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HEALTHY PET BOOK P R E M I U M F O O D F O R Y O U R VA L U A B L E P E T Introduction Roudybush, Inc. manufactures high quality, state of the art nutritional products for both healthy birds and birds with specific disease conditions. This booklet is designed to serve as a reference tool, reviewing various disease conditions, their causes, diagnoses, and treatments, as well as the use of Roudybush products for nutritional support. Table of Contents Companion client education handouts are also available through Roudybush to help owners understand the disease process their bird is experiencing and the role that proper supportive care plays in the maintenance and recovery of their pet. Recommendations and Uses ........................... 4 Roudybush began manufacturing handfeeding formulas and pelletized diets for pet birds in 1985. These products are widely available through retail establishments for consumers. Contact Roudybush’s customer service department to find a supplier in your area, or visit www.roudybush.com. The Care Line diets are available through veterinarians or to patients with prescriptions. Pellet Sizes and Amounts to Feed ............... 7 Orders may be placed by phone between 7:30 am and 4:30 pm PT Monday through Friday, or by FAX at any time. There is no minimum order. Orders that meet certain weight minimums will have freight paid by Roudybush, Inc. Every effort is made to ship orders within 3 business days of receipt. Roudybush History ........................................... 2 Nutrient Composition .................................... 3 Using Roudybush Products ......................... 6 Evaluating Droppings ................................... 7 Storage and Shelf Life .................................. 7 Converting Your Bird to Roudybush ................. 8 Handfeeding..................................................... 9 Handfeeding Macaws .................................... 10 Nutrition and Avian Kidney Disease ............... 11 Preservatives .................................................. 13 Nutrition and Feather Plucking ....................... 14 Avian Obesity ................................................. 15 Avian Kidney Disease .................................... 17 Avian Liver Disease ........................................ 19 The Critical Care Avian Patient ....................... 20 Contact Roudybush Customer Service for order information at: (800) 326-1726, (530) 668-6196, or by fax (888) 276-8222, or by internet www.roudybush.com. Proventricular Dilatation Disease ................... 21 Avian Enteritis ................................................. 22 Medicated Pellets ........................................... 23 © 2005: Roudybush, Inc. Revised: July 1, 2005 1 Healthy Pet Book • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 Roudybush History Tom Roudybush, owner and nutritionist of Roudybush, Inc., began manufacturing pellets, crumbles, and handfeeding formulas in 1985 after doing 16 years of nutritional research at the University of California, Davis. Mr. Roudybush studied various bird species, including 10 years of research on the nutritional requirements of pet birds. Mr. Roudybush has generated most of the published nutritional research in pet birds. He began manufacturing his diets in response to repeated requests from aviculturists hearing his talks at meetings throughout the United States. The research flocks of cockatiels and Orange-winged Amazons at the University of California, Davis have been maintained on nothing but Roudybush diets since 1981; no other population of psittacines has been maintained on any other commercially available, formulated diet for such a long period of time. Mr. Roudybush continues to be involved in nutritional research and is committed to learning more about the requirements of birds kept in captivity, applying that knowledge to his state-of-the-art diets for your birds, and contributing to avian nutritional research in general. Roudybush, Inc. manufactures pelletized diets for breeding birds, pet birds, and birds that have specialized nutritional needs due to certain disease processes such as liver disease, kidney disease, intestinal tract diseases, and obesity. Roudybush, Inc. also manufactures a medicated pellet for flock treatment of avian chlamydiosis. Dry powder formulas are available for lories, handfeeding pet birds and young squab. High quality ingredients and steam pelleting are used to ensure that potentially harmful organisms are not present in the finished products. Samples of every batch of feed are retained at the mill for qual- 2 ity assurance and random samples are tested quarterly for any evidence of contamination. When you buy Roudybush products you can be assured that your birds are eating a high quality diet based on solid, sound nutritional information. Benefits of Roudybush For decades the standard diet for most birds kept in captivity has been a mixture of seeds and nuts. This diet was based on the assumption that that is what these birds eat in their natural environments. Over the past several years more information has become available from better observations of natural feeding patterns and controlled research performed in captivity. Nutritional deficiencies seen in birds kept on seed diets have been better characterized and documented, making it clear that these diets are harmful; however, many people continue to feed seed and nut diets, with or without other nutritional supplementation. