Toe Tapping

[OutlawedSpirit]

So I had my first experience with toe tapping. Tiki started toe tapping about a month ago, after I made a new batch of chop. I did take him to the vet, to make sure there wasn't an underlying illness, which there wasn't. So I put it down to something in this batch of chop. What makes it more difficult is I didn't put anything in it that they haven't had before, so I'm guessing it is the amount of something that is the issue, or something that isn't in it this time. Per the vet, I put him strictly on pellets for a couple weeks to see if it was the chop for sure.

Sure enough, after being on the pellets for a week or so, the toe tapping went away. Chicken hasn't had any issues with the chop, so it's not a complete waste anyway. The vet suggested I offer them pellets all the time, but still give them their chop in case the chop is missing something they need, even though I try to have as much variety in it as possible.

Hopefully the toe tapping incident won't happen again when I reintroduce chop to Tiki. Although I am going to make a different batch for him before I do. Poor Tiki boy.

 

[suley]

What was in the chop exactly?

With Yoshi my male Ekkie he always toe taps on any pellet mixture.

I have also found with lots of trial an error

High fat was the biggest cause of toe tapping and wing flipping

Sometimes too much protein also did it

Too much corn or any concentrated high carb food such as rice or potato

And i suspect although I can't be too sure of this one: Too much of any food can cause problems with ekkies.

They are certainly tricky with their diets and seem to be one of, if not the most, diet sensitive birds around.

 

[Anansi]

What brand of pellets is your avian vet recommending? I know some have been deemed safe for ekkies, but most others are prone to causing issues for them. Just be careful that you're not swapping one cause of toe-tap for another.

As for finding the source of the problem with the chop, while you haven't given him anything new, have you perhaps done combinations that you haven't before? That can be an issue for Jolly. Blueberries and raspberries are a bad combo for him, for instance. So I never again mixed them together in a chop. And to be on the safe side, I don't mix either of those with blackberries, either. Sometimes the two fruits or whatever in question share a certain nutrient, thus providing an excess that wouldn't otherwise be an issue.

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

What brand of pellets is your avian vet recommending? I know some have been deemed safe for ekkies, but most others are prone to causing issues for them. Just be careful that you're not swapping one cause of toe-tap for another.

As for finding the source of the problem with the chop, while you haven't given him anything new, have you perhaps done combinations that you haven't before? That can be an issue for Jolly. Blueberries and raspberries are a bad combo for him, for instance. So I never again mixed them together in a chop. And to be on the safe side, I don't mix either of those with blackberries, either. Sometimes the two fruits or whatever in question share a certain nutrient, thus providing an excess that wouldn't otherwise be an issue.

I'm guessing it is the combination of something as well, since I didn't put anything in their chop that they haven't had before. The combination is always different, however, so they aren't eating the same thing every time I make a batch. Hopefully with the next batch, things will be better proportioned for him.

My vet didn't recommend a specific brand, just to make sure there were no artificial dyes or anything in it. I am using Mazuri right now because when I got him that was what he was on, and he did well on it. So since I knew he tolerated it well, I figured I'd stick with it so as to not cause even more issues.

 

[BruceTheQuail]

My hen started about a month ago - just mildly. I had added more home grown sprouts to the chop and I think that might have triggered it, as she was still getting a vitamin supplement as she had been very vitamin deficient several months ago. I stopped the supplement but left everything else, and she stopped pretty much straight away.