Bird weigh in day

[Ephy]

Weighed my birds today,

My senior aged dove didnt want to stick around long enough for a picture. He weighs 156g. He's always been slimmer than I would like. He is a picky eater and highly active flying laps in his large dog cage when he wants to come out.

My 6 year old House Sparrow, loves to eat. Probably too much. His weight today, 36grams!
I'm starting to worry he may be getting a bit too heavy?

He's got a bald patch on his head, very slowly growing in, so i have been trying to increasing his nutrition with veggies and bird vitamins.

Should I worry he will get sick at this weight?

 

[Laurasea]

He looks great. I don't know what sparrow weigh?? Thanks fir saving him! What's his personality like?
What's he eating there? Little cutie

 

[bill_e]

Off topic but at least it's small poop when he's flying around Cool to have one!

 

[Ephy]

All I had time to make him today was some organic mixed salad from the store, some apple and peas. I was running late after work. But i do try to change it up, with other veggies and carbs. He loves his carbs.

Yes, his poop is small which is great and he is more of a clean freak than I am.

He loves to take a bath every day.
He refuses to walk in, snuggle next to, eat or drink anything that looks dirty or is next to where he has pooped.

He LOVES a clean cage. Every day his papers are changed and spot cleaned and he gets very excited. He loves to watch me clean and calls me a good bird everytime. Lol

I recently bought a steam cleaner and its amazing! Now, I get just as excited to clean their cages, lol. (Not while they are in the room of course)

He's even pretty good with his poop training. He has a specific spot we designate his potty and he will poop when asked within reason.

He is really intelligent.

 

[SailBoat]

Spot checking weight is only helpful for a general consideration.

For medical consideration i.e. is my bird sick, overweight or underweight requires a very specific pattern in taking their weight.

Best Practice:
- Take weight only first thing in the morning prior to your bird eating and drinking and after the over-night /first thing in the morning poop. This assures that your bird is empty.
- Take the weight on a schedule: Everyday, every other day, once a week, once a month. Regardless, keep your schedule to assure you are looking at baseline data. Understand that the fewer times weight is taken, the less information you have. In varying (increase) the rate if you believe your bird is ill, decrease if you see a consistent weight.
- Keep a journal!

This will give a understanding as to your specific bird's weight!

Once you have a year's worth of information, you will see variations developing on time of year and level of activities, plus a clear vision of the effect of an illness before you see any physical indicators.

 

[Ephy]

Wow. This is really great information and this makes alot of sense. I am going to try this, and keep a diary.

Thank you!