Under weight sun conure, advice ?

[Chili]

My sun is a small conure but you can feel her breast bone, at the vet she weighed 81grams but at home she is 90grams ( both scales weighd my phone at the correcct weight so they are both accurate) but still she is skinny as you can feel her breast bone !
She has been wormed and blood test all is clear .... The vet said to give it 3 months and if she is still under weight they will look further into it ( with scan of her body chest tummy to see that all is ok internally)
Her diet is 70% veg 40% pellet and 10% fruit daily and if she is lucky she will get one sun flower seed ( cut into three bits) as a very special treat !!
Is there any other reasons as to why she is under weight ? She is 1 years old and she has always been "skinny" but she has always had a healthy big diet ....
Any information as to her health/ gaining weight?

 

[Chili]

Oh and fecal exam has been done, it was all clear!
She is not overly skinny just a bit under weight the vet was not overly concerned as she is healthy other wise

 

[HalfInsane]

While a straight seed diet is (of course) bad for them, birds do need some fat/protein. Sprouted seeds are an excellent option. Nuts, offered in moderation, are also very healthy. You might also try feeding her cooked beans; they've got lots of protein so they are much more substantial than veggies or pellets.

 

[94lt1]

String beans and almonds are a good way to fatten the bird up.. our sun was under weight when we got him too..this is what we did to plump him a little bit.

 

[Pedro]

If Chili is only a young sunny then she would appear on the thin side as she hasn't gained her full adult weight. Give her time to fill out.

You should be able to feel her keel bone if you can't she would be obese, she should also have good muscle on either side of the keel bone.

 

[MonicaMc]

Some birds are just naturally thin. I have one male cockatiel that typically weighs around 80 grams, and you can visibly tell that he's scrawnier than the rest! Doesn't matter what diet I put him on, he's always on the thin side! His age is unknown, but he is an adult that is at least 15+ years old.


You can try a higher protein diet (pellet wise, or using healthy legumes [as mentioned] and grains) and/or including more fats in the diet (sprouted seeds, healthy nuts).


Muscle also weighs more than fat, so exercise via flight may help to build up muscle and put on weight.



With all that said, as long as she is healthy and eats healthy, and is within a healthy weight range for her, it's not something I'd be overly concerned about.

 

[Chili]

The vet had told me to reduce the amount of seed I was feeding her as she could see sings she was getting to much (which she definatly was intend to spoilt her with sun flower seeds lol) and she told me to avoid protein as she is a lone bird and to much protein could cause her body to think its ready to produce eggs which then would strip her
Of calcium and protein ....
:S she has always been "skinny" so I'm guessing maybe that's the kind of bird she is... I'll try raw nuts of different kinds as they tend to be fattier oils rather than protein ...
Thank you for your replies

 

[Remy]

What signs was the vet seeing that she was getting too much seeds? Generally the problem with too much nuts or seeds is obesity. Also, I wouldn't totally avoid protein, because it's completely necessary for life! I'm not sure about the egg production, but protein is necessary, so maybe she would benefit from a little more.

 

[Chili]

What signs was the vet seeing that she was getting too much seeds? Generally the problem with too much nuts or seeds is obesity. Also, I wouldn't totally avoid protein, because it's completely necessary for life! I'm not sure about the egg production, but protein is necessary, so maybe she would benefit from a little more.

She said by the growth of her beak/nails and her feathers is how she could tell she was getting a lot of seed ??? Im not sure about that but she is an avian vet so I hope she knows what's going on! Haha
Well I would normally be feeding her some egg 3-2 times a week mixed with brown rice but now my vet had told me otherwise .... Now I am so confused lol
Maybe I'll do a tiny bit of brown rice per day and egg 1-2 times a week ....
And raw nuts for some more fat...
There's so many things to remeber it gets so confusing!

 

[MonicaMc]

I'd be confused, too!

I only had one hen start laying eggs due to a high protein diet (Harrison's High Potency - HP). I was trying to get her to stop laying eggs so I could put her through surgery, so I had to temporarily take her off the HP diet (and onto Adult Lifetime - AL) to get her to stop laying eggs.

After the surgery, I put her back onto HP and she didn't lay eggs for the rest of the year. The following year, ya she started laying eggs again! She only lays eggs when it's warm, not in the winter months though.


Feeding a high protein diet doesn't necessarily lead to egg laying and hormones. It can, but not in all hens. If it does, you can take steps to reverse the hormones and discourage egg laying. We aren't even talking about a high protein diet year round either, just until she gets her weight up - if a higher protein diet would help that.

 

[Chili]

Thanks Monica!
I would take her to another avian vet for a second opinion but this one is the only one
In my area for a few hours !
Yeah I might just feed her more protein and see how she go's .....
It's so difficult having an underweight hen that has to much seed in her diet that can't have to much protein!? It's abit ironic lol
I just went and brought her an organic natural mix of nuts it has brazil almond cashew macadamia and pecans, does anyone also know which nuts would be the best (highest in fat)

I'll get my Chili "plump" one way or anther !!

 

[Birdlover11]

Peanuts are very high in fat so you might want to try it