My husband and I went on vacation for the weekend. I wrote out a list of things to do for the birds: cage birds, adult quail, and baby quail. We come home and immediately I noticed that the baby quail had no food. I filled up the feeders before I left about 1/2 way, but they were completely empty and one feeder had the top off. I worry that a chick will jump in and get trapped in the feeder (a GQF chick feeder). But everyone looked OK, just hungry.
We have dinner and my mom says, "You should thank Dad for taking care of the birds since they were so stinky, I could throw up." OK. Quail can be stinky. I get that. A little later, my dad says. "Oh, we lost a bird." "What do you mean? A baby?" I'm thinking that maybe a baby got out of the cage and got lost in the garage and they couldn't find it. "No, Sarah (my 9 year old) knows it's name. Houdini." "What?!?!" "The feeder fell over and she got into it to get the last of the food, got stuck and must have suffocated." "Oh, and did you know that they run out of water by 2 PM?" "Yes, I wrote on the instructions that they drink about 3 dispensers of water a day. I wrote that I fill up both dispensers in the morning and one at night." "Oh, James (my 7 year old) read the paper."
My husband said that it was ironic that her name was Houdini and she got trapped and couldn't get out. I have to agree, but I'm still angry, confused, and distressed over it.
The feeders I use are cage bird fountain feeders. The top sits snugly into the bottom. If the feeder falls over, the top doesn't fall off. It seats in about and inch. I don't know how the top could have gotten off and if it did, why she would get in there. Unless, they didn't have any food. In the 4 years I've had the feeders, they've fallen over only a couple of times and only if they are completely empty and someone runs into it. NEVER have I seen it open up on it's own. (They also have hooks on the back, that I hook over the cage bars).
Here's a picture of everyone with the feeder in the back:
I'm horrified and I feel horrible. How could she get stuck and what a terrible thing that could have been to be stuck and suffocate in a clear tube.
And I'm angry. My 7 year old and 9 year old are not really involved in the bird care. My 7 year old shouldn't be in charge of reading the instructions!
Oh, and the last time we went on vacation (August), the lovebird had a freak accident and lost a toe. I got a call about what to do to stop bleeding and how there was blood all over the house and on the carpet. My parents cleaned the carpet, but there was blood on the bird room walls still. It took 2 vet visits to get that fixed and now he's fine.
We have dinner and my mom says, "You should thank Dad for taking care of the birds since they were so stinky, I could throw up." OK. Quail can be stinky. I get that. A little later, my dad says. "Oh, we lost a bird." "What do you mean? A baby?" I'm thinking that maybe a baby got out of the cage and got lost in the garage and they couldn't find it. "No, Sarah (my 9 year old) knows it's name. Houdini." "What?!?!" "The feeder fell over and she got into it to get the last of the food, got stuck and must have suffocated." "Oh, and did you know that they run out of water by 2 PM?" "Yes, I wrote on the instructions that they drink about 3 dispensers of water a day. I wrote that I fill up both dispensers in the morning and one at night." "Oh, James (my 7 year old) read the paper."
My husband said that it was ironic that her name was Houdini and she got trapped and couldn't get out. I have to agree, but I'm still angry, confused, and distressed over it.
The feeders I use are cage bird fountain feeders. The top sits snugly into the bottom. If the feeder falls over, the top doesn't fall off. It seats in about and inch. I don't know how the top could have gotten off and if it did, why she would get in there. Unless, they didn't have any food. In the 4 years I've had the feeders, they've fallen over only a couple of times and only if they are completely empty and someone runs into it. NEVER have I seen it open up on it's own. (They also have hooks on the back, that I hook over the cage bars).
Here's a picture of everyone with the feeder in the back:
I'm horrified and I feel horrible. How could she get stuck and what a terrible thing that could have been to be stuck and suffocate in a clear tube.
And I'm angry. My 7 year old and 9 year old are not really involved in the bird care. My 7 year old shouldn't be in charge of reading the instructions!
Oh, and the last time we went on vacation (August), the lovebird had a freak accident and lost a toe. I got a call about what to do to stop bleeding and how there was blood all over the house and on the carpet. My parents cleaned the carpet, but there was blood on the bird room walls still. It took 2 vet visits to get that fixed and now he's fine.
