weigh your birds

Richard · Nov 23, 2009

Hi all, I'm new but want to have others learn from a lesson we've had - that is the importance of regularly weighing our feathered family.
We weighed our four parrots every other week until the scale broke when we moved a year ago. Unfortunately we never got around to replacing it. By the time we noticed Simone, our beloved red-fronted macaw was ill, he had lost so much weight. As we all know, birds hide their illnesses, and regular weighing may have caught his illness earlier. He may not have survived anyway, as aspergillus pneumonia has a reputation for being very difficult to treat, but we wish we had caught it earlier. So, please - weigh your babies. We're now back to a regular schedule.

antoinette · Nov 23, 2009

So Sorry, so sad.....
Fortunately owning a scale (for business) Mishka gets weighed weekly.
From 6 weeks, I kept a weekly chart, to make sure her weight was increasing.
I agree they hide their illnesses, so hard to detect.
Hopefully people who were not aware of weighing a bird, will take note.
Take Care

Spiritbird · Nov 24, 2009

Richard: You touch on a very important topic. There is a very good article on this subject to be found at Winged Wisdom Magazine - Weigh Your Bird Regularly!! Pet Bird Care

I have been cyber shopping for a good digital scale. Any suggestions from the forum members??

Richard · Nov 24, 2009

thanks, that's a great article, it says weigh 3 times/weekly, which would be ideal, but even weekly is better than nothing. As for a scale, we had a Sterling scale (has a perch) that's now working with a battery (what's sad is the cord was broken & we didn't know it had a battery option, and could have been using that all along...!). Before we realized that, we bought a digital food scale at Target that doesn't have a perch - but I think any type of scale that measures grams works well.

Spiritbird · Nov 25, 2009

Richard: I went to the company that was mentioned in the article as they have been supplying bird scales for many years to satisfied customers and purchased one. If anyone is interested his name is Rick and birdscales.com. Bought a gm scale for a grey at $59 with a 7 dollar delivery fee.

BlueToast · Nov 26, 2009

Good tip thanks

clawnz · Sep 12, 2010

Weighing your Fid does give you some very good clues as to how they are doing. The next best thing to studying Poop.
I would add that it is good to always weigh them the same time of day, as before and after food you will get diff weights.
As fids can puff up their feathers, it can be hard to judge condition by looking at them. Unless you can hold them and know how to feel them.

I have to admit I do not go out of my way to weigh my own. But if I do have to handle them, I will check them on the scales.

A classic case we had at the rescue was. Very young Tiel in with broken leg.
It was 94g on arrival and it's weight stayed steady during the first week then it dropped down to 77g, it was noticed that it was going into depression in the incubator and not feeding it's self. With hand feeding and moving it out into the bird room and handling it a lot more we got it's weight back up to a steady 94g.

Spiritbird · Sep 12, 2010

This is an old thread but does have important information for anyone that is new to birds.

Aussie Ben · Sep 12, 2010

Yea, this is an old thread, but I think it's worth opening again. I weigh Buddy probably about 5 to 7 days of the week. It has become morning routine for her and she knows what to do. If I didn't weigh her as often as I did, then i wouldn't have noticed the overnight 10g loss that she had a few months ago and there is a good chance she would not be here today. She got quite ill, but thanks to early detection, her infection was treated promptly.

Eddie I weigh less, more like 1-2 times a week. Being a bigger bird, fluctuating a few grams from day to day doesn't worry me as much. In his case, its going to be a change over 3-4 days that will be the indicator.

AndrewH · Sep 12, 2010

I've been meaning to buy a scale for so long. I'm going to buy one today. Thanks for the reminder!

sguys · Nov 4, 2010

Hello
everyone,
you are nice artical's in this topic . this site are help for me and Thanks to suggection . i like i hope to give many suggection and advice knowledgeto share's with me.
Thanks it!!
__________________________

MsKiKi · Nov 6, 2010

I am so glad you brought this old thread forward again it's such a valid and important tip for all bird owners. :emoticonc

Jodi · Nov 11, 2010

A great thread! My gcc just got over being sick (worm infestation) a couple weeks ago. It can be hard to make time or to remember to weigh religiously but I've made the habit of keeping the bird scale out to help remind me. I weigh mornings and evenings now, know how much they can fluctuate between meals, and keep my eye out on droppings. I never used to do this until I brought our second bird home...It was then that I realized how important and how much you can tell by your birds weight. In doing this with our new baby, it was then that I caught our gcc's weight being way down...I made a vet appointment, she figured out what the problem was and fixed it.... and I know if I had not recognized the weight drop, I probably would have held off with the vet since they do hide their illnesses so well.

Greydad01 · Nov 11, 2010

We have no trouble weighing Zoey, because have a small meat scale, my wife uses when she buys hamburger in larger packs that need to be separated down.
Zoey will stand dead center on the scale, so we check her weight while she stands(usualy 1 puond exact).

juliebj1961 · Jan 20, 2011

My RFM passed suddenly to acute Aspergillosis- and he had been weighed regularly at the vets- and his weight was within his normal range. His poop hadn't changed much. he appeared fine one day, and deathly ill the next morning. I was DEVASTATED. I will get a scale, and I will weigh my birds now, but in my case I wouldn't have seen much to go on.The Board Cert vet we use told me it is almost always diagnosed upon autopsy. No consolation, there.

Adams · Jul 8, 2011

I do agree with you because some times the feed which we do give to our pet birds are given without any proper selection.That is why the obesity problem appear in birds.Which welcomes diseases and makes birds drowsy.

weigh your birds

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