I am sorry I haven't read through all of the posts, but I am curious. We wrote together some time ago regarding beta-keratin flakes.
Have you seen any difference?
(recap)
Ha Sille,
Oh yes!!
:41:
She got everything changed almost at once of course: new adress, larger cage, more company (birds and me) and more challenges, different pellets, a more varied diet, got introduced to nuts
(she only ate peanuts as a treat), lots of pain-meds etc., probiotics and your special recommendation.
She gets her special oatmeal (as a porridge) mixed with al the meds, probiotices etc. in the morning and the composition of the feathers is shockingly different!
They used to be stiff (rigid almost) and brittle - so it was like she was wearing sticks instead of feathers- and the hulls of the pinfeathers were almost made out of concrete (very hard, thick and stiff -> very annoying to her and almost impossible to get rid of -> she had one tailfeather growing full lenght without it even flake a tiny bit, more porcupine than macaw).
She only stopped mutilating the tailfeathers when I took over peeling them for her.
She will not let me do the same for the wingfeathers atm so these are touch-and-go.
(But she can reach those far more easily, so less accidental biting the feathery part instead of the hull.)
The difference is really shocking: I never knew the large feathers were so very bendy and supple! :heart: them!! Thank you *so* much for that tip!!
(
being a macaw-newbie I never would have noticed this as a real problem- and would not be on the look-out for a solution!)
=
(news)
Recently she started sometimes try-flapping her wings a bit :40: (she wants to go exploring outside...of all places! So like a lot of birds will use her bodyweight to steer me in 'the right' direction and flap wings to convey the emergency.)
It is a pathetic sight: one wing will not unfold completely, but you can see it moving in an almost normal flap. The other one wil sort of make spastic little circles over her head with an almost folded wing. :31:
It breaks my heart everytime I see it, but also makes me even more determined to work with her to regain as much mobility as may be possible.
Today is was very sunny and no wind at all (for an hour or so) so I decided to finish deepcleaning her new cage-parts outside.
She really, really wanted to know what I was doing, so (since I was outside in my sweater and not really cold ) I invited her out...
(
It also gave her an opportunity to see the new cage-parts- so it will not be as shocking to her when they (finally) arrive and get assembled inside.)
There she was - on the railing (one floor above everyone else), like a queen vieuwing her subjects (and being terribly noisy) and having a blast! :40:
I moved her inside to Japies favorite look-out-spot for warmth after a bit, but not before she caught some rays and the attention of one of the smaller neighbour-kids, who told her off for making so much noise.
(
I still giggle when I think about it- the wee fellow was on one of those roller-board-things clipped behind the stroller where his smaller sibling was reclining. But he certainly knew 'it was not polite' and had no problems expressing it as well... )
She is really warming up to the birdbath- and the same problem I have with the greys: I just cannot find a bath that is macaw-beak-proof yet large enough for her to flap about in.
(She seems like a perfect candidate for hydrotherapie-sessions-- since the bath is the only place sofar she is willing to stretch and move the wings symmetrically and water is perfect for light resistance-training, a soaked wing is heavy!)
Suggestions are always welcome of course
)
she is looking for something nest-alike as well? (it is the season for it of course) or she is just more comfy with something solid there.
