Thread: What's wrong with this cockie?

An update on the cockie; I'm sorry to report he was euthanised by the vet. They said it was the right thing to do to take him in, he would have starved to death and was an infection risk to the rest of the local flock. Sad outcome.

Polygon.
Sad

Cheers

Originally Posted by POD

An update on the cockie; I'm sorry to report he was euthanised by the vet. They said it was the right thing to do to take him in, he would have starved to death and was an infection risk to the rest of the local flock. Sad outcome.

Wow, don't know why they couldn't just trim his beak to a reasonable shape then let it go.

I had a sulphur crested cockatoo I rescued from awl.

After many years he developed the feather/beak disease.

A girl from awl came out to assess his health and it was his top beak growing extra long. I asked if it was ok to trim the beak back and she said if he doesnt suffer.

While she was there I used a dremel and it was a simple procedure , he made it easy putting his beak through a hole I'd cut for his regular head scratch , the girl held his beak over the wire while I trimmed it under her guidance. He didnt like it but we trimmed it close to normal shape.

She gave me some anti biotic powder to dust him with, didnt like that either , but it was so good to see him eat and drink well and yell out to the neighbours , who had conversations with him for years.

I dont recall how many years he lived on but found him one morning on the bottom of his cage.

Just furrther to this I have been putting wild bird seed mix and water out on one of my gumtrees for 20yrs or more, sometImes anything up to 100 cockatoos , corellas, lorikeets, doves, pigeons, king parrots and more mixing it up and squabbling ....we sit out with a wine or jd watching their antics. We do see the occasional diseased bird but dont cage birds any more.

cheers Den

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Wow, don't know why they couldn't just trim his beak to a reasonable shape then let it go.

I think the main issue is the highly infectious nature of the disease. I was tempted to trim his beak myself but I decided not to mess with it. He was crawling with mites too, the disease apparently decreases their resistance to parasites and other infections.
It's a bit frustrating taking wildlife to the vet, they don't consider you to have any involvement once you have taken the animal in. I offered to foot the bill for any treatment required and they said they don't do that with wildlife. I didn't even get the promised phone call, only found out about it because my daughter asked the receptionist when she took her dog in yesterday.
I might be tempted to try some improvisation in future if we found another in similar state, knowing the vet is just going to knock them on the head anyway.