Please keep our little baby in your thoughts

[IcyWolf]

As most of you know, we have a now, six and a half week old baby budgie. He has been doing pretty well but a few things kept concerning me, firstly, he was the only baby out of three eggs to hatch and even though he is six weeks old, he is at the growth of about a 3 week old. He also has been having problems perching, all of his toes want to face forward. He can perch correctly if I place his toes the right way but otherwise he just kind of balances on his feet. He has not even begun to wean and is still strictly on hand feedings, although I did get him to eat a couple bits of millet about a week ago but I think it was by mistake, he was eagerly chomping at everything waiting for the spoon and I just happened to hold some millet up and he got some, after that he wouldn't touch it even though fresh millet has been in his cage all week. He has been eating formula like a little piggy though so even though he is pretty behind size and feather wise, I wasn't trying to worry too much.
Yesterday I took a picture of him and the flash didn't wake him up which surprised me, normally any change in light or the slightest noise would wake him up and incite some peeping. I figured it was about time for him to eat anyway so I took him out and fed him. He seemed a little weaker than normal but he chowed down like at any other feeding so I didn't think too much of it but I've been keeping an eye on him. Today he seemed fine, I fed him three times and then, about an hour after his last feeding he was in his cage, completely listless, I couldn't even be sure if he was alive or not. I immediately took him out of his cage and his belly felt slightly cool, not like normal. I hate to put it this way but he felt just like any dead animal does, like they have no body heat. His cage has a heating pad under it and a red heat lamp. We held him in front of a heater and honestly just cried, for about two hours. He couldn't hold his head up, couldn't stand, just layed in my hands looking up at me. I was sure he was going to die. After about two hours he started acting a little better and I got him to drink some warm(106F) water, he started acting a little better, holding his head up and trying to move around, even let out a few peeps.
I started writing this with hopes of good thoughts maybe helping but as I'm typing this, he didn't make it. I'm not typing this to be upsetting to anyone, and I'm sorry if it was too detailed but I'm just kind of flustered right now and need to vent but I didn't know who else to vent to. It doesn't help that as this all happened so quickly I forgot that I told my friend to come over and celebrate tonight(he won a court case). So he shows up with intentions to have a good night and walks in on my boyfriend and I holding a baby bird in front of a heater, crying profusely. We both tried to hide the fact that we were bawling but it's pretty obvious. It sucks so bad, I've spent the past 4.5 weeks tending to this little guy around the clock. We've all gotten so attached to him, I've even had friends coming on a routine basis to see him, everyone was in love with this amazing little bird. I have a feeling there was just something genetically wrong with him. The pair he was from is of an unknown age and their previous owner told me that they layed eggs often but mice were getting in the cages and destroying the eggs and even killing the chicks. I have one of their babies from when he had them but as far as I know, they haven't had a surviving baby for atleast 2 years. He does live on a farm and the building they were in very likely did have mice but I'm wondering now if maybe this pair just doesn't produce viable babies anymore, is that possible? They were on a very poor diet as well. If I would have thought of that I would have NOT let them breed, but he made it seem like it was just mice getting in the cages for an easy meal. I don't know if that was the case but I will not be allowing that pair to breed anymore. It may not be their fault but I just can't bring myself to take the chance of loosing any more babies. I have another pair that has had a nestbox for about 2 months but they have shown no interest in it.
RIP little Icarus, we love you. Hopefully you can fly free wherever you are now

 

[Pedro]

IcyWolf, this is the part of breeding that sucks. I know i have been there a few times myself. Usually it's trying to save someone else's baby. It is heart breaking when you spend so much time & energy & still loose the fight.

If he doesn't make it, know that you tried your very best. It just wasn't ment to be.

My heart goes out to you. Big big hugs.

 

[Rio Mom]

I'm so very sorry for your loss. It's heartbreaking. He was very loved.

 

[sssaucey]

I'm so sorry, I hope you can get some comfort knowing that you gave him the best chance possible

and even though his life was short it was full of love

 

[MikeyTN]

Im soooooooo sorry to hear that!!!!! Have you thought about having the parents tested for diseases or virus they may carry?

 

[Mamanda]

Oh gosh, that is SO sad. I can imagine how upsetting this is.

 

[lene1949]

Oh... noooo... I have been following his progress, and now have tears rolling down, reading your post... I really feel for you.

He would have known he was loved, but just couldn't make it...

