29/09/2015
Success always seems like the Disney effect. We always tend to see a beautiful swan swimming across the lake. One rarely acknowledges the strenuous leg movements of the swan to make the effortless swim. Today we at BAZ would like to share our learning from the difficult experiences. We wish to share this experience to help others in similar situation learn from our experience.
Our hand tamed albino cockatiel (BARFi) was just raised a wonderful clutch of three. As soon as the chicks weaned, the started laying another clutch. All was fine until she laid the second egg.
Then she fell sick due to climate change and was suffering from cold. We gave her a mild anti-biotic & she seemed fine the next day. She also laid her third egg. We stopped the antibiotic and she fell ill again. 2 days after her third egg, I noticed her in the bottom of the cage struggling. We gave her vitamin & calcium water hoping it will help her pass the egg. The next day, she was limping hard with cramps and barely able to walk. This was alarming to us. (BARFi) was egg bound recently. We have a strict schedule of vitamins and calcium on a weekly diet. All our birds get sprouts, fruits, veggi’s and a well-blended seed mix on a daily diet. We were shocked. We immediately moved her to the hospital cage. Checked on her for two hours, she was not eating and was in cramps.
We knew we would have to extract the egg manually. We took her immediately to our avian friend Mr. Sidharth who helped us extract the egg manually. To our surprise the egg had a soft shell. How could this be possible, I wondered. Our diagnosis revealed that the antibiotic lowered the body temperature of the bird and interfered with the calcium absorption. Her three eggs have been removed to be incubated by another pair.
BARFi is now fine and recovering well. We will hold her back from breeding for the next two months.
Learning from the Experience –
• Always have a hospital cage ready. Even when you follow the book of diet and vitamins, you may still end up with a difficult situation.
• Learn to listen to the bird. They all speak to you through their behavior.
• Stay connected to the avian community. As for the city I live in, we do not have any avian vets. Experienced breeders can help you learn. Nanda Kishore , Abdul Azeez Ahamed, Laique Rehmani, Bhaskar Datta, Sharad Bhutoria, Sadiq Bhaimia, Ubaid Safiuddin Mir Ahmed Ali Mudasir, Gulab Abdul Wahab,