Tragedies with unweaned babies

TAYLOR IS GONE

Be sure to join the campaign to stop the selling of unweaned babies

Our eighteen-week-old CAG, Taylor, died suddenly today in my arms. Rest in peace, my sweet boy. When we got this little treasure about a month ago, our initial vet check disclosed a bacterial problem which we immediately began treating with antibiotics (as instructed by our avian vet). He seemed to respond well, although he had shown no initial underlying signs of any problems. To the contrary, he appeared to be in much better health than we were accustomed to seeing in pet stores (we bought him from Petco in Danvers, Massachusetts). A week after we got him home, I gave him his formula in a syringe that was apparently too hot, and he developed a burn-hole in his crop. This was our first experience with an infant bird, and we simply didn't know any better. We got him treated immediately, and after a few days of  observation, the opening was stitched up without any apparent ill effects. The site of the surgery closed cleanly, there was no sign of any inflammation or other indication of problem, and he seemed to be settling in with us a happy, healthy bird.

This morning, his appetite was off and he seemed a little lethargic; we attributed this to some extent to the fact that I had been up late the night before watching television, and he probably hadn't gotten his normal allotment of sleep. He ate some, and then went back to his perch and appeared ready to a morning nap. We went off to do some errands, and were gone for several hours. When we returned, Taylor was on the floor of his cage, again apparently sleeping. However, he was so lethargic and atypically quiet that I was concerned enough to call the vet. As I was getting him out of his cage I found evidence that he had vomited while we were out. The vet told us to bring him in, which we did; they took a blood sample and gave him an  injection of antibiotic to stabilize him, and told us to keep him warm and quiet for the rest of the evening. His weight had dropped, from 350 gm to 314 gm, in the week or so since we had stopped formula-feeding him.  We took him home, with him snuggling up against me shirt, his head cradled in the crook of my neck, with a towel over him for warmth. When we got home, I sat in a chair with him in the same manner while my wife got our dogs fed. I was getting ready to have her take over the heating pad duty when I felt him shift. When I moved him away from my chest, he appeared unable to get his balance; he stumbled across my hands for a second or two, and then his head dropped and he was gone. We took him back to our vets for an autopsy. I want to know why this sweet little boy died, then we're going to bury him here at home where he belongs.

I want to know if anything we did - or didn't do - contributed to his death. We will have a place in our home, and our hearts, for another Grey, but I'm going to learn what I need to from this first. Then I'm going to be very much more informed, careful, and selective about where we get our next baby from. I'm sorry to share such a depressing message with you all, but it has helped me to  write this and to begin to come to terms with our loss. I don't anticipate answers or explanations from those here, just an understanding and sympathetic ear. Thanks for listening. Kiss your babies for us tonight.

Bobbi Brinker responds:

Whose baby bird was this?

Who took this precious Grey, fat and fuzzy, from the nest and sold him into death?

Did the breeder give a thought to the future of this baby when he handed him over to a broker or this pet store? Did he care?

How many babies were in the shipping crate? Where are they? Are they alive?.......or dead like this little one sold into the hands of a buyer who had never fed a baby bird? Taylor will have lots of company from other baby Greys sold into death. The Rainbow Bridge is getting crowded.

I had a very hard time getting to sleep last night. I thought of my Grey baby sleeping and safe in his brooder. My dream will live. No client of mine will ever hold one of my dreams as he dies from a burned crop. Never.

This has got to stop. How many babies have to die before the sale of unweaned babies stops? This man obviously loved Taylor. He didn't intend to cause him harm.

Kathy responds:

