galah cockatoo question—is this bird sick?

[Francie Mae]

Hey everyone. It’s only been two days since we lost Grim. My beautiful boy. I’m not in a rush to bring another parrot home, but someone reached out to us about a parrot in need that they saw online after hearing the news about Grim. According to the listing, it’s a 2 month old Galah cockatoo, gender not certain. I’m not saying we’re going to bring him/her home, especially because I don’t want to disrespect Grim’s memory or even attempt to replace him, because I never could nor would I ever want to, but I do feel for a young bird who needs a loving home. We have all of the resources and the love. The seller was in the area so we went to just go see the bird. It looked like he/she was missing a lot of feathers. Is this normal for a bird of this age? It’s hard to see in the pictures, but she had a bare spot on her chest, and some patchiness on her cheeks. It looked maybe there was a bit of discoloration or gunk, I couldn’t tell. The seller said she was a messy eater and it was just congealed food, but I don’t know. I want to help a bird in need, but I think bringing home a parrot who was potentially fatally ill would destroy us. We can help a bird in need, even if it’s difficult, but we can’t handle another loss.

 

[Francie Mae]

Part 2, because the seller sent me more pictures. Is this plumage normal for a 2 month old Galah? Is it potentially beak and feather disease?

 

[LaManuka]

Hey everyone. It’s only been two days since we lost Grim. My beautiful boy. I’m not in a rush to bring another parrot home, but someone reached out to us about a parrot in need that they saw online after hearing the news about Grim. According to the listing, it’s a 2 month old Galah cockatoo, gender not certain. I’m not saying we’re going to bring him/her home, especially because I don’t want to disrespect Grim’s memory or even attempt to replace him, because I never could nor would I ever want to, but I do feel for a young bird who needs a loving home. We have all of the resources and the love. The seller was in the area so we went to just go see the bird. It looked like he/she was missing a lot of feathers. Is this normal for a bird of this age? It’s hard to see in the pictures, but she had a bare spot on her chest, and some patchiness on her cheeks. It looked maybe there was a bit of discoloration or gunk, I couldn’t tell. The seller said she was a messy eater and it was just congealed food, but I don’t know. I want to help a bird in need, but I think bringing home a parrot who was potentially fatally ill would destroy us. We can help a bird in need, even if it’s difficult, but we can’t handle another loss.

Bless you for wanting to help this poor baby! I would suggest this little one is possibly too young to be sold at this stage, if indeed she's only 2 months old. Baby galahs really don't wean onto solid adult food until around the age of 3 months or so, and it's generally best that they are not taken to a new home until they have been eating adult food independently for at least a few weeks beyond that. IF you do decide to take on this baby, I would strongly recommend you have her assessed for general health by a certified avian vet. Sometimes they can be difficult to locate, so here is a list of avian vets if you are not already familiar with one in your area ...

Avian Vet Resources

The feather condition could just be congealed food, and baby birds are generally pretty rough on their feathers as well. But there may be something else entirely going on, and an avian vet would be able to assist you in terms of weaning onto adult food, remembering that hand feeding baby birds is not as simple as some people say it is. I wish you and that sweet baby the very best of luck!

 

[Francie Mae]

Bless you for wanting to help this poor baby! I would suggest this little one is possibly too young to be sold at this stage, if indeed she's only 2 months old. Baby galahs really don't wean onto solid adult food until around the age of 3 months or so, and it's generally best that they are not taken to a new home until they have been eating adult food independently for at least a few weeks beyond that. IF you do decide to take on this baby, I would strongly recommend you have her assessed for general health by a certified avian vet. Sometimes they can be difficult to locate, so here is a list of avian vets if you are not already familiar with one in your area ...

Avian Vet Resources

The feather condition could just be congealed food, and baby birds are generally pretty rough on their feathers as well. But there may be something else entirely going on, and an avian vet would be able to assist you in terms of weaning onto adult food, remembering that hand feeding baby birds is not as simple as some people say it is. I wish you and that sweet baby the very best of luck!

I read this comment to my dad and shared my concerns and he said that I was mistaken and the bird was born March 15th, so she’s 3 months old. It’s honestly my dad in particular that I’m worried about, because while I don’t want to go through loss again myself, I think it would really break him. So I told him that as soon as a decision is made to tell me and I’ll schedule a vet appointment.