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of giving a bird mineral blocks, cuttlebone, seed mixes with vitamin fortification, or vitamins in the drinking water all relies on the bird’s willingness to choose the right things to eat in the proper amount. Most birds eat to obtain energy (calories) and will choose the highest fat, highest calorie foods available. They will often do their best to avoid your best efforts to improve their nutrition. Another problem with supplements is that you can overdo them and cause toxicities with some nutrients, which is just as harmful as a deficiency. Roudybush diets provide your birds with safe levels of nutrients that are needed for good health. Your birds do not need any other supplements, so they cannot make poor choices. Not only does this provide your bird with the best possible nutrition; it saves you the trouble and expense of supplements. Simply provide your bird with Roudybush pellets and fresh water. If you want to, you can still offer your birds healthy treats, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, for your own and your birds’ enjoyment. Birds fed Roudybush will molt into brightly colored, lustrous feathers. If your bird was on a marginal diet, you will notice your bird becoming more active and more resistant to infections. Over the years your birds will be much less likely to become obese, develop metabolic diseases like fatty liver syndrome, develop kidney disease, or suffer from chronic respiratory diseases. There are other advantages of feeding Roudybush diets. The entire pellet is edible, as opposed to seed mixes where an inedible hull makes up 20–70% of the mix. Roudybush diets have consistent high quality and cleanliness. Seed mixes can become contaminated in the field before harvest or become contaminated in storage. Seed crops are harvested at one time of year and the seeds are stored until the next harvest. Seed quality and cleanliness are therefore variable. Once a bird is eating pellets it can be easily switched from one formulation to another. So if your birds start to raise chicks, need to be treated for chlamydiosis, or need to be put on a specialized diet, you can easily provide them with the diet they need. Roudybush diets offer several advantages over other commercially available formulated diets. Pelletizing preserves more of the fiber in the diet than extrusion does, providing a diet that is healthier for your birds’ intestinal tract. Some diets include molasses or sugar to improve the taste of the food. These ingredients are unnecessary and can promote infections; Nutrient Composition of Roudybush Products Product Protein Fat Fiber Calcium Vitamin D3 Vitamin A Low-Fat Maintenance 12.0% 3.0% 3.5% 0.4% 800 ICU/kg 8,250 IU/kg Maintenance 11.0% 7.0% 3.5% 0.4% 800 ICU/kg 7,875 IU/kg Breeder 20.0% 3.0% 2.0% 0.9% 1,400 ICU/kg 10,125 IU/kg High-Energy Breeder 19.0% 7.0% 2.0% 0.9% 1,400 ICU/kg 9,600 IU/kg Lory Nectar 15.0% 3.5% 0.5% 1.0% 800 ICU/kg 19,000 IU/kg Formula 3 Handfeeding Diet 21.0% 7.0% 5.5% 0.9% 1,400 ICU/kg 10,000 IU/kg Squab Formula 50.0% 9.5% 1.0% 1.45% 1,400 ICU/kg 10,000 IU/kg Rice Diet 11.0% 3.5% 1.5% 0.4% 300 ICU/kg 1500 IU/kg Medicated 1% chlortetracycline 14.0% 2.8% 2.4% 0.2% 800 ICU/kg 9,968 IU/kg especially yeast infections, in birds. Roudybush products, other than the Lory Nectar, Hummingbird Nectars, and Squab Formula, do not contain these potentially harmful sugars. Naturally colored Roudybush diets reduce waste as many birds will selectively eat only one color of a multi-colored product, nor will they stain white feathers, and they allow you and your veterinarian to better evaluate your birds’ droppings (urine, urates, and feces become abnormally colored by colored diets). Roudybush products contain preservatives, which have been determined to be safe for birds to maintain proper vitamin activity and wholesomeness. Most importantly, a nutritionist has formulated Roudybush diets with some of the most extensive experience and expertise in pet bird nutrition. 