I was so upset yesterday after reading about Taylor I couldn't respond.  I found myself in the same position. Somehow the words I wanted to say just wouldn't come out. They probably still won't convey my feelings the way I would like. We started with birds only 3 years ago. We got a 4 week old cockatiel, a package of handfeeding formula, a syringe, and one  demonstration. Spent a small fortune on cage and toys, books, etc. We were TOLD that in order to have a bond with the bird we HAD to do the handfeeding ourselves. We were nervous. We asked questions. We balked. I said, "What if we do something wrong? We might hurt her or kill her." The pet store owner (yes, we started with a pet store) told us there was no way we could hurt the bird as long as we did what they showed us. One lesson!! One . . . Somehow we managed and we fell in love in the process . . . with birds. Still unconvinced and unsure about the whole handfeeding thing, we began researching. EVERY PERSON we contacted (our contact limited to those associated with pet stores and non-avian vets) told us we HAD to handfeed to bond with the bird. In the meantime, I started contacting breeders in our area. Each breeder I spoke with told me the same thing. "Yes, it's best to handfeed the bird yourself." I talked to at least five or six breeders in the area. All were willing and preferred to sell birds unweaned. My point is that we researched. We were shown books, pamphlets, literature that supported these people's theory. Of course, they were the ones steering us to this literature. When I found something about letting the breeder or store finish the handfeeding, I was told that the person who wrote that was just "one of those lunatic fanatics" who finds something wrong with everything. Then I was shown more literature supporting the owner finishing the handfeeding. Within months I fell in love with and purchased a Quaker which I also fed out. I was still under the impression that handfeeding and weaning were the same thing!!! I was under this impression because I had been led to believe this by many people whom I thought were knowledgable.

A year later, we met a bird breeder. Because we knew her through mutual friends, she made us a great deal on an Umbrella Cockatoo. She wanted us to take the bird at 3 weeks of age. We told her we weren't comfortable with that, so she agreed to keep the bird a while longer. She had us take Harley home at 8 weeks of age. Within two days of bringing Harley home, I found the internet, rec.pets.birds, and a very knowledgable fellow answering posts there by the name of Layne David Dicker. Suddenly I knew I had found some right answers, and I knew I was making a terrible mistake. Our breeder had been "power-feeding" Harley. We stopped that immediately. I got articles on abundance weaning and read and read and read. I cried for all the mistakes I had made and prayed that we would do right by our birds. I did everything I could to right our situation. Then I saw a post on rpb from Diane Weiner about these "Bobbi" lists. I immediately subscribed and kind of invited myself on to ParrotTalk. (Do you remember this, Bobbi? I was so embarrassed when I found out it was an invitation list.) Finally, I was home. I had the answers I needed and the support I needed.

A year and a half later, I look back and shake my head. The Taylor family was probably led to believe the same things I was. My whole point is that some of the people who buy unweaned birds HAVE researched, buth they are led to the wrong areas to research. I read BirdTalk, but found articles about handfeeding your own birds. At first, I didn't have access to internet, so the stuff here was not available to me. People showed me what they wanted to show me. I was ignorant but not because I hadn't tried. Today, I know so much about birds that I never knew before. I try to spread as much as I can by word of mouth. I talk to people I see looking at bird in pet shops. I talk to people who see my four birds and want one. I would never attempt to handfeed or wean a baby bird again. One last note: my CAG, ZaZu, was purchased by us at 3 years of age. She was handfed by none of us, but she is more bonded to my husband than any of the birds, and he is the one who did the handfeeding of the other three. She had become sweet and loving, trusting and a fine member of the family through patience, nurturing, and allowing her to develop that bond just through contact. Leave the handfeeding/weaning to the experts.

Michael responds:

Hi Folks, The tragic ordeal with Taylor and others who have suffered needlessly have prompted me to tell you all the reason behind my passion on this subject. Her name is Ashley and she was a 10 week old TAG bappy that died due to my ignorance
and the callous and uncaring ethics of the breeder that helped me to kill her. This was several years ago and my heart is still heavy with the knowledge of the pain and suffering I put this sweet, helpless little wonder through for almost 2 weeks. We had just gotten into having parrots as companions by rescuing a Tiel and a Blue Crown Conure and discovered the love and rewards of these sweet creatures. Then, we discovered the local bird fair and may God help all those that discover them without knowing the dangers that lurk there. This is where we found Ashley who was 6 weeks old at the time who captured my heart at the first glance and instantly decided that I wanted her. With Josi working full time and me travelling, it was decided that we would wait another 4 weeks until she was down to 2 feedings before bringing her home. The breeder told us that the bond between us would be stronger if we were to finish hand feeding her. Of course I am wiser now and realize this was profit motivated ONLY ! We visited once prior to picking her up for a hand feeding lesson which consisted of showing us how to mix the formula, showing us how to feed and letting us do it ONCE! No mention of thermometers, potential crop problems or scales for tracking weight. The instructions consisted of how to mix the formula, test it on your forearm and feed with a syringe which I have come to dislike for birds of that age and size.