I don’t think this little Galah is in a good place right now. It makes me nervous to bring home a bird from a potentially shady seller (the seller wanted to meet in a parking lot, which I guess makes sense if she’s a woman living alone and didn’t want my dad, a man, knowing where she lives, but idk, plus she said her friend gave her the bird but didn’t add a lot of details) because of the risks attached health wise, but dang, I also don’t want to leave her to fend for herself. Nothing is ever going to make losing Grim okay but if we can save another baby then there’d be some beauty in that. I just want to make sure I’m well-equipped enough to do that. I’m not an expert by any means, but we do have the resources and the finances to give her proper care.

 

[LaManuka]

I read this comment to my dad and shared my concerns and he said that I was mistaken and the bird was born March 15th, so she’s 3 months old. It’s honestly my dad in particular that I’m worried about, because while I don’t want to go through loss again myself, I think it would really break him. So I told him that as soon as a decision is made to tell me and I’ll schedule a vet appointment.

I don’t think this little Galah is in a good place right now. It makes me nervous to bring home a bird from a potentially shady seller (the seller wanted to meet in a parking lot, which I guess makes sense if she’s a woman living alone and didn’t want my dad, a man, knowing where she lives, but idk, plus she said her friend gave her the bird but didn’t add a lot of details) because of the risks attached health wise, but dang, I also don’t want to leave her to fend for herself. Nothing is ever going to make losing Grim okay but if we can save another baby then there’d be some beauty in that. I just want to make sure I’m well-equipped enough to do that. I’m not an expert by any means, but we do have the resources and the finances to give her proper care.

You would not be disrespecting Grim's memory in any way by bringing this baby home, if anything you would probably be "paying it forward" by giving this little one a shot at a better life. It's very sensible though to have her checked out by an avian vet, I always do that with any new addition to my flock because it's good for your own peace of mind as well as nipping any potential health issues in the bud.

Nothing is ever guaranteed in this world. The best we can do is go with our heart and act with kindness and compassion, and this includes being compassionate to ourselves. I have lost birds in the most tragic of circumstances and often wonder if I can bear to do it all again, and then I go and do it all over again anyway but it's not like that for everyone - somehow it just hits differently with losing birds, it does for me anyway. I was not affected by the grief of loss when I found my little Peachie the princess parrot in a pet store with a terrible single wing clip and (unbeknown to me at the time) suffering from psittacosis, and I tried to walk away but my heart told me I could get her wing fixed and take care of anything else that may be wrong with her, and I was fairly sure she wouldn't get that from anyone else - indeed she had been bought by someone else before me but taken back to the store because they "couldn't manage her"!! I can't tell you to go and get this baby, only you can know whether to go ahead or not and you have your own family situation and their opinions and feelings to consider as well. But you would be doing the right thing by listening to your heart, it rarely if ever steers us wrong.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hey everyone. It’s only been two days since we lost Grim. My beautiful boy. I’m not in a rush to bring another parrot home, but someone reached out to us about a parrot in need that they saw online after hearing the news about Grim. According to the listing, it’s a 2 month old Galah cockatoo, gender not certain. I’m not saying we’re going to bring him/her home, especially because I don’t want to disrespect Grim’s memory or even attempt to replace him, because I never could nor would I ever want to, but I do feel for a young bird who needs a loving home. We have all of the resources and the love. The seller was in the area so we went to just go see the bird. It looked like he/she was missing a lot of feathers. Is this normal for a bird of this age? It’s hard to see in the pictures, but she had a bare spot on her chest, and some patchiness on her cheeks. It looked maybe there was a bit of discoloration or gunk, I couldn’t tell. The seller said she was a messy eater and it was just congealed food, but I don’t know. I want to help a bird in need, but I think bringing home a parrot who was potentially fatally ill would destroy us. We can help a bird in need, even if it’s difficult, but we can’t handle another loss.

The breast is the last part of the baby to become fully feathered from my experience hand raising baby budgies. The tail also lags behind the rest of the feathers.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I dont think the baby looks unhealthy.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Baby birds are very messy eaters. I always have to trim the facial feathers around the beak because food gets stuck in the feathers and hardens into little rocks and I can't get it off.

 

[rheashard2]

Cute baby. I too feel that you won't be disrespectful of Grim's memory. I was very depressed after my first CAG, died in apartment fire. A few years after this my daughter showed up with a 3 1/2 mo CAG. She was tired of me mopping around. I knew I missed him. I didn't realize how much I missed having a bird.