3 Healthy Pet Book • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 R e c o m m e n d at i o n s a n d U s e s of Roudybush Products Low-Fat Maintenance High-Energy Breeder Feed to adult birds that are not laying eggs or feeding chicks and that have a tendency to be overweight. Mix 1/3 Breeder with 2/3 Low-Fat Maintenance for chronic egg-layers and birds with a tendency to develop hypocalcemia (such as African Greys). Do not give other vitamin or mineral supplements, but fresh fruit and vegetable treats may be given as a minor part of the diet. Feed to breeding birds that are feeding chicks. Wean chicks onto this diet for the first 1–3 months post-weaning (3 months for the larger species, 1 month for the smaller species). High-Energy Breeder will provide these young birds with extra protein, calcium, and Vitamin D3 needed for the continued growth that occurs during that time. The higher energy will help put back the body weight lost in the weaning process. Mix 1/3 High-Energy Breeder to 2/3 Maintenance mixture for use in birds with a higher calcium need or that are being introduced to Roudybush. Do not give additional vitamin or mineral supplements, such as cuttlebone, mineral blocks, or multivitamins. Fresh fruits and vegetables may be given as a minor part of the diet. Maintenance Use this diet when switching your bird from its old diet to Roudybush. Continue to feed to adult birds that are not laying eggs or feeding chicks. Lories and lorikeets, which will accept this diet, will have drier droppings than they have on nectar. If you have a bird that is a chronic egg-layer or a bird with a tendency to develop hypocalcemia, mix 2/3 Maintenance with 1/3 High-Energy Breeder to supply more calcium and vitamin D3. Do not give additional vitamin or mineral supplements. Fresh fruits and vegetables may be given as a minor part of the diet. Breeder This diet meets the nutritional needs of the growing chick. Feed it to species that tend to get too fat, either as chicks or adults. Mix 1/3 Breeder with 2/3 Low-Fat Maintenance for overweight birds that are chronic egg layers or overweight birds with a tendency to develop hypocalcemia (such as African Greys). The mixture provides the extra calcium and vitamin D3 to support egg production or to meet the needs of birds that seem to need more calcium than other birds. Do not give additional vitamin or mineral supplements, such as cuttlebone, mineral block, or multivitamins. Fresh fruits and vegetables may be given as a minor part of the diet. 4 Roudybush Nectars Roudybush produces three nectar diets, Nectar 15, Nectar 9, and Nectar 3. The diets were tested and developed through research using Anna’s and Blue Throated Hummingbirds, and they meet all the known nutrient requirements of these birds, as we understand them to date. Wildlife rehabilitation groups that raise orphaned hummingbirds or maintain non-releasable or overwintering adult hummingbirds have often used Roudybush Nectar diets. However, zoos have used the diets for fruit-eating bats, lories, lorikeets, and sunbirds. None of the nectars should be used in outdoor hummingbird feeders. The diets are easily prepared by mixing them with warm water in a blender. Because only small amounts of diet might be used at one time, many people make a month’s supply and freeze what they do not need immediately in ice cube trays. A single cube can then be removed, thawed, warmed and fed as needed. Diluted diet can be stored frozen for one month. Nectar 3 Formulated for adult hummingbirds at maintenance; it contains 3% protein. Nectar 9 Formulated for fledgling hummingbirds from 3–6 weeks of age; it contains 9% protein. Lory Nectar/Nectar 15 Nectar 15 is used in hummingbirds from 0–3 weeks of age; it contains 15% protein. In 1994, Roudybush also began marketing Nectar 15 under the name of Lory Nectar, for use in lories and lorikeets. Roudybush Lory Nectar is lower in sugar than other brands of nectars, so switching a bird from another brand of nectar sometimes requires adding a small amount of powdered sugar to the diet and slowly eliminating it to convert the birds. Less sugar is helpful to reduce incidence of yeast infections that lories are prone to due to the high sugar diets they are commonly fed. Some people grind up the maintenance pellets into a powder or convert their birds to a maintenance crumbles. Lories do very well on the maintenance diet. Feeding powdered pellets, crumbles or dry Lory Nectar will result in drier, easier to clean up droppings, making lories that much more pleasant to live with. Although some people use the Lory Nectar to handfeed lory chicks, we recommend using Formula 3. It provides a little higher protein needed for growth in the chicks and eliminates the sugar that could lead to yeast infections. Feed Lory Nectar dry or mixed with water to breeding or maintenance nectivores, such as lories and lorikeets. Do not give additional vitamin or mineral supplements. Fresh fruit treats may be given as a minor part of the diet. Breeder crumbles may be fed to lories and lorikeets feeding chicks, if they will accept them. The crumbles can be ground into a powder for better acceptability. Formula 3 Handfeeding Diet and Optimum Preflight Use as a handfeeding formula for all species of psittacines from day one to weaning. Also used for handfeeding Squabs older than 7–14 days (7 days for smaller species, up to 14 days in larger species). Do not give additional vitamin or mineral supplements. Squab Formula Columbiformes (doves and pigeons) are remarkable among the bird world in that the parents produce a substance called “crop milk”. The crop wall undergoes changes while the parents are incubating their eggs so that upon hatching, the squabs can be fed a high protein, high fat material composed mainly of material shed from the parents’ crop walls. As