chromosomes, and are designated ZZ. Female birds have one Z chromosome and one W chromosome (ZW). A region of DNA that differs in size between the Z and W chromosomes is amplified using PCR. Male birds have one size PCR product and females have two different PCR products.

DNA sexing is the most accurate method of avian sexing with greater than 99.9% accuracy. Sampling can be done at any time of year. The preferred method of submitting a sample is our blotter cards. Health Gene also accepts feather and blood collected in vials. Sexing results are usually available in two days. .

For the first time in Canada by a licensed Veterinarian, "Health Gene" offers DNA testing for Pacheco's Disease Virus, Polyomavirus, Chlamydia and Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD). The test can be used:

• To test clinically suspected birds and check collection for carriers
• To test new birds at pre or post purchase health checks as pets or before entering breeding collections
• To test birds in the pet shop
• Disease testing results are usually available in three days. If you require further information about

DNA testing please visit Health Gene at http://www.healthgene.com/vdl/breeders/avian/ or call (416) 658-2040