Re: Ornithology
Supportive care for sick seed eaters in places without vet care
Birds that are on a seed only diet are often low in vitamin D and vitamin A. Both of those vitamins help support the immune system. And I'm going to give you some ideas to help with that.
I mentioned before that a bird with stool problem can be supporting ( not curing) with offer fresh live culture yogurt. This provide the bird with probiotics that go balance the flora of the gut. I offer mine that healthy this at least once a month. But for your sick bird I would offer every day for a week, then twice a week until well.
There is no way for me to know what is making your bird sick. But the good thing about life, is it wants to fight to stay alive. So doing good supportive care, if you can't get vet care , is important.
Vitamin D your bird can get by being outside, if it is warm were you are. And if you think your bird is healthy enough, and won't be stressed to much by spending a short time outside in a secure cage. You must stay right with your bird, light shade is best, don't stick your bird in full sunshine. 15 miniuts a day is good to start.
Also you can sprout seeds, most birds love them! It changes the seed and activities some good nutrition. You can sprout pumpkin seeds, lentils, quinoa, millit, sunflower, safflower oat groats and many others. We have a forum talking about this. Hopefully a good member can add a link or weigh in here...
To get some good vitamin A , you can make bird bread. You want to add some cooked and puree pumpkin, add some diced red, yellow or orange bell peppers, hot red chilli peppers, those all have good amount of vitamin A. You can also add some of the millit , and fresh corn to the bread to be more tempting. Use a muffin, cornbread, or bread recipe. We have bread recipe under the diet thread too. Many birds are willing to nibble this, even seed eaters.
I don't know what kind of seeds your bird eats? But we can try mixing in some healthy seeds to the mix. Raw pumpkin or squash seeds, or human grade dried with no added salt pumpkin seeds. Quinoa, pistachio, flax, there are others but I can t this m of them. Also if you cut up a fresh cucumber and fish out those seeds to offer, any seeds from fresh bell pepper, or hot pepper many birds love these, and cut up the fresh peppers and offer those to. Any fresh squash like zucchini, yellow squash have seeds that might temp your bird. Mine love to eat zucchini cubed to.
You can offer scrambled eggs cooked so they are a little dry and crumble, or a boiled egg you duce up. Eggs have some good nutrition.
Also birds that are sick do better if kept a little warmer. If you can keep your home warmer, keep your bird out of drafts, and not under an air vent. Also you can cover one corner of the cage with a sheet, and then place a lamp with a high watage bulb bear that corner. Lamp can add some heat. But make sure bright light isn't disturbing your bird.
Lastly you might find help a d support from farms or people product birds like chickens for human food. They often have access to antibiotics or vets that treat the farm birds. I don't know if your bird needs antibiotics, there is no way for me to know this...your bird could have a virus or fungal or yeast infection. In that case antibiotics would make your bird worse.......
But a more common type of infection in birds is a bacteria called Chlamydia psittaci. This bacteria, ( a VERY BIG If, ) can be treated by antibiotics called doxycycline. There is doxycycline that is available without a veterinarian prescription, and us made to add to the birds water. It is often used on poultry farms. Or you might be able to order it online. You hav to follow the directions that come with it very carefully andv keep the water very clean. It's best to add to filtered purified water, as it can react to impurities.
Lastly it's a good idea especially with a sick bird to do an extra big clean of the cage, food and water dishes. I use newspaper on the bottom of the cage, change every day. Also clean the tray. You can use a tablespoon of white vinegar in a bowl of cold water ( do not use hot water or the vinegar will off gass fumes that are bad for your bird) while down every cage bar a d every inch of the cage. Wipe off perches. You can go back a d use a damp water only cloth to remove the vinegar residue. You don't want to have a vinegar smell when you are done. Try to do everyday or every other day while your bird is sick so it won't reinfect its self. You should still clean good and water dishes and change the paper every day all the time.
And if you think your drinking water isn't good quality, then use filtered or bottles water for your bird. Sometimes even good water can have traces of lead, or copper from old pipes, or increase coliform ( bacteria) count in it.
Ok these are all the things I can think of to help your bird. I want you to know we all care about your bird. Sometimes a topic or thread doesn't get a lot of responses just because some people aren't sure they have any advice that might help, or haven't encountered that problems before. Many people read a thread but may not say anything.
Please keep posting, updating us and asking questions.
Pictures might offer insights...
All of the above helps provide supporting care, and helps your bird try to fight this off. Real avain vet care is the best. Good luck!!!!
