When all that's left is prayer!

[brianlinkles]

I thought I would share a story about my female green cheek conure breeder, Hazel. About a week and a half ago, I found Hazel out of her nest box on the bottom of the cage bleeding. She had been attacked by her mate, Monroe. I was so shocked because they had five eggs in their nest (four fertile, and about to hatch in about 3 days). They have been together and had several clutches with no incident. I am not going to go into all that happened after that because I don't want to bore anyone with all the details. I will just say that the eggs were lost and it was quite heart breaking.
What I want to tell everyone is what happened just a couple of days ago. I have been hand feeding Hazel even though she has been able to eat on her own. She was on antibiotics due to the issue with her leg (which will probably never be able to be used) After hand feeding her for a week she was doing great and I made my first mistake which was to just hand feed her in the late afternoon when she got her antibiotics. It was becoming stressful for her to be taken out of her cage (she was in a small hospital cage) I decided, stupidly that she was eating well enough on her own that just the one feeding would suffice. I noticed a couple of nights ago when I took her out for her medicine that she felt very thin. I immediately realized that I should have been hand feeding the three times a day that I was doing prior. I mixed up some food, adding the additional calories of peanut butter and began to feed her. I could tell that she wasn't doing well. She had taken quite a down hill turn. I was sure it was because she wasn't quite as strong as I thought and wasn't eating the way she should. I hand fed her however she was really being difficult and a lot of the food go on to her. I then proceeded to make my second HUGE mistake. I got a warm wet cloth and wiped her down thinking that it would make her feel better to get all the sticky food off of her. I put her back in her cage and told my husband that I didn't think she was doing well at all and that she might not make it. I went back and checked on her about 40 minutes later where I found her laying on her side with her eyes closed and very cold (due to the fact that I stupidly got her wet). She was doing the little gasping thing with her mouth that I have seen other birds do when they are passing away. I wrapped her in a blanket and stroked her head talking to her. I knew that she was dying and I didn't want her to be alone as I was sure she was taking her last breaths. I just sat in the breeders room talking to her, telling her to be strong and to fight. I truly thought that this was such a long shot. She literally couldn't open her eyes and just sat opening and closing her beak. My husband kept coming in because he was trying to get me to put hazel in the little box on the heating pad that I asked him to set up. I however just didn't have the heart to allow her to pass away alone. After about an hour of doing this, with lots of prayer being said as I talked to her stroking her little head, I had to help my daughter with something. I Placed Hazel in the little blanket lined box on the heating pad. I hurried helping my daughter and returned to Hazel after about 30 minutes. She was still wrapped in the blanket but I was surprised to see her laying there with her eyes open! I went and got a syringe of warm water and gave it to her along with some very watery formula, just a little. I talked with her promising her a great life if she would just fight. I went to sleep with the lid off the box and wrapped in the blanket. My husband got up the next morning very early, he checked on her and I was awoken with him holding little Hazel. He said she was walking around on the floor. I wrapped her in a blanket and just laid there petting her head talking to her. I swear my little breeder that usually would love to give you a nip or two just laid in the blanket allowing me to rub her head. She is still not doing great and will never be able to use her leg however, she is eating well, drinking well and definitely fighting. What I wanted to share with you is that I totally gave up all hope, I told my daughter to say prayers, I asked my husband as well. The next day my 13 year old came up to me and said Mom I think our prayer helped! (I will also say that the heat didn't hurt either!!) I guess I'm just saying sometimes these little creatures surprise us with their fight. I know that I made several horrible mistakes which likely caused her to go into shock which is what many times kills them. I also want to say that this little girl knows now that I am trying to help her and allows me to pick her up pet her etc. I am not sure what will happen when I put her back eventually with her mate, if he even looks at her wrong she will be put in her own cage and will be my little pet. I hope that she and Monroe will be able to be together again as they seem to miss each other however this little girl seems to also enjoy the attention she has been getting. I know she is not out of the woods yet and I hope that she does in fact get a lot stronger, I am just thank ful that she has come as far as she seems to !
Sorry for such a long post!

 

[Mayden]

I hope the little trooper makes it through. Has she been to the vets?

Keep doing what youre doing, feeding her, keeping her warm and calm. Is the leg broke? I don't know what happened to it so can't suggest anything to help you there.

 

[ShellyBorg]

They are amazing resistant.

 

[MikeyTN]

They're strong little fighters!!!! It made me tear up reading your story!!! It is something that I've been through in the past and the most recent with little EggBert so I know how frustrating and painful it can be. I wish for the best for Hazel and for her to make it to full recovery!!!

 

[crimson]

don't beat your self up!.... we learn by our mistakes, and breeding and hand feeding is NOT easy, by any means.
I too have decided to cut hand feeding short on occasion for different reasons, and it never has a good outcome.....never again.
thank god you did what you did, that saved her life!!

personally I would not put her back with her mate, ever. he may kill her next time. Birds get weird sometimes, without knowing what sets them off.

She may be nicer to you if you keep her as a pet, but she may not remember what happened, so I would take it day by day.

it was weird, I was just thinking about you the other day, wondering how your babies were....

 

[brianlinkles]

Thanks for your replies! Yes she is a little trooper! Crimson the babies are doing great!! thanks for asking! They are all little boys (three) They are absolutely beautiful high red yellow sides. I just love them, two are ready to find their forever homes. This is the hard part, we have snuggled these little babies for so long it's going to be sad to see them go! I just know that I will only sell them to the right family. I always tell my husband "I don't have to sell them so if I don't like the person that wants one then it's no deal! LOL" But it's the truth, I want them to go to a great home! I just got done making them their little snuggle blankies (so they have something to sleep next to when they first have to leave their clutchmates), I just got done bagging up several toys to bring to their new home.
Mikey I have thought about you because the youngest of the clutch was so small when he was pulled. There was a big gap between the first two babies and his hatch because of infertile eggs. He has always been small and has taken soooo long to mature. He is still not fully feathered, but is getting more beautiful feathers every day! He has been such a little pistol, he will make the most unbelievable pet for the right person! He has only known humans and is so inprinted that he loves nothing more than just snuggling in our hands and being cuddled. I know you had your little eggBert and I was so sad when he passed away. I felt your pain and I know how attached we get to these little ones!

 

[MikeyTN]

Thank you!!! We love our little wee ones very much....I think of him everyday....

 

[dulphinz]

Glad she is ok! What a scare;(. She is obviously in great hands. Hope she gets better soon.

 

[Pajarita]

First of all, I am very glad your little Hazel made it. What a terrible scare and heartache you must have gone through with this incident. But, my dear, please don't take this the wrong way but breeding birds is not as easy as people think it is. For one thing, your birds should be molting and not breeding this time of the year (most likely that's the reason why he attacked her). Then, yes, wetting a sick or hurt bird is a complete nono. Heat is what's necessary (it was your putting her on the heating pad that saved her when she went into shock). Lastly and, again, I am not saying this as a criticism, when you get an entire clutch of males, you need to re-evaluate your birdkeeping because hens determine the gender of the babies when they lay the eggs and they produce more males than females when conditions are not ideal as males, in nature, are expendable while females are not so when you get an all-male clutch, you need to stop and search for what is not quite as it should be so you can correct it. It could be a minor thing, like the wrong lighting, for example...

 

[MikeyTN]

I don't agree with everything you say Pajarita but that's just me....I'll leave it at that...

 

[kq_fan]

I am so happy God healed her! Keep on praying!!