upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

I have been taking part in upatsix cockatoo chat since late 1998. I have also been in bird clubs, and have gone to many bird fairs and met people with birds there.

I have taken notice when cockatoos die. By FAR the most common cause of death is certainly cockatoos being killed by other predatory pets. Many birds are lost because their owners forget that large dogs are extraordinarily predatory animals. One can keep their instinct in check sometimes, but there can be a lapse in the dogs training, and suddenly in a matter of seconds the bird is dead. There seems to be at LEAST one such death reported each year at Tooville and other places. The problem seems compounded dramatically when there are two large dogs. Commonly the dog has been around the bird a lot, and suddenly turns on the bird. One should NOT blame the dog, birds are naturally prey for them. Cats could be a threat, and I know many instances of cats eating smaller birds, but cockatoos are well enough armed with their beaks to defend themselves against many cats. Cat bites, however, can be fatal from infection. Ferrets are a particularly violent predator. If you have any birds and a ferret you should get rid of the ferret, or keep him in another building. Ferrets have very short normal life spans. If you have any birds you should not even think about acquiring one.

One should also remember that there are several species that are apt to be typhoid Marys. They can bring sickness and death. Patagonian conures are fantastically beautiful birds. But a substantial fraction carries Pacheco's disease. This bird is particularly devastating to Amazon parrots, a friend of mine lost over 20 Amazons to this disease a few years ago! Cockatiels are apt to carry Chlymidia psittaci, as it was formerly called. This disease can also infect humans. It is probably unwise to add a cockatiel to the flock, because the test is not at all reliable. Treatment with doxycycline for 45 to 60 days will almost certainly remove any latent infection. Budgerigars are VERY often infected with polyoma. This disease often kills young birds, but adults usually survive. When adults get the disease they have an immunity for 18 months to two years, I believe it is, and then they can get it again. Budgerigars tend to shed the organism all the time, but most other birds completely clear the infection after becoming infected. Once vets suggested killing infected birds! There is an excellent test to see if a bird is shedding virus. Do not let an uninformed vet talk you into killing your bird because it is polyoma infected!

Keep birds away from insect vectors. Roaches can be a problem, and can carry a vicious protozoan parasite from opossums. There are excellent ways to eliminate roaches these days using juvenile hormone mimics. These are non toxic to us and birds.

Keep young parrots away from other birds outside your flock at all costs. Beak and Feather disease if acquired will result in certain death for cockatoos, though macaws often can survive it. Birds over about three years old are completely immune. Another thread is proventricular dilatation disease. Birds of all ages seem to be able to acquire this disease, but it seems far more common in young birds. Some species are highly susceptible to it, others not. Macaws and African greys are FAR FAR more likely to get it than other birds. Amazons seem rather resistant. Cockatoos do not get it too often, but they do get it. This disease is still not fully understood.

Be sure that the bird has an adequate diet. Many birds die from lack of critical dietary nutrients. Wild parrots tend to eat so much carotene containing food that their blood serum is yellow! Birds and mammals can convert carotene into Vitamin A, which is critical for life. Carotene is NOT a toxic material, but excess vitamin A is. Carrots and peppers are perhaps the highest carotene containing foods.

Although seeds are decryed as bird food, they have many essential nutrients. Nuts are large seeds, and are also excellent foods. Some birds seem to need a lot of nuts and seed in their diet to stay healthy (macaws, conures) Sunflower seed is good for a PART of a diet. All birds love them. Peanuts are not bad food, but they can be contaminated with aflatoxins.

Many birds die from non infectuous liver disease. This is often caused by diet that does not enable the bird to make choline. This can be caused by lack of B12, methionine, or folic acid.

Birds often sicken and become ill from protein amino acid deficiency. Almost all human and bird amino deficiency comes from lack of lysine and methionine. Lysine deficiency is more common, but methionine deficiency can produce death. Wild birds almost always eat a few insects. Providing 5 or 10% of the diet in cooked fish or poultry will completely prevent such problems. Dairy products have a good protein ratio, but too much of the wrong ones can cause problems from the lactose. It is NOT a good idea to try to treat dairy products with products designed for human lactose intolerance, because birds have problems with the galactose that is produced by lactose hydrolysis.

