Please read, many birds dead at rehab

[Skittys_Daddy]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I still think Higgins response was the worst. It was nothing but finger pointing and blaming the original poster.

Be perfect if it turned out to be their product and they get a class action lawsuit and go out of business.

I stick with Harrisons. They are a SMALL company and very reputable.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Update: Beth Moody's second bird also died. The common denominator was the Higgins.

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

That's terrible there was another incident I sincerely hope that the OP from the rescue got the word out soon enough that this will be the last deaths from what is increasingly sounding like a food-related issue.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

This is absolutely awful. These companies don’t even care that their product could have been responsible for the deaths of so many innocent birds. Which food is to blame? Nobody knows...

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

This is absolutely awful. These companies don’t even care that their product could have been responsible for the deaths of so many innocent birds. Which food is to blame? Nobody knows...

Being all the deaths reported so far seem to be in Michigan, it may well be the companies aren't lying that there was nothing wrong with the food when it left their factories. A cluster like this sounds like a possible contamination issue at a more local or regional distributor of one (or more) of the brands to me. Unless it starts happening in other areas of the country, it seems like another link in the supply chain may be to blame. Some of their official responses may not have done much to reassure the public, but they really may not be to blame even if it turns out to be contamination of the food either.

 

[ParrotLover2001]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Contaminated Water? I posted about that on another forum, saying if it was water then other pet birds would be dying. Maybe the state water supply is contaminated?

Sent from my Galaxy s8

 

[SailBoat]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Contaminated Water? I posted about that on another forum, saying if it was water then other pet birds would be dying. Maybe the state water supply is contaminated?

Sent from my Galaxy s8

Water supply is local or at most regional in Michigan. There is no State wide water supply system. At the local level it can be as singular as a private well or a small village distribution system.

Lab work will likely not be available until Tuesday. We need to avoid speculation and hold with what little we know.

 

[Terry57]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Lab work will likely not be available until Tuesday. We need to avoid speculation and hold with what little we know.

Well said, Steven.
The hysteria is rampant on FB, with a lot of people saying they will never feed any kind of pellets again.
I think we all need to be careful, checking codes and dates, or changing foods, whatever steps people feel the need to take to protect their birds...but we should hold off on finger pointing until there are lab reports posted that will hopefully have an explanation for what caused the tragic losses.

 

[Anansi]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Being all the deaths reported so far seem to be in Michigan, it may well be the companies aren't lying that there was nothing wrong with the food when it left their factories. A cluster like this sounds like a possible contamination issue at a more local or regional distributor of one (or more) of the brands to me. Unless it starts happening in other areas of the country, it seems like another link in the supply chain may be to blame. Some of their official responses may not have done much to reassure the public, but they really may not be to blame even if it turns out to be contamination of the food either.

...Lab work will likely not be available until Tuesday. We need to avoid speculation and hold with what little we know.

Well said, Steven.
The hysteria is rampant on FB, with a lot of people saying they will never feed any kind of pellets again.
I think we all need to be careful, checking codes and dates, or changing foods, whatever steps people feel the need to take to protect their birds...but we should hold off on finger pointing until there are lab reports posted that will hopefully have an explanation for what caused the tragic losses.

Excellent points, all. At this point, none of us truly knows enough to come to a conclusion one way or another. While I'm glad that Kentuckienne has shared, and continues to share, this information with us, we must be especially mindful of how very limited our information is at the moment... and remain responsible in both the tone and tenor of our responses.

Another bird dying who also happens to eat Higgins is circumstantial evidence. Doesn't mean Higgins isn't related to what's going on, but it certainly does not prove that they were.

Further, as April pointed out, the issue could in fact be local to Michigan. At this point, and until the food test results come in, we can't even rule out non food-related causes, either. The field of suspects remains disturbingly wide open.

By all means, take whatever precautionary measures seem appropriate to you for your flock. If pellets were a part of my ekkies' diets, best believe I'd be looking to err on the side of caution at the moment. But we cannot yet draw any solid conclusions about how this terrible tragedy has occurred.

I do hope the test results shed some light on what happened to those poor birds, one way or the other.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Teddscau]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Good points you guys made about this only happening, thus far, in Michigan. The food is definitely suspect, but as some of you said, it could be the water. Did a quick Google search of "Michigan bird deaths". Apparently there's been issues with avian botulism (maybe? Apparently it's hard to tell if birds have died from botulism for some reason) in the waterways. I've seen a documentary or two on how...sketchy?...drinking water is. Municipal water is, well, safer than it used to be, it's still kind of iffy. Like, pathogens get through all the time. Parasites, bacteria, viruses, fungal stuff, birth control, chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, etc. If somebody isn't doing their job properly, then bad things can happen. For example: Flint, the 1993 Milwaukee Cryptosporidiosis outbreak, the Walkerton E. coli outbreak, the 1987 Carroll County Cryptosporidiosis outbreak... Fudge, just did some more reading. Not trying to alarm anyone, but it looks like we're all gonna die:

