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NOTES ON KIM FRYERS LECTURE 1st AID IN BIRDS Birds hide the symptoms,
when ill, they try to look well. Hunters Rule weakest
easiest to catch. Hunted Rule look
strong, or be eaten. This relates to Budgies, they
are great at not telling us that they are ill. Subtle
Changes.
They try to hide these
changes from us, Change in Droppings. Change in Normal routines, Change
in Behaviour Change in Posture. Look
at Droppings. Green solid droppings
may be change with diet. White urates Kidneys Watery Kidney also
should be clear. Diarrhea increase in
faeces probably intestines Urates increase
kidneys. Budgies produces about
20/30 droppings per day. All white droppings kidneys
bird hasnt eaten for a while. Posture - a normally active bird is now ·
Quite
sleepy ,Fluffed ups to maintain
body temp birds temp is around 40° ·
Sitting
on bottom of cage again observe posture or may try to hide somewhere ·
Not
eating or drinking some will play with seed but not actually eat. ·
Eating
frantically or constantly no husked seed, mucous around beak and seed stuck
to mucous. ·
Sneezing
a lot, nasal discharge or discolouration above nostrils. ·
Rubbing
eyes recognizing conjunctivitis, red, swollen watery or crusty eyes. ·
Swelling
around eyes sinusitis stuff coming out looks like cottage cheese. ·
Vomiting
they flick the mucous all over the head. ·
Harbored
breathing effort to keep eyes open tail down unusual movement of tail. ·
Their
lungs are rigid but they have many air sacs. If they have a problem in Air
Sacs ·
it
makes it hard for them to breathe. Same with a Mass (cancer) in abdomen. Wait
and watch = death sentence. First
Aid for Sick birds. 1. Warmth blanket around a
cage is not enough. Dr. Kim did an experiment
with putting a thermometer inside a cage and wrapped a blanket around the
cage. Temp at start was 17.1 in 8 minutes the temp had dropped to 16.5 Add a 40 watt light to the
area. With the temp now at 16.5 heat was directed at the cage, right up close, in 8
minutes the temp had risen to 18.1 -
try and achieve a temp of 40°. Heat is most important,
put the heat towards the bird - it will move away if it is too hot. 2. Phone for appointment
with a Avian Vet. Vets cannot diagnose over
the phone, cannot see the bird. When taking the bird do not clean the cage, put some foil in the
bottom of the cage to catch the droppings. Also take a collection of
droppings from the aviary for the vet to see the aviary picture if you have
an aviary 3. Fluids and food. If drinking add glucose or sugar to water,
or using a syringe give drops to the beak. Polyaid plus give via
crop needle/dropper/syringe energy source. If bird is used to fruit
then you can give orange juice. Offer food of various types. Note: Birds must be
strong enough to swallow before attempting to crop feed. Test first by putting
some food/fluid in syringe then get the bird to eat from the end of the syringe and/or and
put some to the beak. This also helps to get the crop needle down as it moistens the
oesophagus and makes it easier to insert the crop needle. Bleeding birds Apply pressure. Amount of blood in a budgie is approx 10%
of birds weight. i.e about 6mls. They make red blood cells
faster than humans. Blood quill. 1-2 minutes pressure in a budgie. Wound on
chest apply pressure but be mindful of body (air sacs) Nails dip in flour, Rub over softened bar of soap, Stypic from chemist. Broken
bones Are painful ·
Every
movement of he broken bone causes more damage to supporting muscles and
tissue. ·
Fractures
that are stabilized heal better and faster see the Vet. Broken
wing. Cut a length of non
adhesive bandage. Strap wing in normal position against the body. (Over the bad wing and
under the good wing in front of the legs. Broken leg, Look for
bruise, Remove perch Soft pad on bottom of
cage, Prevent climbing. Heals in 2 weeks fully
strong in 4 weeks. With a broken lower leg a
match stick or toothpick is a good stabilizer. Cut several layers of elastoplast and place the matchstick in position where the
break is and put the elastoplast layered either side of
the matchstick and break and extend about ½ either side of the matchstick. You can leave this on for
about 2 weeks but watch the break and observe that the elastoplast does not get too tight,
especially with young birds. SELF
MEDICATING BIRDS Self medicating the birds
can mask what is really going on. You give some antibiotics to your birds then take them
to the Vet after them being on what you have been giving them, this changes the picture
for the Vet and makes it virtually impossible to get the right diagnosis. DO NOT SELF MEDICATE THE
BIRDS GIVE ALCOHOL OR COFFIEE
THAT IS FOR THE BREEDER NOT THE BIRDS USE FIRST AID AS A
SUBSTITUTE FOR VETERINARY ADVICE- 1st Aid is to help you get the bird to the
Vet alive. If the bird dies do not
freeze the bird. Wet the bird down, wrap in glad wrap and seal in plastic bag and put in
Fridge and get the bird to the Vet ASAP. Putting the bird in the
garbage bin is not a diagnosis just endangers the rest of the flock. PLEASE KEEP YOUR AVIARY AND
BIRD ROOM CLEAN FREE FROM VERMIN MICE
RATS & COCKROACHES. YOU CANNOT EXPECT THE VET
TO GIVE YOU THE MEDICATIONS FOR YOUR BIRDS WHEN THEY ARE SICK AND
THEN YOU GO HOME, GIVE THE MEDICATION BUT DO NOT CLEAN YOUR AVIARY
OR BIRD ROOM. DO NOT WASTE OF YOUR
MONEY AND THE VETS TIME IF YOU DO NOT DO YOUR PART KEEP THE
AVIARY CLEAN IF THIS IS YOUR METHOD OF
BREEDING THEN GIVE UP. FINALLY THE BEST DISINFECTANT IS
ELBOW GREASE. Article Kindly
Donated By Betty Berry |