Please read, many birds dead at rehab

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Kentuckienne

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This was in my Facebook feed, posted three hours ago by Birds And Beaks Rescue and Rehab. Iā€™ll paste in the copy since many of you donā€™t do FB.
###########
This will likely be the most heartbreaking post I ever write.

On the evening of January 1, 2018, we lost 11 birds. Most of the birds passed within about 30 minutes of each other, with the last one, a nanday conure not passing until around 4am.

We originally thought maybe carbon monoxide or something in the air, and began evacuation to the garage and called 911. The fire department tested both for carbon monoxide and noxious gases and our results were zero's across the board.

The next logical thought was food/water. We pulled all the food and water and put them on the counter.

The next morning, we took those birds to our veterinarian and had necropsies done for them. The initial things our doctor found were hearts were good, lungs were good, all seem to be in good health, except their stomachs were inflamed, there was a green sludge in their GI tracts and their livers were rock hard.

Gross necropsies were submitted by our vet for 2 birds to determine official cause of death with food toxicity being the suspicion.

There are another 3 birds that we are unsure if they will make it or not.

Today, January 3, 2018, I took the in-bowl samples of food to Michigan State University.

Before we go further, I want to make it clear I am not pointing fingers. There were 3 foods included in our mix, and thankfully we are fastidious - we have the packages that food came in so that batches can be pulled and we have contacted the companies. The foods are:

Zupreem Fruitblend, large size for macaws, cockatoos etc.
Higgins Vitaseed
Lefeber's Nutriberries

MSU is in receipt of 2lbs of the food that was in the bowls and we should have results back for WHAT the toxin is within 5-7 days.

We spoke with another Michigan Rescue to tell them what's going on, and they also experienced a die off in the last week of 3 birds. The foods they were feeding are Zupreem Fruit Flavored Blend and Higgins Vitaseed.

Our hearts are broken. In a million pieces. We are not ok. We will probably never be ok again.

I am happy to answer questions. What I don't want is mass hysteria. We are awaiting results back from the lab and necropsies - and all we can do is wait. What I'm concerned with is that birds are dying and unlike us - you guys usually have one or two birds. If something happens, you're thinking it's your fault. That you've done something wrong. You don't question the food because you trust it.

You need to have necropsies done. You need to save your food, your bags, and you need to get it tested.

We don't know which food it was at this point, and we're not pointing fingers. What I can tell you is that the companies are being very cooperative, helpful and working WITH us.

My personal opinion is that for now, if you are feeding any of those brands, please stop and feed fresh/frozen foods only until we have the results back for why this happened.

Please keep us in your thoughts. Our hearts are broken. We lost 11 family members. Watching my children try to give CPR to the birds we all love and care for in vain may be the worst thing I have ever witnessed, only second to walking into my aviary and seeing all but 3 of my birds in there gone.

Charlie
Max
Guido
Zook
Oliver
Rosie
Eddie
Cheech (M2, boarder)
Cheech (YN Amazon)
Chong
Pebbles

My loves. Rest in Heaven my angels.

My request to you - ask your questions here. Don't flood my inbox. When I have answers, you shall have answers. I'm an open book. I'll answer anything here in this thread. We are a by-the-book rescue. We don't cut corners. So ask away.

If you're negative - I just don't have any energy for you. I really don't. Be supportive or be gone.

Information about the food batches:
Zupreem, Large for macaws/cockatoos etc:
10287 865309107 Use By: 3/31/19
Zupreem, Large for macaws/cockatoos etc:
09137 862908047 Use by: 2/28/19
Higgin's Vita Seed Parrot Use By: 4/5/19
Lefeber's Tropical Fruit Nutriberries: Use By Batch: 122218B

Symptoms:

As digestion happens, about 4 hours in, the birds become wobbly, disoriented, weak, unable to stand up and still. Droopy wings. Vomiting a copper reddish substance, seizures begin and then death. The 3 remaining birds are still very wobbly and weak.

We have 17 birds still living, including the 3 that we could still lose. Of the 17, a few had last batch food, a few don't eat this food at all (lorikeet, hyacinth), and my picky eaters are still with us.
 
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Kentuckienne

Kentuckienne

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texsize

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

what a tragedy, please keep us posted.
I feed my birds with the same zupreem food.
I made a call to my home (at work now) to have the food in the bowels thrown out.

still have a large bag and will have them check the date codes.


thanks for the heads up.
 