the squab mature, their need for this material decreases and eventually disappears, leaving the squab with nutritional needs like those of parrots. During this time the parents’ crop walls return to normal. To obtain optimal health and growth in handfed squab, it is important to supply a formula that closely mimics the nutrition found in crop milk. Roudybush Squab Formula was specially formulated to do just that. The formula has 50% protein, 8.5% fat and 1.45% calcium. Feeding trials with commercial meat-type squab (Rock Doves) started from hatching eventually led to the development of this “crop milk replacer”. Squab started on this formula at hatch are as healthy and robust as squab reared by their parents. Use this formula from day one to 7–14 days, as a crop-milk replacer. After 7–14 days (7 days for the smaller species, up to 14 days for the larger species), gradually switch from Squab Formula to Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight over a 1–2 day period, increasing the proportion of Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight a small amount at each meal. Do not give additional vitamin or mineral supplements. Squab Formula may also be used as a handfeeding formula or tube feeding formula in insectivores being rehabilitated. Recommendations for Use Water requirements of baby birds are very important and change as the bird grows. Younger squab require more water, or lower percent solids. Table 1 shows the proper dilutions of formula for different ages of squab. Because the water requirement is so critical, it is important that the solids be measured on a weight basis. Volume measurements are less accurate and can lead to uneven or stunted growth in the birds. If you do not have a gram scale and must rely on volume measurements you can use Table 2. Please remember that this is less accurate and may result in poor growth. When measuring the teaspoons of formula use lightly packed, level teaspoonfuls. The meals should be spread out over a 16hour period, filling the crop at each meal. The food should be seen to fill the crop and just start to fill out the base of the esophagus where it enters the crop. Feed again when the crop is almost, but not completely, empty. Allowing the crop to empty completely (except between the last evening feeding and the first morning feeding) will result in slow or uneven growth. Discard leftovers; never reheat old formula from a previous meal. Table 1. Proper dilutions of formula for different ages of squab Age (days) Formula Grams Water Grams Formula 0–4 Squab 43 7 5–7 Squab 40 10 8–14 Squab 38 12 14–weaning Formula 3 38 12 Table 2. Volume measurements of formula for different ages of squab. When possible use Table 1. This Table is less accurate than Table 1 and may result in poor growth. Age (days) Formula Water (cc) Formula (tsp) 0–4 Squab 21 1.5 5–7 Squab 40 3.75 8–14 Squab 38 4.75 14–weaning Formula 3 30 4.0 5 Healthy Pet Book • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 Careline Diets The following diets are available to order with a prescription from your veterinarian. These diets are used to decrease the stress of specific organs affected by disease conditions. Medicated This diet is medicated with 1% chlortetracycline for use in flock treatment and prevention of avian chlamydiosis. Formula AR Formulated to provide nutritional support during a weight reduction period. This is a healthy alternative to feed restriction. This diet is a low energy, low fat, high fiber formulation to safely decrease caloric consumption. Formula AA This diet is formulated to provide nutritional support to the critically ill avian patient. This diet is a high calorie, nutrient dense formulation to replenish depleted stores. Formula AK Formulated to provide nutritional support for birds that may benefit from a low protein, low ash diet. This diet is aimed to reduce stress and the workload of the kidneys. Formula AL Created to provide nutritional support for birds that may benefit from a low protein, high vitamin and mineral diet. This diet is aimed to support the avian patient that has liver disease/damage. Formula AI This diet is used to provide nutritional support for the avian patient with digestive disorders. It is formulated to promote a longer transit time through the digestive tract to enhance digestion and absorption, and to decrease diarrhea. 