I am sorry to post such a morbid post about avian death and sickness, but I hope that people will learn from it, and take steps that will save the lives of some birds.

Hi Robert!

Good post......never an easy one to write. I'd like to add that the biggest killer vets are seeing is heart disease...often sudden cardiac death. As with so many diseases I'm sure it often stems from malnutrition....the biggest cause of early death by far is malnutrition (so many diseases stem from it).

Shauna

As Shauna said...it's a hard post to write....but we all need to be reminded...We take so many things for granted and sometimes get lacks....
What would some of the biggest causes of malnutrition be...?? I know we are all here to learn...and think we are doing great by our bird's diet...but what about some good suggestions and some "new" ideas....Thanks.

It is apparent that wild parrots have rather variable diets. Many of our pet birds have not been studied well enough in the wild to know just what they eat there. The basic requirements for most mammals and birds is rather similar. However, the ratio of nutrients certainly varies quite dramatically from species to species.

I suspect that the ratio of fats and oils to carbohydrates is very different from one species to another. Aratinga genus birds seem to do badly with too many carbohydrates, in my observation. Other birds like cockatiels seem to do best on a fairly high carbohydrate diet.

Carotene REALLY seems to be a serious problem--lack of it can be deadly.

Whole grains provide a LOT of nutrients. Nuts are certainly good for large birds. (Note my earlier warning about mouldy peanuts!)

I suspect we sometimes overfeed birds, and let them get overweight. This can cause similar problems that obesity causes in humans.

There are a LOT of problems with non-infectuous liver disease brought about by the problem with choline discussed earlier. By the way, I was talking to a physician about parrots and mentioned to him that pet birds often have liver disease. He pointed out that a LOT of humans on fad diets have similar problems. B12-folic acid-methionine MUST be present in adequate quantities. Folic acid is present in many leafy vegetables. B12 is rare in plants, and probably results from bacteria. B12 is produced by bacteria in animal intestines. Some animals have to engage in scatophagia to get sufficient B12, in fact. B12 is present in animal tissues and eggs. The requirement is low, but critical.

I suspect that feeding your bird a thin slice of well cooked chicken, a thin slice of hard boiled egg goes a long ways to prevent deficiencies that birds can bet from lack of animal protein, which most get from eating insects.

Leafy green vegetables can prevent carotene deficiency and folic acid problems. peppers and carrots are good.

A wide range of foods seems good.

Feeding any one thing is bad. Carbohydrates can be supplied by cooking rice, and it can serve as perhaps a quarter or so of a diet, maybe more. some seeds are good, they can be a third or perhaps more.

Again do not allow the bird to become obese. Exercise is also good.

Ah...the mysteries of the diet ;-0 I sure do wish we knew more. I think all we really know for sure is that we don't know much at all when it comes to the birds.

The macaws in general require around a 15% total fat diet (higher for hys's), where as white cockatoo species are around 8% and galahs as low as 4-5% total fat. And the type of fat is always of importance too. Hawkhead parrots are better on a higher fat diet like a macaw.

Where some parrots species are known or suspected of eating insects and larvae, while others don't eat a bug at all. Macaws seem to be one of the birds that don't eat insects or larvae in the wild.

And the pellets....Its a well known fact that most ekkies for example don't do well on pellets but some vets still suggest them. I've been contacted about some ekkies near death on pellets and ran one into the emergency room a few months ago.....all seemed related to pellets.

I was recently at a wholesale show in Chicago and found it interesting that dog food is going no soy, no wheat, no corn (this is not table corn). I hope parrot food follows in that path!

Grains.....fed about 2 parts grain to 1 part legume make a complete protein. There are a variety of grains to offer...amaranth, quinoa, wheat, spelt,kamut, millet, barley, oats and buckwheat (although not a grain we use it as one) along with the easier to digest legumes mung, aduzki, lentil and peas. That fed along with seasonal produce daily, some green supplements like powdered alfalfa, wheat or barley grass a a little kelp, and efa's.....and other foods.