So, we take this little bundle of joy home and start feeding her. I  was quite excited and wanted to be the one to hand feed her. I followed the instructions to the letter as the consistency looked like the breeders and it was not too hot on my forearm. Ashley would eat some, then stop, eat just a little more, then regurgitate a little. A call to the breeder resulted in assurance that everything was all right and that this happens during hand feeding. OK, so we press on and continue the hand feeding. Ashley is eating less and less formula and since she was only on 2 feedings a day, we thought maybe she was trying to wean herself. Ashley was not very active and spent most of the time on the bottom of her cage. This did not concern us as we had no experience with bappies and maybe this was just how they were until they weaned. Ashley was so sweet as she snuggle under my chin with a small blanket covering her as I would stroke her back. She was stealing my heart even more if that is possible as she would become quiet during our snuggles. She was whining quite a bit when she was in her cage but we thought she was just begging to get out and after all, she was a bappy and maybe bappies just did that. This went on for almost 2 weeks with Ashley taking less formula, regurgitating more and my not realizing that she is not eating any of the tons of other food we kept in her cage. After all, we had no idea that we should have been weighing her and did not realize she was losing a tremendous amount of weight. We also did not realize that she was regurgitating excessively and that the inactivity was abnormal. We also did not realize that the poop was another indicator that a problem was going on. The consistency and color were all wrong. This was our first experience with a bappy and after all we were talking to the breeder. All we knew was what we were hearing from the breeder whom we called several times during this period. "Don't worry, she will be fine, she will come around, she is just settling into her new home, etc., etc., etc."

The night before she died, she became so lethargic that she was laying prone on the bottom of her cage and her poop became quite yellowish and with no form whatsoever. The next morning I was at the vet's office before they opened up. By then,
she was completely limp but still breathing.  The vet took one look at her and almost snatched her out of my hands and rushed her into the back. I waited anxiously to hear about my little sweetheart for almost an hour. The vet came in and I knew from the look on her face that something was wrong. She gave me the news that I simply was not prepared to hear. She died during attempts to stabilize her. I openly wept at the news. After I calmed down, she spent some time with me and asked if I was sure about the temperature of the formula I was giving her. I told her how I was testing it and she said that it would have been better had I used a good thermometer. She would gladly do a necropsy but the signs pointed to crop burn and other complications associated with crop burn. I wish I had but I did not have the necropsy performed. All I wanted to do was to take my baby home for burial and just get out of there so I could grieve some more. I took her home and buried her with a marker with her name on it. Although a necropsy was not performed, I am quite sure I killed her by feeding her formula that was way too hot. You see, I have always had a high tolerance for pain and little did I realize it then, this also affects my ability to properly register heat. What feels warm to me will feel hot to the average person. Shortly after that, I bought a good digital thermometer, made it up like I had for Ashley and testing it on my arm until it felt the same as when I was feeding her. The thermometer registered 118 degrees ! So you see, over a 2 week period, I slowly tortured that helpless little creature with my ignorance. The whining in her cage was because she was starving while I was torturing her. The silent snuggles under my chin was a plea of help and I was not listening. Ashley is the reason for my passion.

An Avian Vet responds:

For those not familiar with it, I will repost part of an old post on Mo. He is my biggest reason to continue to campaign against the unscrupulous breeders who do not care about their babies. In some ways, Mo was lucky. I was able to hand feed when I got him & knew that he needed to be fed. In other ways, he was not so lucky..... The biggest reason I fuss about selling of unweaned babies is seen in my own African Grey, MozamBeak. Mo came to me from a person who had adopted him at 6 weeks of age as an unweaned baby. This owner had been given a lesson or two on hand feeding & told that the baby would be weaned in 2 weeks. At 8 weeks of age, I got Mo from this owner because they could not handle his begging. (They were surrendering him to the shelter where I worked at the time). He was weaned after all, but just kept begging. The original breeder would not take him back. I regressed and hand fed Mo, and even attempted to wean him with abundance weaning techniques. Because of the early stresses in his life and the anxiety of going hungry, I now have a bird that is phobic. I have been through hell in the last 2 years working with this bird who would not let me near him without a severe panic attack. We have come a LONG way, and Mo will sometimes let me touch him. He is starting to talk again after a long period of silence. He is starting to act more normal, but the occasional panic attack still occurs. I sincerely believe that had Mo's early life been less stressful & more nurturing, he would not have some of these problems. I blame this on the stress of early force weaning. Mo has a home with me forever- reguardless of whether I can touch him or not. Still I can not help but mourn the potential greatness that was lost.

Some of the names have been changed.