![]() If quickly identified, fresh fragments may be massaged back up through the mouth. Small pieces will be softened, partially digested, and will eventually pass through, but larger fragments will lodge in the crop or stomach and will prevent food going down. Foreign bodies include portions (or even the whole length!) of rubber feeding tubes swallowed by the chick, but most frequently the problem would be wood shaving or chips used as a nesting material. They include puncture by the feeding tube, especially if not using one with a rounded tip, and in strong-pumping feeders like macaws. Bacteria will require antibiotic treatment yeasts will need anti-fungal drugs such as nystatin.Ĭrop problems are common. The infectious agents may be either bacteria or yeasts, so swabs from the mouth should be cultured and examined to identify the agent. Mouth and throat infections are common in baby parrots, and will follow poor feeding techniques, contaminated food, or physical damage from parent birds, siblings in the nest, or the hand-feeding utensils. A change of food or bedding and the colour will disappear! It appears to be a reaction between ingredients in the feeding formula with chemicals (possibly bleach) in paper towelling. Red urine is seen particularly in juvenile African grey parrots, and occasionally Pionus and Amazons, and is not a cause for alarm. Thus, having a closed, limited population, or an ‘all-in, all-out’ policy, with good hygiene practice and fumigation of the premises between batches, will go a long way towards controlling such infections. ![]() Being infectious diseases, these conditions are most commonly a problem in large nurseries, especially where chicks are obtained from several sources. Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD) will affect weaning birds, resulting in death following a distended stomach, weight loss, vomiting, diarrhoea with undigested food particles, and nervous signs. ![]() Birds will die with acute organ failure or secondary infection as their immune systems are severely damaged. The new feathers will be clubbed or constricted, and will fall out easily. PBFD generally affects slightly older chicks, as they start to grow feathers. The former will cause rapid death in young chicks, showing a very pale skin colour, with small spots of haemorrhage. The most important are Polyomavirus and Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease (PBFD). Several viruses affect parrot chicks, and full details of these infections are given elsewhere. Healthy Citron-crested cockatoo chick, strong, begging for food, new feathers a light pink skin Babies that are dehydrated will appear grey and wrinkled, while those that have septicaemia will be dark red and wrinkled. Healthy Chicks should be alert and beg in response to sound or movement. Omphalitis, or yolk sac infection results from a delay of the sac to be absorbed premature hatching or too much handling of the chick.ĭeformity or Stunting of chicks can result from incubation temperatures that are too high poor nutrition of the parents or genetic influences. Mal-positioning results from dehydration or insufficient turning of the egg during incubation, so that again the chick will stick to shell membranes and be unable to manoeuvre. Alternatively, there may be too much interference on the part of the bird-keeper, leading to haemorrhage in the egg or the introduction of infection. Humidity at this time needs to be around 70%, and drops of water may be applied to the chick’s beak tip as it works at the crack in the shell. Shell membranes dry out and the shell becomes hard, while the chick gets stuck to its membranes and weakens. The cause of early embryonic death may be investigated by an experienced veterinarian or laboratory, but the egg has to be fresh (within a few hours) since secondary bacterial contaminants will quickly grow in the egg and mask the true problem.ĭeath at Hatching is commonly the result of dehydration because humidity is not high enough during the hatching period. Occasionally, infectious agents may get in to the egg, and sometimes there are genetic or toxic factors involved. Excess heat will dehydrate it, as will insufficient humidity while humidity that is too high will result in a water-logged egg and drowning of the embryo. Chilling of the egg will suspend the development of the embryo, and prolonged periods of cold will kill it. Therefore, careful monitoring of the incubator is paramount. Embryos dying during incubation are most commonly the result of problems with temperature and humidity. Common diseases of parrots are discussed elsewhere on this site ( Common Diseases of Parrots, Psittacosis, As Sick as a Parrot), but this article deals with conditions affecting the breeding of parrots and rearing of chicks.ĭead in Shell.
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