Clumsy Bird

[Anna]

I have two Rosies who are brother and sister. Dara (the female) has a severely mangled leg. Bullrush (the male) was the runt of the clutch. Dara can fly better and is way more confident and agile than Bullrush. She can also preen better and as a result she looks much tidier and better. Bullrush seems to stumble over his own feet and lacks confidence. If he is hanging 10 inches off the ground, sideways off the side of his cage, he will not fly to the ground. That being said, he can climb our cheap aluminium horizontal blinds. He climbs well. I was just wondering if being the runt has put him at a disadvantage physically somehow? Can that happen? His personality is huge for his small frame and the way he tries to boss his sister around suggests that he doesnt know he is small. He is just a bit clumsy. He cannot land with the precision of Dara either.

Technically he is my boyfriend's bird and Dara is mine but I love him to bits and want to make sure I'm not missing something here. Is there anything I can do to help him build confidence other than giving his regular time out of his cage? I have also just upgraded him to a much bigger cage today so he can have a bit more flying practice. I am also going to build a climbing gym for the both of them. Will that help?

 

[Pedro]

Hi Anna, a bit more background on the 2 birds would help. How old are they. What diet do you feed them.

I will try & answer your questions.

Usually there are 3 or 4 chicks in a Galahs nest, the eggs don't all hatch on the same day so if there is like 3 days between the 2 babies there is a big difference in the size of the chicks. That said by the time the 3 or 4 babies are fledged or weaned there should not be any difference in size at all. They should have all caught up with each other.

Where these chicks bred in an aviary or did they fall from a nest in the wild.

You said the hen has a mangled leg & the male is clumsy. This concerns me that both birds have possibly been calcium deficent. Usually caused by the parent birds not having access to calcium at the time of laying & when the chicks hatched.

 

[Anna]

I got the two of them when they were about 5 weeks old off a friend who was breeding them. They were parent raised birds right up until the parents flew away when the chicks were 4 weeks old. My friend took them to a vet for advice and he recommended the food and feeding routine that she had them on. He also took a look at the hen with the mangled leg and flat out said "something happened in the nest, put her down or amputate the leg". When I got them they were eating a combination of the baby food she had (I think it was Vetafarm) and Vetafarm brand pellets which the vet had also recommended as well as some fruit and vegies.

They are now about 14 weeks old and I took the hen to the vet not long after bringing her home as I was concerned about the leg and diet deficiencies. The vet I took her to was an avian vet who said that Dara's leg had been broken pretty badly when she was very young in the nest and it had healed wrong. I have kept them on the Vetafarm pellets but will be trying Harrisons as soon as I can get my hands on it. I also feed them seed, paswells brand pellets, and museli in foraging forms such as toys and on astro turf when they are out and about to ensure that if I cannot get ahold of thier pellets for any reason, they will still eat something. I feed carrots, broccoli, apples, pears, stone fruit, beans, peas, cooked rice, corn, dandelions, grapes, capsicum, pumpkin, and pretty much every healthy fruit or vegie I happen to have in the house. My mission right now is to expose them to as many kinds of good food as possible while they are still young and curious.

I still feed them baby mash (brand is avione) sometimes as a boost and a way to introduce new fruit or vegies. I also supplement them with calcium regularly.

Ohh, and there were 5 chicks all up. She found homes for the others with friends and family but I may end up with another one of them as her parents are dubious about how much time they are able to spend with thiers and are thinking of rehoming it. I think thats about all I can think of right now but if you need more info feel free to ask.

 

[Pedro]

Anna you are doing everything that i would do in regards to feeding your bubs. However I wouldn't supplement them on calcium to much can be just as bad as not enough. I would think that they would get enough from the pellets & formula. That said unless you have been advised by the Vet to do so.

 

[Anna]

Yeah I did wonder about that so I was dosing rather low but now that I have that confirmed I will stop. I guess that Bullrush's clumsiness, like Dara's leg, is now a part of him that he has to work out for himself. I did notice an improvement today when he had a bath and managed to not faceplant in the water so maybe he is just a slow developer due to possibly a bad start in the nest. Maybe he was underfed in the nest or something.