Adopted a U2 with a bad leg seeking suggestions

Hi, I'm new here and I'm looking for suggestions. I'll introduce myself in the new members section shortly.

Last week my wife had me talk to a lady that was rehoming a severe macaw (my wife wants to save every bird she sees, I need to block craigslist). When I was talking with her, I mentioned I had a U2 and she was like oh, you have a too? She told me she had just taken in a female SC2, Cori Anne, with a bad leg and didn't realize it would be so "needy". I talked with her for a bit and she had gotten her from an elderly lady that had recently had a heart attack and wanted to rehome her before she died because her daughter wouldn't take her.

Cori fell from a tree about three years ago and broke her leg. Her owner took her to a vet at Texas A&M and apparently payed about $7000 to have a rod put in her leg and took her to phyical therapy every other day for 6 months. Oddly, she did all of that but the birds diet consisted of steak, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and walmart bird seed. I asked her if we could come look at her Saturday.

We made the 2 hour drive to go see her. I took one look at her and new I had to bring her home. I believe the lady wanted to do what was best for her, but didn't really know what to do. First thing I noticed was she was U2 not an SC2. Her feathers are a mess and she has plucked some and she is quite a bit smaller than my Pearl even though she is sixteen and Pearl is six.

I had fully intended on keeping her in her cage at least until she was settled in but this cage was so old, nasty and falling apart, I took it straight to the curb from the car. Didn't really need to be spending the money on it right now but went up to petco and got the largest cage they have.

Anyhow, her right leg is basically stuck in an extended position. She gets around okay but I'm looking for advice on making her cage easier for her. Also, she seems very underweight to me, I am working on getting her to eat pellets, veggies, brown rice, oatmeal... So far she shows and interest in some pellets, corn on the cob and oatmeal. I was considering making mashed potatoes and mixing some veggies in it and some vitamin and calcium supplements, is this a good idea?

She is the sweetest bird, doesn't scream and has never bitten anyone, so I've been told, and I want to do everything in my power to make her happy and healthy.

Oh, I will be taking her in for a well bird checkup after the holidays. I'll post some pics shortly.

Thank you.



I would never ever allow Pearl to get on my shoulder or I'd be missing a piece of my ear or an eye, but, Cori doesn't have a dominant bone in her body. It appears easier for her to stand on the shoulder than the arm.



This is how she relaxes and sleeps, can't be comfortable.



Close up of her gimpy leg. Poor thing deserves the best.

Poor old thing! She looks lovely, even if she is a little ragged around the edges. I can't really help with the issues but it's great that she's getting a second chance.

I can't wait to see a picture of her in a month - Good job taking her. I can't see that it would hurt giving her some mashed potatoes with some added ingredients, I'd use sweet potato instead, but either would be fine.

CaptSteve came up with a great play idea for his bird and I reckon it'd be just the thing for your Cori.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-toys/38801-seagrass-loft-disabled-birds.html

Horizontal bars are best for birds with disabilities because it's easier for them to climb. If you have vertical bars, then a cargo net might be helpful to Cori in getting full use of her cage:

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-toys/38266-tutorial-how-make-cargo-net.html

Also, natural perches with more than the usual number of branches might help Cori with her balance and hanging on. Some birds like to hang out in a hammock (mine don't) and that might be something else Cori might go for.

When I got my Alexes, they were pretty skinny and I got into the habit of letting them lick peanut butter and honey from my fingers. Of course, I don't do that any more, but it was a nice bonding experience. The other thing is that I'm a great believer in oatmeal for putting weight on a sick or malnourished animal. It works for horses, dogs, cats and people - I don't see why it wouldn't work for birds. I'd just cook up a half-cupful of porridge and see if Cori enjoys it. You could add pellets and/or dried fruits to make it interesting and more nourishing. Of course, you should check that with your vet first.

My advice is to set up the cage normally, but minimally to begin with. That is, set it up with a couple of perches and toys. Then add and move things as you see how she gets around and uses what she has. You'll likely find that her special needs are very very minimal.

I have a 17 year old senegal that has only one foot and the only real difference in her cage set up vs any of my other birds is that she has paper on top of the bottom grate and She has a shallow food dish that sits on the bottom of the cage. When she moves around, she uses her stump, but when she's just sitting on a perch, she tucks that leg up.

My previous green cheek conure had a foot that didn't function. I did nothing special for him.

Thanks for the replies. I'll try some peanut butter, she really likes nuts, I've probably been giving her more than I should trying to fatten her up. Ran home at lunch and she was eating pretty good. And maybe she doesn't really need any special provisions, it is just so sad to watch her move around. The rope net may be a good idea, there are vertical bars on the front of the cage.

Took Cori Anne to the vet a couple of days ago. Vet said her leg healed with the foot facing to the right instead of straight ahead. She also noted a vitamin A deficiency so I started including sweet potatoes in with her food, she seems to like them well enough. I should know the lab results tomorrow, had them do a full blood work up.

I'm going to try zip tying some comfy perches to the top rails of her cage, she likes to sit up there but she doesn't seem to be very stable.

She looks like such a sweetie! What a wonderful thing you have done, taking her in and giving her a good, healthy home

She's beautiful! I'm glad she found you! My male U2 needed to put on some weight. I'm feeding him Bird Street Bistro organic food. He loves it cooked in birdie bread and now he will eat it straight from the pan. He also gets Zupreem Garden Goodness pellets, he prefers them soaked in water or apple juice and softened. His favorite treat is whole wheat toast with crunchy peanut butter but he'll have to give that up soon. His feathers where pretty scraggly from a bad diet. I mist him with three parts water and one part aloe juice. The condition of his feathers has improved dramatically.

