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- #11
Thanks everyone for the information. I am a technician for a vet who also specializes in birds and exotics- we have had some parrots come in with cross beak...one of the main factors that I brought her home. I thought perhaps I could give her a chance. The parrots are somewhat different though, with their hooked beaks.
I have learned some things- she is very cuddly, for one. She eats best if I hold her food dish almost sideways so that when she pecks into it, the food falls into her lower beak. There is almost no area where the upper beak crosses her lower beak- just right where they leave her face. She seems to drink fine out of a regular dish. I have compensated by putting the feeder plate on an angle in the pen. She works four times as hard as the others, but fills her crop.
I put the show girls and silkies who are two weeks old, (two of them are older- five weeks, I think), in an enclosed pen inside my chicken yard this morning. While they were freaked out, I added Ziggy...and they were not nearly as 'picky' toward her then. They tried a few times to pick at her tongue, thats it. I think she has dealt with it her whole life, though, because she just turned her head so that her lower beak was away from them- but stood there instead of trying to run away. (I think that was the world's longest run-on sentence). Then they left her alone.
I have learned that my show girls are rather mean. They spend alot of time butting chests and picking at others. Knowing my luck, they will both be roos.
I have parrot hand-feeding formula in my cabinet right now. Thank you for that info! I can easily mix it- thank you for that information.
I will give her a chance until/unless it becomes obvious that she is just surviving, not thriving. I once found a crippled banty (in the woods!), whose legs and feet were so twisted that he walked on his hocks/ankles....and it did great and was so sweet, followed me around like a dog. Until it grew-it did fine. Once it gained full weight, I saw that it was making sores on its legs and chest and wings, just trying to move around. The quailty of life was gone, so I put him down. Broke my heart- but I didnt want life to be only suffering.
Thank you, and I will keep everyone posted (with pictures) on how she is doing.
I have learned some things- she is very cuddly, for one. She eats best if I hold her food dish almost sideways so that when she pecks into it, the food falls into her lower beak. There is almost no area where the upper beak crosses her lower beak- just right where they leave her face. She seems to drink fine out of a regular dish. I have compensated by putting the feeder plate on an angle in the pen. She works four times as hard as the others, but fills her crop.
I put the show girls and silkies who are two weeks old, (two of them are older- five weeks, I think), in an enclosed pen inside my chicken yard this morning. While they were freaked out, I added Ziggy...and they were not nearly as 'picky' toward her then. They tried a few times to pick at her tongue, thats it. I think she has dealt with it her whole life, though, because she just turned her head so that her lower beak was away from them- but stood there instead of trying to run away. (I think that was the world's longest run-on sentence). Then they left her alone.
I have learned that my show girls are rather mean. They spend alot of time butting chests and picking at others. Knowing my luck, they will both be roos.
I have parrot hand-feeding formula in my cabinet right now. Thank you for that info! I can easily mix it- thank you for that information.
I will give her a chance until/unless it becomes obvious that she is just surviving, not thriving. I once found a crippled banty (in the woods!), whose legs and feet were so twisted that he walked on his hocks/ankles....and it did great and was so sweet, followed me around like a dog. Until it grew-it did fine. Once it gained full weight, I saw that it was making sores on its legs and chest and wings, just trying to move around. The quailty of life was gone, so I put him down. Broke my heart- but I didnt want life to be only suffering.
Thank you, and I will keep everyone posted (with pictures) on how she is doing.