Study reveals hidden dangers of tap water: Millions of Canadians drinking from substandard sources | National Post

Millions of Americans drink unsafe water, study says - CNN

Drinking water contaminated by excreted drugs a growing concern - Health - CBC News

Drinking water in Canadian cities not always tested for all contaminants - Manitoba - CBC News

Fudge. Well, at least I'm on well water. The well's in the ravine and the water goes through UV sterilization. Not to mention we also have an R/O system. Man, I'm really glad we live in the country. Fudge. No wonder everyone has deadly allergies, asthma, compromised immune systems, learning disabilities, etc. I'm worried, guys. We should all be worried.

 

[reeb]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I think contaminated water is a problem world-wide... I guess it's a risk that we unfortunately have to deal with. I wonder if they are testing the water too...

Hope it's okay for me to post the most recent update from FB:

1/6/18 3:16pm

The below is from Tanya O'Connor, the other rescue I spoke of in my original post. There's been speculation that it's Hurlin's Rescue, that it's Baird's Nest. It was Tanya. I didn't want to name the other rescue so they wouldn't have to endure the **** storm I signed on for when I decided to go public with this. Be kind. That's all I'm asking here. We are a family, this bird family of MI. We are all heartbroken. So be kind.

From Tanya:

I’m putting this out there..
I am the other Bird Home that Shannon Boehmer Kramer referred to.

We were having testing done on cuttlebone at the same lab as Shannon. I did not even think of the food as I have always used it.

We lost 2 painted Conures and one Rosie Front conure. The other rosie front is doing well now.

When Shannon called me I told her what happened to my birds - Vomiting and death..I was sure it was the cuttlebone that was taken in to be tested.

The common factor is we both were feeding the same food.
I
had dumped mine in containers in the little bird area where just the 4 of them are.

I tossed the food seed pellets(Zupreen fruit)nutra berries,millet. They were the only ones to eat this food and I had just bought it -It was newly opened I’ve had my birds since they were just wee ones.

They were not sick they were FINE this happened in a matter of 5 hrs.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I was just about to post the update, since the word is out now about the second rescue. The original post said the foods being fed in common are the ZuPreem and the Higgins.

The more I think about it ... it just can't be a chronic toxicity, because all the birds succumb at the same time. Same for some kind of disease .. it takes some time for diseases to spread. Even with something terribly virulent, what are the chances of all the birds in a room expiring within a half hour of each other?

And yes, space heaters and teflon and environmental toxins ...except the lungs look good, if it were PTFE toxicosis the vet would have called it. Also inhaled poisons usually at least affect the lungs to some degree, and these birds most obviously had GI problems.

I side with poison, ingested by mouth. Not in the water, but in the food, most likely one of the two foods both rescues fed in common. It's possible the problem happened during production - in which case you'd think the problem would be more wide spread. Can't rule it out - lots of people around the country are reporting mysterious sudden deaths, so it could be people just don't know about the other case and assume theirs is an isolated event. Could be an excess of some vitamin or mineral stuff, or could be contaminated seeds - millet treated with rat poison, something like that has happened before.

Or it could be something that happened at the distribution center - maybe the warehouse got treated for an infestation? But ... doesn't it seem that if something had got sprayed onto the containers, there would be some evidence, some stain or discoloration or odor? Both places still had the original bags and surely would have noticed something like that. Suppose an evil person deliberately poisoned the food? Aren't these sealed bags, you would notice if it was already opened? Maybe they used a syringe and injected something through the paper, something toxic, tasteless, and odorless. Parrots are such picky eaters and might have rejected food with an unfamiliar taste. Maybe poison with sugar in it.

It's hard to imagine someone actually doing that. Who hates parrots that much? The first rescue - some commenters mentioned an individual behaving badly, maybe with mental problems, angry because they weren't allowed to adopt a parrot. How would that person get to the food at both places?

Vita-seed is a mix of actual foodstuffs. Say one thing, like a dried fruit or veggie, is the culprit. Something sprayed, a poisonous mushroom or fungus, or something that shouldn't have been in there. Since parrots are picky, I could imagine some being OK on that food because they don't like or don't eat the poisoned bits.

I know, there is nothing that can be done, this is all speculation, we should have test results back next week. But it's interesting. What if it had happened at my house, would I have recognized a problem? Is there a pattern, some warning sign, to watch for?

Whatever it is I don't know how they are coping. I remember how awful, terrible, catastrophic it was when Oliver died, and it was that way for a long time. How do they make it through the day, losing eleven birds nearly all at once? I wish there were something concrete to do, someway to help, and there isn't, not now.