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Kentuckienne

Kentuckienne

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Added to the original FB post just now:

*************
Edited to add:

Some people are pissed I'm sharing this without results being back yet. I can't live with myself if I don't post this for you all, and birds are dying and I could've maybe prevented it. So I'm not sorry. What we know are lungs were good (no toxins), GI and stomach are NOT good, and these are the foods they ate.

I'd rather we be scared than sorry.
 
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Kentuckienne

Kentuckienne

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Kiwibird

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

How very sad:( I hope their remaining birds make it and that the cause will be identified soon so if it was one of the foods, it can be recalled and other bird owners can discard if they have a contaminated batch.
 

palmetto941

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Parrots passing in Michigan....so far.....

I'm not sure where to post this. I am not trying to create panic, but this is happening and I think we should all err on the side of caution. There's been more rescues and some individual parrot owners having parrots die. The information from one rescue speaks for itself. It's long, but please read. I have been to this rescue many times. The rescue is run well, avian vet. I have met most of the parrots involved and this is a huge loss. Tragic.

Birds And Beaks Rescue and Rehab
4 hrs Ā·
This will likely be the most heartbreaking post I ever write.

On the evening of January 1, 2018, we lost 11 birds. Most of the birds passed within about 30 minutes of each other, with the last one, a nanday conure not passing until around 4am.

We originally thought maybe carbon monoxide or something in the air, and began evacuation to the garage and called 911. The fire department tested both for carbon monoxide and noxious gases and our results were zero's across the board.

The next logical thought was food/water. We pulled all the food and water and put them on the counter.

The next morning, we took those birds to our veterinarian and had necropsies done for them. The initial things our doctor found were hearts were good, lungs were good, all seem to be in good health, except their stomachs were inflamed, there was a green sludge in their GI tracts and their livers were rock hard.

Gross necropsies were submitted by our vet for 2 birds to determine official cause of death with food toxicity being the suspicion.

There are another 3 birds that we are unsure if they will make it or not.

Today, January 3, 2018, I took the in-bowl samples of food to Michigan State University.

Before we go further, I want to make it clear I am not pointing fingers. There were 3 foods included in our mix, and thankfully we are fastidious - we have the packages that food came in so that batches can be pulled and we have contacted the companies. The foods are:

Zupreem Fruitblend, large size for macaws, cockatoos etc.
(added to the food container Friday.)
Higgins Vitaseed (Added to the food container Sunday)
Lefeber's Nutriberries(added to the food container Friday)

All of this was finally mixed very well Monday just before feed - as it's very heavy and I can't lift it and shake it like hubby can.

MSU is in receipt of 2lbs of the food that was in the bowls and we should have results back for WHAT the toxin is within 5-7 days.

We spoke with another Michigan Rescue to tell them what's going on, and they also experienced a die off in the last week of 3 birds. The foods they were feeding are Zupreem Fruit Flavored Blend and Higgins Vitaseed.

Our hearts are broken. In a million pieces. We are not ok. We will probably never be ok again.

I am happy to answer questions. What I don't want is mass hysteria. We are awaiting results back from the lab and necropsies - and all we can do is wait. What I'm concerned with is that birds are dying and unlike us - you guys usually have one or two birds. If something happens, you're thinking it's your fault. That you've done something wrong. You don't question the food because you trust it.

You need to have necropsies done. You need to save your food, your bags, and you need to get it tested.

We don't know which food it was at this point, and we're not pointing fingers. What I can tell you is that the companies are being very cooperative, helpful and working WITH us.

My personal opinion is that for now, if you are feeding any of those brands, please stop and feed fresh/frozen foods only until we have the results back for why this happened.

Please keep us in your thoughts. Our hearts are broken. We lost 11 family members. Watching my children try to give CPR to the birds we all love and care for in vain may be the worst thing I have ever witnessed, only second to walking into my aviary and seeing all but 3 of my birds in there gone.

Charlie
Max
Guido
Zook
Oliver
Rosie
Eddie
Cheech (M2, boarder)
Cheech (YN Amazon)
Chong
Pebbles

My loves. Rest in Heaven my angels.

My request to you - ask your questions here. Don't flood my inbox. When I have answers, you shall have answers. I'm an open book. I'll answer anything here in this thread. We are a by-the-book rescue. We don't cut corners. So ask away.