6 Formula APD Formulated to provide nutritional support for the avian patient with malabsorption/ maldigestion. This diet is relatively high in vitamins, minerals, and protein. It provides support for birds with diseases such as Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD). Rice Diet This is the only Careline product that does not require a prescription from a veterinarian, although we do recommend you seek a veterinarian’s advice to make sure your bird is not feather picking for more serious reasons/ causes. This diet is formulated exclusively from rice products, vitamins and minerals. It may provide relief for birds that are feather picking/ self-mutilating from allergies to food items other than rice. Using Roudybush Products Throughout Your Birds’ Lives When you obtain a new bird, just weaned, feed it High-Energy Breeder Formula until it has fully developed: 1 month for small species of psittacines, up to 3 months for the larger species, then put your bird on Maintenance. Some birds may become overweight on this diet, and can be switched to the Low-Fat Maintenance. Some species of birds, such as African Greys, and some individuals of other species, have a tendency to develop hypocalcemia on diets that are completely adequate for other birds. These birds should be maintained on a mixture of 1/3 High-Energy Breeder Formula and 2/3 Maintenance. Some birds, with or without a mate, become chronic egg-layers, laying several clutches of eggs in the course of a year. As long as your bird is laying 15 or more eggs in a year she needs more calcium and should be fed a mixture of 1/3 High-Energy Breeder Formula and 2/3 Maintenance. You may give your birds healthy treats, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, as a minor part of their total intake. Do not give too much or you will dilute the nutritional content of the rest of the diet. Do not give vitamin or mineral supplements, however, because all the vitamins and minerals your bird needs are in the Roudybush. Supplementation beyond that could result in overdosing your bird. If you set your birds up to breed you may feed them the appropriate maintenance diet until they start to lay eggs. If you are going to let them feed their own chicks, switch them to High-Energy Breeder Formula as soon as they start feeding chicks. If your birds cannot be disturbed to determine if they have hatched eggs, start feeding them High-Energy Breeder Formula when they start to lay eggs or when you set them up to breed. If you are going to pull eggs to artificially incubate them, feed your breeder birds Maintenance. This will provide enough calcium for several eggs. The Breeder and High-Energy Breeder Formulas are formulated to meet the nutritional needs of a growing chick, not the parent birds. The parents do not require as high a level of nutrients as their chicks, so unless they are feeding chicks they do not need one of the breeder formulas. Do not give additional vitamin and mineral supplements. Chicks of any psittacine species can be handfed with Formula 3 Handfeeding Diet or Optimum Preflight. When the bird is approaching weaning stage, make fresh water and the appropriate size of High-Energy Breeder pellets available. This brings us back to weaning the handfed or parent-fed chick onto High-Energy Breeder Formula for the first 1 to 3 months post-weaning. If you have a bird that suffers from liver disease, kidney disease, intestinal disease, Proventricular Dilatation Disease or other proventricular diseases, or obesity, ask your veterinarian about Roudybush Care Line products. Pellet Sizes For Your Birds How Much Should Your Birds Eat? Proper Storage and Shelf Life Roudybush diets come in several sizes of pellets and two sizes of crumbles. Individual birds may have their own preference for pellet size. Use the guidelines below to determine the most likely pellet size to feed your bird. In general, give your bird the smallest size it will readily accept to minimize waste. With a larger pellet your bird may bite off one or two bites and then drop the rest. If you do not see your bird’s species listed, choose a diet for a comparably sized bird. How much food your birds will go through in a day varies with their personal eating habits—how much they spill or waste, their activity levels, energy needs due to the temperature they’re kept at, and other variables. Your birds will spill more Roudybush while they are being converted to it, looking for their familiar foods. Once they have successfully been converted, most birds will waste very little. There are those individuals, however, that like to pick through their food or play in their food. As mentioned above, foot feeders will often pick up a pellet, eat a bite or two, and then drop it. A ballpark figure for the amount of food your birds will eat in a day, however, is 1/2 ounce per 100 grams of body weight or about 1 tablespoon of small pellets or 1-1/2 tablespoons of crumbles for each 100 grams of body weight. Good food quality can be maintained and shelf life can be extended by keeping foods cool and dry. Keeping food cool reduces the oxidation reactions that lead to rancidity of lipids (fats and oils) and destruction of vitamins, and feeds must be kept dry to avoid the growth of mold. To avoid mold growth, keep food in small plastic bags or large paper bags that can “breathe”. Do not put bags directly on floors, especially concrete floors. In regions with high humidity, de-humidify your food storage area. Large Pellets Medium Pellets Small Pellets Mini Pellets Crumbles Nibles Cockatoos Macaws African Greys Eclectus Amazons Caiques Senegals Quakers Conures Love Birds Neophemas Cockatiels Doves Parrotlets Canaries Finches Budgerigars Evaluating Droppings Observing and evaluating your birds’ droppings is an excellent way to tell if your birds are eating well and whether they are suffering from various types