So it is almost a month since I posted about Ella, our new cockatiel. At that time, I related how sick she was and that we were giving her antibiotics to take care of the infection in her broken flight feathers. Well, do I have a better story to tell now!
It was September 16 when H told me how sick Ella was and the same day, I took her to the vet, who put her on a 10-day course of antibiotics. That was an interesting experience. They gave us tiny pills and two syringes that were larger in diameter than the diameter of the pills. We were to put a pill in one syringe, replace the plunger, draw up 1 ml of water, and let the pill dissolve – usually a 20 minute procedure. This pill would make 4 doses for the bird, and we were to give her these doses twice a day. Although I ordinarily don’t get them out of the cage until about 8 am, so I could have the hubby’s assistance, we had to give her the medication before he left for work, and immediately after he got home – at approximately 6 am and 6 pm.
You have to be careful feeding liquids to birds. Apparently, you can drown them very quickly by giving them too much at once. .25 ml works out to about three drops. Capturing her in a towel, I would turn her on her back and hold her head while cradling the rest of her lightly in my hand. Then as I brought the syringe to her beak, she would open it, and I would give her the medication one drop at a time, watching until she swallowed it before giving the next. A somewhat nerve-wracking experience, but by about day 6, I was getting reasonably competent. She really is quite an accommodating bird, and H said she knows we’re trying to help her. By the time she had finished the antibiotics she was no longer throwing blood when she flapped her wings. I was encouraged.
H had pointed out a bald spot under Ella’s right wing. It didn’t look like she was picking the feathers there, but there was definitely something wrong with the feathers in that area. We noticed some of the feathers near her wings were sort of “clumped” – like they had honey in them, or something. She kept trying to straighten them out, but it was an effort in futility. We had also noticed that if a feather came off her in her flapping, it was broken off, not dropped nicely from the follicle like it should be. You can tell because the end of a healthy feather is slightly tapered. These broken ends had blood in them. After the course of antibiotics, this blood was no longer fresh, but still signalled things weren’t right. Her feathers had always seemed tough compared to Jazzy’s, and the fine feathers underneath were much “dustier” than Jazzy’s.
Once when I had her on her back, I took a bit of extra time to stretch out her wings to look at the bald spot and the funny-looking feathers. I don’t know exactly the condition, but it looked to me like the fine feathers had a mould on them, or something. N had told us when we got her to shower them with water that contained some aloe vera. I decided that, until this cleared up, I was going to shower them every day to see if this would heal.
The hubby had holidays last week and he wanted to see H’s new store. He thought it would be a good idea to take the birds too, which we did. When we got there, I took Ella out of her box and put her on the counter for H to look at her. Later, I put her on my shoulder and she preened my hair for a while, then proceeded to preen herself. H was absolutely amazed at the change in Ella! She mentioned that Ella preening so easily on my shoulder said she was very comfortable up there, not ruffled by the new environment or all the activity around her. A very different bird from the one that bit her just over three weeks before! And the bald patch was gone, and the feathers were softer. Ella flapped once in the store, and one of her feathers came out. In looking at it, H and I determined it was a healthy feather – no more breakage, and no more dried blood. Wow! I was very encouraged by H’s words and the difference she saw. Sometimes, when you have never done this sort of thing before, you don’t know what is “normal.”
And now, Ella is a happy bird. Until last week, Jazzy was still too aggressive with her, pecking her somewhat too heavily. We put him in his own cage again for a while but put them together while we are in the room, until there are any attacks. There weren’t any all last week, and none this week either. H said they will likely bond when she is healthy, and she suggested, Jazzy may wait until she has grown in tail and wing feathers. The vet said that wouldn’t happen until her second molt next Spring. However, she has started growing new tail feathers, and new flight feathers on one wing! More amazing things! She probably won’t get to her full beauty until next Spring’s molt, but if she at least grows some of her normal feathers, we would be very pleased.
The other day, Ella was chattering away in that non-specific cockatiel way that sounds like they’re actually talking. She hadn’t done that much until recently, indicating she is feeling very well and happy. When I looked at her in the cage, she was hanging upside-down from her rope perch with her wings spread wide, just chattering and singing and chirping. Wow. I laughed out loud. It just looked and sounded like pure joy coming from our little bird’s heart, praising the God Who had made her, and Who had made her well again. She does that routine regularly now. And, apparently, this is a female behaviour. Also, since she is a pearl grey in colouring, that her wing feathers are growing in yellow means she is a female too. Once the males go through the first molt, all their body feathers come in dark grey except for those on the outside of the wings, which are white. Only the females keep yellow feathers into adulthood. We’re pleased about that. We did want them to be a male and female, even though we have no desire to breed babies.
At the moment, we still have to try to keep Ella from flying. She flies like a stone, making quite the resounding thud if we don’t manage to catch her in time. The best we can do for now is to try to get her fairly close to the floor before she drops. She could do damage if she lands too hard on her body, and it could kill her to land on her head. We’ll be very happy to see her next molt in the Spring with the anticipation of a bird who is better able to fly, at least to land more gently.
Until next time, love your pets…
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