Avian husbandry

Psittacines

Cages for pet psittacines should be regarded as an unfortunate necessity for housing the bird at night or when unsupervised. All the birds from the budgerigar to the macaw can be trained to be handled safely, to ‘poop’ on command and to speak. These are social animals and so the owner should be encouraged to tame the bird and treat it as a member of the family as one would a dog. This greatly enhances the owner’s enjoyment of the pet and the bird’s quality of life. Many of these species live for 20+ years and should not be condemned to a cage for this long period. The cage should be large enough for the bird to stretch out fully horizontally and vertically at the very least. Perches of varying diameters (without sandpaper) will help to exercise the feet. The cage construction should be strong enough to withstand the parrots bite, made of easily cleaned, non toxic material, and provide easy access to the bird. Cage furniture should not be provided at the expense of room for the bird. Ropes to secure toys should be used in preference to chains to avoid leg and foot injuries. Many parrots enjoy destroying toys, so dog chews, wood to strip, etc. are more beneficial than mirrors and bells. Position the food and water bowls above perches to avoid soiling and change the contents daily.

The correct diet is crucially important to the health and longevity of the pet bird. Unfortunately, malnutrition is very common (see; goitre, hypovitaminosis A, hypocalcaemia) in the majority of patients. It is a vital part of the veterinary care of birds to ensure a correct diet is fed. Soft food is commercially available and useful to increase protein levels in the sick or breeding bird. It can be fed in small amounts in the normal daily food.

Trees branches. These should be offered as environmental enrichment and many will also eat the soft pith. Fruit trees and willow are safe to offer. Care should be taken to ensure they haven't been sprayed with chemicals if collected from 'the wild'.

Cuttlefish bone is a valuable source of calcium and should be available all year round.

Clean, fresh water should be constantly available to all birds, and changed on a daily basis. Some birds are not seen to drink much, especially if offered moist foods. However, water should always be available.

Commercial bird food in a pelleted, complete form is now available in the UK e.g. Kaytee, Harrisons, Pretty Bird companies. These pellets contain all the vitamins, mineral, amino acids that the birds needs. Ideally, birds should be weaned onto these diets. They are more costly than 'loose seed petshop' mixes but of course much better nutritionally. For those owners that wish to keep costs to a minimum, 'wet mixes' can be made up as below. Many owners, once trying to make up wet mixes, feel the pelleted forms are more convenient.

Budgies fed 'loose petshop seed mix' commonly present with nutritionally deficiencies. Goitre is common is birds fed an unsupplemented mix. Proprietary seed mixes should be fed which provide a balanced diet with iodine e.g. Trill: pedigree.

To help eliminate boredom, feed can be offered as several meals spread over the day.

Sprouted pulses e.g. haricot beans, soya beans, green peas, mung beans, chickpeas, maple beans, black-eyed beans and others from health food shops. The pulses and seeds must be of 'human' edible quality- many loose pet shop mixes are of low grade and nutritionally poor.

Fruits that may be offered include apples, plums, raspberry, blackberry, pear, peach, grape, orange.

Vegetables include carrot, celery fed grated.

Peanuts and sunflower seeds when fed must be of quality for human consumption. These provide a lot of fat and so should be limited to avoid obesity, especially in birds which tend to obesity e.g. Amazon parrot.

If the bird becomes fixated on one type of feed e.g. peanuts, sunflower seeds, it is best to gradually reduce those seeds to zero and only introduce those items again as handfed treats.

Amazon parrot - can become addicted to seeds and are prone to obesity. Must be feed a good mix of fruit and vegetables and sprouted pulses (see above), fresh greens, and very little wheat, maize, oats, buckwheat. Sunflower seeds and peanuts should only be offered as occasionally treats.

Macaws - sunflower seed, pine nuts, maize, oats, wheat, buckwheat, rice, small seed. Also soft food, fruit, some vegetables, mixed sprouted pulses, corn on the cob. Many enjoy a little animal protein (chop bones).

A mix of 3 fruits, 3 vegetables, 5 nuts and seeds should be fed daily from one bowl mixed in with a supplement (Avimix; Vetark). This provides a balanced diet and prevents the bird choosing to eat only the ‘favourite’ foods. Tastes change with time so encourage the feeding of such a varied diet constantly and mix so that bird has difficulty selecting out ingredients.

Avoid chocolate, avocado, salt, alcohol, tobacco smoke, access to lead or zinc, pesticides, overheated Teflon pans (poisonous).

Most pet bird species are opportunistic omnivores. Seed only diets contain excessive amounts of fat and the multiple deficiencies noted in the table below.