If you're negative - I just don't have any energy for you. I really don't. Be supportive or be gone.

Information about the food batches:
Zupreem, Large for macaws/cockatoos etc:
10287 865309107 Use By: 3/31/19
Zupreem, Large for macaws/cockatoos etc:
09137 862908047 Use by: 2/28/19
Higgin's Vita Seed Parrot Use By: 4/5/19
Lefeber's Tropical Fruit Nutriberries: Use By Batch: 122218B

Symptoms:

As digestion happens, about 4 hours in, the birds become wobbly, disoriented, weak, unable to stand up and still. Droopy wings. Vomiting a copper reddish substance, seizures begin and then death. The 3 remaining birds are still very wobbly and weak.

We have 17 birds still living, including the 3 that we could still lose. Of the 17, a few had last batch food, a few don't eat this food at all (lorikeet, hyacinth), and my picky eaters are still with us.

*************
Edited to add:

Some people are pissed I'm sharing this without results being back yet. I can't live with myself if I don't post this for you all, and birds are dying and I could've maybe prevented it. So I'm not sorry. What we know are lungs were good (no toxins), GI and stomach are NOT good, and these are the foods they ate.

I'd rather we be scared than sorry.
 
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Oliver17

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Re: Parrots passing in Michigan....so far.....

Iā€™m so sorry, horrible horrible
I volunteer at a shelter
Thank you for sharing
 
OP
Kentuckienne

Kentuckienne

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Re: Parrots passing in Michigan....so far.....

Giving you a bump. I read this same report.
 

SailBoat

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Re: Parrots passing in Michigan....so far.....

I am guessing that either the Rescue, the CAV or MSU has contacted State Of Michigan Health Department as a loss of this size requires such reporting. If such has not happened, please assure that it does

Very sorry for the losses and will be very interested in the test results.
 

dhraiden

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

just saw this on reddit, too. hopefully there'll be clarification soon. fids eat Goldenfeast and zupreem medium fruitblend...
 
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Scott

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

What an incredibly sad and horrific end for these poor birds. I cannot fathom the excruciating pain the parronts and caretakers are feeling.

I hope MSU is able to establish whether any of the foods are to blame. We definitely need a thorough and clean investigation absent any influence from industry.

My current bag of Zupreem Fruit Blend is nearly finished and has a different lot number, as does the next bag for use.
 

Kiwibird

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Re: Parrots passing in Michigan....so far.....

One has to wonder how many individuals with one or 2 birds who didn't have a necropsy done have been affected too and have no clue why their bird(s) died suddenly. Hopefully the word gets out there and people err on the side of caution feeding the suspect foods until they are cleared by the lab.

Hard to imagine something infectious causing such a rapid onset of symptoms/death. Equally hard to imagine how food could be contaminated with some kind of substance that acutely toxic either. I am anxious to hear what the lab concludes and how the manufacturer responds (if a food was to blame).
 

Anansi

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Kentuckienne, thank you for bringing this to our attention. So many of our members use those very foods, and to wait for confirmation, as you've pointed out, would be to risk the possibility of this happening to any of the birds in our community.

My heart goes out to the birds lost, and the person from the Rescue who wrote that post. Please keep us updated once the cause has been more concretely determined.
 

reeb

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

This is so sad :(

I literally just got nutriberries for the first time because of all the good things I have heard about them, and am so glad my babies haven't eaten them yet...

I can't imagine the pain of losing so many birds.
 

Carl_Power

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Really pulling for these 3 birds to make it through, sending love. You can never do anything about bad food or ever have any idea of knowing. Its just one of those cruel things that happens. My deepest sympathies for this loss and love and hugs x
 

SailBoat

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

As a precaution, I had provide our Certified Avian Vet (CAV) with the body of this Thread. As a consideration for care in your area, you may want to consider the same action.
 
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SailBoat

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Re: Parrots passing in Michigan....so far.....

As a precaution, I had provide our Certified Avian Vet (CAV) with the body of this Thread. As a consideration for care in your area, you may want to consider the same action.
 

Anansi

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Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Great idea, Steven.
 

SailBoat

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Re: Please check your Foods, possible poisomings

As a precaution, I had provide our Certified Avian Vet (CAV) with the body of the attached Thread. As a consideration for care in your area, you may want to consider the same action.
 
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