Like Robert said...feed a variety of foods, all in moderation....and research what is known about your species of parrot as far as overall fat content etc.

AS far as disease...much of it is diet related. Liver, kidney, heart.....not so different from us.

D3 is also an issue. Birds really deserve to get outside on a daily basis. For those who can't or weather doesnt' let them then D3 needs to be considered. A little is found in eggs and fish but supplemenation with fish oil or pellets may be needed. Full spectrum lights don't seem to provide it.

Shauna

This is totally on another subject..but maybe will connect in some way...you know me....
I have a 15 year old bichon foster...and he is so allergic...but it's the carbohydrate/protein mix that does it.....so we have to find different dog foods....Chicken/rice, lamb/rice bother him....but Duck/potato seems to work. I just wonder if some cockatoos that are pickers/pluckers etc could have the same problem....the combo of what is being fed...
I would love to see a really good mix come out for the parrots...that was within a normal humans budget....but then again...I tihnk it's almost easier/cheaper to feed "real foods"...then I know what they are getting...I still use some seed mix and every now and again a few pellets...more like croutons.....Most of my guys aren't big on pellets...but I offer a few just in case they want to nibble a bit...

You know my choices when it comes to pellets...NOT an option with my guys at all...not since 1997 when Casper was diagnosed with his kidney problem/sensitivity or whatever it is. We did try again in 2005 while visiting TGF and within a week he was barbering some over his kidneys! amazing.

Whole foods diet I think is the best but its SO important to feed a variety of foods and cover nutritional bases such as amino acids, complex carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals etc....and the tricky ones D3 and B12. If a diet is offered and a bird picks out its favorites....that doesn't work.

As far as plucking and allergies.....yeah. On my feedingfeathers list we have what we named a pluckers diet which is about certain food elimination and it has worked for several pluckers (certainly not all). I've not used it when pluckers come to me because most often for me the whole foods diet helps without having to eliminate foods but I also have never included a few things such as soy unless its green soy (edamame) in the diet...ever! At TGF many pluckers improve on the better diet which is routinely mash in the morning with fresh produce mixed in and later in the day more fresh produce and some dry mix (seed, nut and a few pellets). Interestingly ...to me anyway...standing outside the cockatoo aviaries and watching everyone overall ...the large 'toos in TGF's care ..the hens are more likely to be plucked than the males. But why that is or if those approximately 150 birds are even a good sampling of the overall population I have no idea! And when you look at a hen that was previously living in a garbage can and is all naked except for her primaries....diet? maybe but there's SO much more!

I suspect and have always suspected that allergies or many of them stem from the liver not being 100% healthy. It can be detoxed but one needs to be careful too because detoxing the liver can result in the creation of carcinogens. It can also be easy to overdose nutrients IF a person is feeding pellets AND a fortified seed mix AND a fortified this and that (human cereals or other human supplemented products)and in many cases even adding more synthetic supplementation....not good! And pellets......most use soy which isn't processed correctly. Mature soy is one of those foods that if not prepared correctly is actually anti nutritional and IMO probably shouldn't ever be fed on a daily basis either. So I believe soy is one problem and even a bigger problem if it isn't organic. (not only for birds but for us as well). Then the corn. Corn used in pellets is a known high incident allergen for humans. Its not table corn...its field or dent corn which is a grain (unlike the table corn we eat which has been bred more as a veggie). And then the wheat...the key there can be freshness in some cases.

For me its easiest to feed whole foods but I've also done it for a long time now....its an easy routine at this point.

Shauna

Birds can be effected and killed by so many things, even their own toys. It is impossible to protect them from everything, but we sure do try! It is scary to think of all the things out there that can harm them. It sort of makes you want to put them into a little bubble! Just kidding, of course.

I would like to add that caiques are highly subseptable to polyoma, so be very, very careful with other birds that might have it. They often die from it as adults, but there is a vaccine so that's good.