This section assumes to some extent that the bird is not used to being handled or restrained. This is unfortunately the case with the majority of pet birds in the UK. Tame birds may allow examination and auscultation with minimal restraint, but it is wise to restrain the head. All the psittacines are able to inflict a painful bite and the claws of the larger parrots can pierce the skin. Adequate restraint of the head and feet is therefore essential.

• Birds have no functional diaphragm; air is drawn into and out of the lungs primarily by sternal movements. Consequently any prevention of these movements will lead to suffocation. Thus when handling a bird, never place the hands around the upper body of the animal.
• Dim the lights and make calm purposeful movements to avoid excess stress to the bird. Avoid chasing the bird as the heat generated will not be dissipated when restrained, leading to panting, hyperthermia and collapse
• Smaller birds (budgerigars, cockatiels) may be held by the examiner, but a separate handler is

Required for the larger birds to enable a complete examination to be carried out

• Remove as much cage furniture as possible without stressing the bird
• Small birds may be picked up from a perch. Bare hands or a cloth enable the tightness of grip to be accurately gauged, gloves are not recommended. The use of a small towel or cloth may be used to cover the bird whilst the head is located. This reduces the chance of being bitten and restrains the bird more adequately as the cloth can be lightly wrapped around the bird to prevent the wings flapping. The bird's head is grasped between first and second fingers, the thumb and little fingers used to restrain the feet. Wings can then be extended and held between the thumb and forefinger or using the free hand.
• The larger psittacines require a two handed approach. Tilt the cage to the side (having first removed all cage furniture), allowing the bird to grip the bars with his beak. Using a towel, grasp the bird around the mandible and neck. The towel can then be wrapped around the bird to prevent wing injury and to restrain the feet. A piece of paper or towel will give the bird something to chew on during the examination. Teasing the bird with such an object often allows visualisation of the oral cavity.

Basic Data

Passerines

Mixed aviaries - outside with a shed for shelter with an outside enclosed flying area. Many pairs of different species can be housed together

Breeding - kept in aviaries or in cages 50x40x40cm as pairs in breeding season.

Pets - kept in a long cage to permit horizontal flight. Perches of different heights and diameter should be provided, and fresh water in an upright drinker changed daily.

Budgerigar male has blue cere, female has brown

Cockatiel male has red cheek patches, female has pale orange, females have bars on tail feathers

Larger parrots mostly sexually monomorphic (requires endoscopy or DNA sexing)

Birds have no functional diaphragm, air is drawn into the lungs by sternal movements. Restrain the head, avoid holding the chest, wrap/ restrain wings and feet. Gloves are not recommended, as the strength of grip cannot be gauged.

Smaller birds (budgerigars, cockatiels) bare hands or a cloth enable the tightness of grip to be accurately gauged,. The use of a small towel or cloth to cover and locate head. This reduces the chance of being bitten and restrains the bird more adequately as the cloth can be lightly wrapped around the bird to prevent the wings flapping. The bird's head is grasped between first and second fingers, the thumb and little fingers used to restrain the feet. Wings can then be extended and held between the thumb and forefinger or using the free hand.

Larger psittacines require a two handed approach. Tilt the cage to the side (having first removed all cage furniture), allowing the bird to grip the bars with his beak. Using a towel, grasp the bird around the mandible and neck. The towel can then be wrapped around the bird to prevent wing injury and to restrain the feet. A piece of paper or towel will give the bird something to chew on during the examination.

Pigeons

Types racing, showing, ‘doo hunting’. Can fly at 100 km/h, race over 500 - 1000 km.

Rock doves nest and roost on cliffs and so feral pigeons use sheltered ledges on man-made structures in the same way. In their natural habitat pigeons usually occur in pairs to large flocks, feeding and roosting together, but they remain very territorial and will defend roosting spaces and nesting areas. Pairs are generally monogamous. Domestic pigeons are primarily seed eaters but will take a very wide range of grains, fruits, berries and vegetation and also small snails and other molluscs.

Pigeons should be housed in large, outdoor flights with access to covered, well-ventilated, draught proof shelters at all times with supplementary heating if necessary. Pigeons should not be housed in small cages that do not permit them to extend their wings. This does not permit exercise or the provision of environmental stimulation and, in the UK, contravenes the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Flights and aviaries should allow a separate perching area for each bird. Pigeons create considerable amounts of faeces, feather dust (keratinised scales) and debris, but daily cleaning and the use of minimal substrate can reduce the levels of dust and contamination. Good ventilation is also important in reducing dust levels. Allergic alveolitis (pigeon breeder’s lung) is caused by frequent contact with feather dust in susceptible people.