 

[texsize]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I have also considered the possibility of deliberate sabotage.
X employee or something like that.
It's hard to imagine someone so sick.

But if I recall correctly the Tylenol tampering done years ago was one person trying to cover up killing a family member.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Too bad there isn't a 'legal' way to poison people who poison animals.

Just sayin'.

I do know there's a special place in hell for people who abuse animals (and children). I hope its a nasty place. Like really nasty.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Here is the latest update from the FaceBook page. It seems that the dying birds are NOT limited to Michigan.
=====================

Caro Ri I know there are lots of comments here to read so I’ll try to continue updating with new comments. Reports of the same symptoms are coming in from these states: MI, OR, CA, FL, and TN. If I’m incorrect or missing some, please let me know so I can fix the comment. The more informed we are the better. I feed my CAG Harrison’s with some nutriberries and will hold off on the nutriberries for now. I hope this stops soon and no more fids die. ��
=======================

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Wow. This situation gets increasingly more horrible. It turns my stomach to think how many birds have gotten ill and/or died before a big enough group in one home raised the red flag

Is there any more detailed info on the reports in other states? We live in one on that new list. I might email our AV Monday to see if they've had any incidents lately matching the symptoms of the birds who've gotten sick/died.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I woke up with another idea.

I'm still trying to understand why some birds seem to do fine and others get sick on the same diet. Both the ZuPreem and Higgens contain varied items. The pellets have different colors, the seed mix has different seeds. Suppose it is something in the food ... Could it be just one component? Say, the orange striped pellet (because I know there is no such thing) was made with a batch of color that was mis-formulated at the source, and contains something highly toxic, or the watermelon seeds were accidentally sprayed with rat poison by an illiterate farm worker. The rest of the ingredients are fine. Picky eaters that don't eat orange things might have no issues, picky eaters that love orange things eat them preferentially, birds with highly developed sense of taste notice something off about that one item and refuse it.


I remember when I did feed Zupreme for a while, he preferred the green ones and would eat them first. I tasted all the colors and the green ones were decidedly sweet. I don't remember what color would be left when I threw out the old food in the bowl. But if it is something like that, having the food in the bowl tested might give a false negative, since the bird scarfed up all the bad ones. Might be able to identify what was in the crop...

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I was also wondering if it was a supplier to the bird food company that supplied a single contaminated ingredient the food manufacturer added to a mix of other ingredients. If so, that almost makes it scarier than a contamination at the factory or a distributor. Who's to say other companies/brands didn't source their XYZ contaminated ingredient from that same supplier?

Out of an overabundance of caution, I'm temporarily stopping giving Kiwi the seed mix I offer as foraging snacks even though it's not made by any of the suspected companies. This is the kind of reasons I strongly prefer feeding human grade foods to "pet foods. Higher standards for food intended for humans and if a human food is contaminated, recalls tend to be swift and highly publicized.

 

[bill_e]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Seems unlikely to me that it is a distributor issue since all the packages are plastic.

Having stated that however, if something spilled on the bags and the the user handled the bags and mixed the contents by hand in their distribution tub I suppose that could happen, though it seems unlikely.

 

[SailBoat]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

The lost of any Parrot is heartbreaking to me! I take it very personally! Likely, as a result of our own many losses over the years, and the knowledge of just how much they move into our hearts. The loss of eleven sweet, loving Parrots within hours of each other would have me reeling in pain and grief.

I strongly believe that our heartfelt prays for the owner of this Rescue (who loss one of her own Parrots) and her employees are due and welcomed by each of them.

I also strongly believe that each lost Parrot deserves the full effort of determining why this has happened!

For that to truly happen, the process that has begun at their Vet's Clinic and their Supporting Labs, the samples provided to MSU and their Lab Staff, and, the Efforts at each involved Manufacturers own Labs and their outside Labs need to be completed!

At this point, we are in that very painful, difficult period of having to wait! Yes, we all want an answer to this, but those answers cannot be rushed, for we want a clearly define answer(s).

The level of speculation has reached a fever level that is now feeding on itself and as a result, much and near all of what is being reported is either a rehash of what was provided or (I can find no other words) unrelated, unsupported, unverified rumors.

The Amazon and yes, all Parrot Lover in me, has me haunted by this event! The Engineer in me has me asking just what, if anything we have done to bring a clear answer foreword.

There is just so much speculation and unsupported information that it has risen to a point that I question if 'we' will 'believe' the test results? Please think about that deeply!

In closing, we need to respect those wonderful Parrots that have been lost and in that respect, stop and wait for the Lab results! My Fear, is that all of this speculation will likely cause the Labs to slow their issuing of their results!!!

Please join me in a simple pray of your comforting, for those who have lost their dearly loved Parrots and respect those losses by holding comment until we have the Lab Results.

Steven (SailBoat)