Thanks for the ideas. Got the test results back and all good news. Uric acid and something else I don't remember right now where slightly elevated but not enough that the vet was concerned. I've been feeding her a variety of things, butternut squash, oatmeal with a little honey, corn on the cob, sweet potato, pumpkin, zupreem fruit pellets, Higgin's safflower gold and mayan seed mixes. Various nuts for treats. She seems to eat at least some of everything. Looked up that bird street bistro, think I'll give that a try.

Been working towards giving her a good bath, I wouldn't be surprised if she never had one before. I'll try adding the aloe, makes sense. Another thing I was thinking about, I was told she was hand raised basically since she was hatched. I read that toos (maybe all parrots) need to be raised by their parents to learn to preen properly. I wonder if that is part of the problem, watching her, it doesn't seem like she really plucks, more like she shreds her feathers as she is cleaning them. If that is the case, how do you teach them to preen properly?

Oh my goodness, she is too cute! I don't have any experience with too's but I wanted to commend you for taking in this girl and doing so much to ensure her health and comfort. She's a lucky girl to have ended with you!

Not sure if you know this, but it is confirmed and documented that there are two types of umbrella cockatoos... one is substantially larger than the other. Now, this could be a case of undernourishment, but subspecies difference is just as likely. If it were me, I would take her in for xrays to determine how much discomfort and pain that leg may be causing. If it is painful I would even probably consider amputation. The odds are it doesn't bother her, but if it were me I would want to be sure. Oh, and try sweet potato mash with things added... much healthier alternative, and most birds LOVE it. As long as it is the warm consistency of the mashed potatoes she is accustomed to, you shouldn't have any problem... plus sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene and will assist in improving feather quality a great deal. As far as underweight birds go, do your best to add weight, but bear in mind that if she wasn't allowed a lot of exorcise when she was fledging, the breast muscles will be underdeveloped and at her age, if that's the case there isn't anything anyone can do. I would treat her for giardia preemptively because the odds that she carries it are fairly high... plus it will arrest the plucking to some degree (don't listen to a vet on this, they're wrong). If the cage was rusty and she continues to pluck then take her in and insist on a blood test for zinc poisoning... symptoms of high zinc include mild shredding to severe plucking AND a very thin breast bone (the higher the zinc, the thinner the bird appears). If you have any questions feel free to message me. I would seriously start with xrays though... if there is a rod in that leg and the leg is at that angle, then someone seriously botched that... I have assisted vets in setting several broken parrot legs... I have never heard of anyone using an internal rod to set a leg, (that looks like a leg that broke that a very inexperienced person set wrong and it fused very badly) but I suppose it's possible. In my experience... bird owners LIE (especially when trying to cover up their own mistakes, laziness, ignorance, cheapness, or incompetence... it's a running joke among most breeders that I know... "if the owner says it, it's a lie" In reference to rehoming or selling birds...

I'm glad Cori's test results came out so well. If she's trying all those foods already then she's doing great. I don't think her diet will be a problem at all. It sounds like Cori may be over preening instead of plucking. If you could encourage her to bathe regularly I think it would help tremendously with her preening issues. Is she close enough to see your other U2 bathe? When one of my birds bathes, it usually starts a beach party. My U2 loves to be misted while he takes a bath. Turning on the vacuum in the next room causes all my birds to take a bath too. Since Cori is so gentle, do you think you could take her in the shower for a bath? I can't wait to see photos after a few weeks. I know she's going to do great in her new home.

@Shredded, I had no idea there were two types of U2's, other than size are they basically identical? Also, I could be wrong, but I really don't think the leg causes her any pain, she doesn't seem hesitant to use it for anything, it's just awkward for her. And I (and the vet) agree, it was a total botch job and I can't believe Texas A and M did it, so I don't know what to make of her story. I tried calling the lady we got her from to get the vet's name and the original owners last name for my vet so she could get her records, the lady won't call me back so I tend to think everything I was told was a lie. I forgot about zinc poisoning, her old cage was a metallic color, appeared to be very old and was definitely rusty. Now that I think about it it looked like it was galvanized, definitely wasn't powder coated. Did they use to galvanize cages?

It seems to me that amputating the leg seems a little harsh, she has learned to use it fairly efficiently. I am taking pearl in for a well bird checkup next Saturday, I will discuss more with my vet then. Also, I will look into the Giardia. I've been around birds for a long time, but I am fairly new to the world of parrots and a lot of what I've learned is horrifying. What people will do...

As far as bathing, my cantankerous pearl actually will shower with me, it's quite humorous, she acts like she doesn't want to do it, but can't not do it. In the morning, I'm going to see how Cori reacts to a good misting. We've given her some very light mistings to get her used to the idea.

Oh, and I have been giving her mashed sweet potatoes, she seems to like those.

eta: As far as xrays, and I ask this because I really don't know, how would they be able to tell if she was in pain or discomfort? Also, the vet said she could feel the rod and where the fracture occurred.

I agree amputation would be harsh, I mentioned I would only consider it if she was in pain. As far as x rays, I would have just been looking to see where the rod is, what it's attached to, how everything is sitting, etc. Yes, the two types of umbrellas are identical with an exception to size. People have used all kinds of awful things to make cages, there is a very popular cage found online and it petshops... it's actually manufactured in china, and under the powder coating the metal is dangerously high in zinc. So, with cages it's tough to tell. I am really happy to hear that you are feeding her sweet potato mast