Pedigree stocks are often maintained in pairs, but racing stock is usually housed in groups with a nesting area for each pair. Female wild pigeons construct nests of twigs, grass and hay collected by the male birds. Earthenware nest pans or disposable papier-mâché nest pans should be provided for nest making. All types of nest pan should be dusted with insecticide powder before use. Small twigs and/or straw must be provided as nesting material to prevent pinwheel in the squabs. Pigeons can be territorial and aggressive, evening fatally injuring another male or female. It is best to place the cock birds in the flight first, and then introduce the hens once the cocks have established perching and nesting areas. Two white eggs are usually laid about 48 hours apart and 10 to 12 days after pairing. Incubation lasts for 17 or 18 days and the squabs should be close ringed at 5 to 6 days old. Sex determination may be assisted by certain characteristics (see table). Endoscopy allows direct visualisation of the gonads and hence sex determination. Pigeons should be rested and not allowed to breed all the year round.

Methods of handling will vary according to the size of the bird and the handler’s preference of handling technique. Care must be taken to avoid constricting the breast muscles, as hat will impair breathing. The bite or peck from pigeons is usually not of concern to the handler as it rarely hurts, therefore the head may not require separate restraint as is required in parrots. The body of the bird should be supported at all times and the wings held into the body to prevent flapping leading to overexertion and potential trauma to the wings. One method is to grasp the pigeon from above and then to wrap the hands around the body dorsally and keep the wings retrained against the body with the same hand. A light cloth may be used to restrain the wings, however, care must be taken to ensure the breast movement and hence ventilation is not impeded. The ‘racing pigeon hold’ involves laying the feet through the first and second fingers of one hand which is also supporting the breast and holding the wings. This technique is impractical in birds larger or smaller than the racing pigeon, or other particularly strong or non-tame similar sized pigeons e.g. pink pigeon, pied imperial pigeon. Smaller birds e.g. barbary doves may simply be held cupped in the hands, with restraint focusing on holding the head around the neck lightly and using the cupped hands to restrain the wings. Larger pigeons, e.g. Victoria Crowned pigeon, require two hands to pick up the bird. One method of restraint of this size of pigeon is to tuck the bird under one arm so that the handler's arm and body is used to restrain the wings. The body is supported by one hand and another used to restrain the head to prevent pecks to the face of the handler. Alternatively, the bird is restrained with the head facing to the rear thereby avoiding the face of the handler. The legs are left free or held by the non-supporting hand.

Housing Lofts. Require adequate ventilation, sited out of direct sunlight, winds etc. Divided into compartments for each bird/ pair. Lined with straw, sawdust or plain dish. Water changed daily, dishes above perch height. Frequent cleaning using disinfectant. ‘One way’ flaps to trap pigeons.

Sexing Monomorphic although hearsay common- male flat head, wider spaced eyes, male tends to strut and coo more. Pairs monogamous for life.

Feeding

Wild pigeons are omnivorous and so a mixed vegetable and animal protein diet is appropriate. Birds who are fed ad lib and/or only allowed limited exercise tend to become fat, which can cause fertility problems. Oyster shell and mineral grit must be available at all times and fresh water should be offered daily. Both the grit and water should be provided in covered containers to prevent the birds from fouling them. Diet is often manipulated to improve racing performance e.g. increased fats promote endurance races of 500miles whereas more carbohydrates promote better sprinting over 150 mile races. Formulated, complete diets are available. An unsupplemented diet of mixed grains only will result in poor fertility and increased morbidity and mortality of the squabs.

Husbandry = falconry

Specialist equipment = furniture

Tethered vs aviary

Tethered on blocks or perches, flown daily

Aviaries for breeding or showing birds, or flying birds maintained in aviaries in 'close season'.

The feet are the most dangerous area (compare with the beak of parrots). The beak may also be dangerous in large species e.g. eagle, vulture.

Some birds are trained to a 'hood'.

Restraint is called 'casting' where the bird is grasped from behind (no gloves) with a towel, the wings are held against the body. The fingers grasp the legs. Always place fingers between legs to prevent the bird grasping itself and injuring the legs or feet.

Whole carcase feeders. Mimic natural diet wherever possible e.g. kestrels and barn owls eat small rodents, eagles eat whole rabbit. Do not feed meat only or will develop calcium deficiency problems. Day-old chicks often fed. The young sac should be removed for merlins otherwise they tend to develop fatty liver/kidney syndrome. Water is essential and should be c0nstantly available for bathing and drinking. Many of these birds are messy eaters and so great care must be taken to clean the areas and perches to prevent foot problems. Talons may require cleaning.