 

[mnkeastman]

So sorry about your loss

 

[kc_y0]

That's so so sad. Very sorry to hear of your loss, you gave him a good life even if it was short <3

 

[Remy]

I'm so sorry for your loss! You gave him a good life, even though it was short. <3

 

[roxynoodle]

I've been reading all your posts about your baby, and I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[IcyWolf]

Thank you all so much for your kind words. I don't think either of us have ever taken the death of an animal this hard, we have taken in a lot of rescues and have lost a lot of our feathered, furred and scaled friends over the years but it's never been a baby, especially not one that we spent so much time with. Even at almost 7 weeks old he was still on 4-5 hand feedings a day, it's become such a big part of my routine, I've practically shaped everything we've done for the past two and a half months around this little guy, we even took him along to my mom's house for christmas because we were afraid to be away from him for too long.
He was a fighter from the day he hatched until the day he passed and I just keep telling myself that I can only hope and believe that we extended his life as long as we possibly could. Even as I was holding him yesterday he would turn his head and look up at me, even though he couldn't even lift his head up. I rubbed his cheek and preened his feathers, cried and told him how much we loved him. For a little while he seemed like he was coming back, he would let out a few rapid flutters of his wings and try to stand but it was just too much, he seemed so tired We named ourselves "Feathers First Aviary" because of him, he was over three weeks old before he really started to get any feathers and I made the comment that it was okay, feathers don't always need to come first I think the hardest part now is explaining to everyone what happened but I know we can't move on until I have and we don't have people calling, texting or messaging me on facebook asking what happened. Even people that didn't understand our fascination with birds fell in love with him and soon after he hatched, anyone that came over always asked how he was doing and ooohed and ahhhed over how big he was getting.
This was just last week, a friend of mine brought her son over to visit Icky, he just adopted a 7 week old budgie himself, except at 7 weeks, his is fully weaned, fledged and looks just like an adult budgie.

And to top it all off, I found out(as we were losing the fight with Icarus) that our pygmy goat that has been living with my brother(we used to live there with him and my brother got kind of attached to the goat so we left him stay there after we moved) also passed away. I've always enjoyed friday the 13ths, my boyfriend was actually born on friday the 13th, but yesterday was by far the worst day I have had in a long, long time. So I'd also like to through in a heartfelt rest in peace for Timmy, our goat, and if someone could move this to the bereavement section it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[merlinsmom13]

So sorry about your losses. Sometimes nature has other ideas when our beloved pets are concerned. I'm sure your next babies will be healthy & happy.

 

[cockatielfan17]

im so sorry for ur loss our hearts go out to u and ur baby btw do u know if the parents are related cause i heard that the babies come this way if the parents are related or maybe her nutrients isint enough for the babies

 

[MikeyTN]

That's absolutely horrible to go through...I forgot it was Friday the 13th yesterday when we brought home Java. Then I saw what happened to Icarus when I was posting about Java. Its a horrible thing to witness. I hope you and the family the best...

 

[Tammy]

I'm so sorry for your loss. My dog is suffering from heart failure & I know I won't have him much longer. Death sucks, there's no other way to put it. But sharing it can lessen the sting & let you know you're not alone. I'm glad that you felt safe enough here to let us share in your loss. Please don't ever apologize for "venting". That's what friends are for. Rest assured that this baby has passed on knowing he was truly loved.

 

[IcyWolf]

Thank you all again. I don't know what I would do without you guys and this forum, as soon as it happened, I just had to get it off my chest and this seemed like the best place to do it. I didn't even post to my aviary facebook about what happened until later today. I don't know why, I just felt more comfortable posting about it here first, which is odd because I know the people on my facebook and haven't personally met any of you

@cockatielfan, I'm honestly not sure if they are related or not, I assumed they weren't but they have had a strange history and I haven't been able to track down exactly where they started out. I know they were all at a nursing home at one point, then they went with a nurse that worked at the home when their owners passed away. Then a friend of mine got them from the nurse and then they arrived here for their final stop in life. The pair that had Icarus were already brooding when I got them so I left them keep the nestbox. I pulled the box when I pulled Icky at 2 weeks old and they haven't had it since. They are visiably in good health, they eat well(now) and seem happy. I do have one of their babies from the previous owner, although I'm pretty sure he hatched well over 2 years ago, but he seems just as healthy as the rest of them. They are all well feathered, fly, chatter ALL DAY long, etc. They have also been in contact with each other and get into pretty close proximity to the other birds we have, about as close as they can get without being eaten that is. I let them out of their cages pretty often to fly around as well. Is it possible that they are just too old? Either way, they will not be breeding anymore, I of course will not separate the pair but they will not have access to a nest box anymore. I have another pair that has had a box since early december but they haven't laid any eggs. I know they have been in the box though because they have managed to kick some of the bedding out but I have never seen them in it.

 

[BillsBirds]

Icy...so sorry for you. A few weeks ago, we lost a budgie to an egg laying problem. We had her for almost 4 years. We are still devastated. You gave this little creature a wonderful short life. It sounds to me like the poor little fellow was sort of doomed from the beginning. Bravo to you for not giving up on him. There is a special place in heaven for us who rescue birds. Know that little Icky is waiting to thank you for all you did.

 

[Mitchell]

So sorry for your loss, no matter how many times it never gets any easier to take the loss of a sweet baby.

 

[chksbak]

oh no i am so sorry