of illnesses. Changes in the consistency or color of droppings are often the first sign of trouble, before your bird starts acting ill. Make a habit of glancing at your birds’ droppings every day. Roudybush products are dated with a “use by” date for unopened packages stored at normal room temperatures. This is not an expiration date, but the date through which food should remain wholesome if stored at room temperature. This is one year from the date of manufacture. The following shelf life guidelines should be followed: Storage Times for Roudybush Feeds at Various Temperatures 16˚ F 34˚ F 52˚ F 70˚ F 88˚ F 8 years 4 years 2 years 1 year 6 months Normal droppings have a fecal portion and are usually medium green to brownish. It should be mounded, not flat. The urates come from the urinary tract and are normally chalky white. A normal dropping can have a urine portion that is clear liquid that forms a water stain around the dropping up to 1/2 inch out from the dropping. When your birds eat Roudybush their droppings will be a little moister, larger, and have a little more urine than when they eat seed and nut diets. Because Roudybush is not colored, any color changes in your birds’ droppings would be an indication to contact your avian veterinarian; it cannot be confused with normal droppings on a colored diet. 7 Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Co n v e rt i n g Yo u r B i r d s To Roudybush Most birds are creatures of habit and will choose foods that look familiar to them. Converting your bird to Roudybush is mainly a matter of convincing your bird that it is food. There are several methods that can be used; choose the one that is most appropriate for your bird. The most important factor in determining if your bird will convert to Roudybush is your determination that it will eat a nutritious, balanced diet. Your bird may initially act as if it does not like Roudybush, but imagine a child that you are trying to convert from a diet of snack foods, candy and ice cream to a lower fat, healthy diet; it is a similar situation. Once your bird makes the transition you will find that it enthusiastically eats Roudybush. 1. Instinctual. The instinctual method can be used with a healthy bird that you can only monitor irregularly. It takes advantage of your parrot’s instinct to eat at the highest location possible. It allows your bird access to its normal food while providing you with the opportunity to know exactly what food it is eating. Place the bird’s familiar dish in a low part of its cage. Put your bird’s old food in this dish. Fill a similar dish with Roudybush pellets and place it in a higher part of the cage, and be sure to place all water sources near this dish. Since the bird prefers eating form the higher dish, it will try the new food and start eating it. Eventually, Roudybush pellets will be the main food eaten by your bird. When the amount of food disappearing from the bottom dish is reduced to less than 10% of the food disappearing from the higher dish, try removing the lower dish from the cage. After removal of the lower dish, monitor your bird to be sure it is eating as described in 2 below. 8 P H O T OCOPY AS NEEDED 2. Controlled. 3. Gradual Introduction. This method should be used with very finicky, difficult to switch, birds that are starting out at a good weight. It is generally the quickest, easiest method for switching most birds. Do not use this method with thin birds, sick birds, or birds you cannot monitor. Remove the old food and replace it with Roudybush. Clean the cage at the time of the switch and line it with paper. Do not use corncob or other litter because you won’t be able to monitor droppings well. Watch your birds’ droppings or weigh your birds daily. When a bird isn’t eating, the droppings will be very small and the green part will be very dark green, almost black. Or you may see a lot of urine (liquid and white material) but almost no green part, which means your bird is filling up on water and not eating much. If you see these types of droppings for two full days for small species or three days for larger species, put your bird back on its old diet for 7 days, and then repeat the switching process. Most birds will convert the first time, and those that won’t switch the first time will switch the second time. This method is best for birds that are likely to try new foods or birds that cannot be monitored carefully. Mix the Roudybush into your bird’s normal diet, 1/4 Roudybush mixed with 3/4 old diet. Gradually increase the proportion of Roudybush over a 3–4 week period. When you have reached the point where more than 3/4 of the diet is Roudybush, clean your bird’s cage and line it with paper. Watch the droppings to make sure your bird is eating. Small, very dark droppings indicate that your bird is not eating. If that is the case, add back more of your bird’s old diet until the droppings return to normal. Continue increasing the proportion of Roudybush more slowly, watching the droppings. If you can weigh your bird, keep your bird on Roudybush unless it loses more than 3% of its starting body weight. At that point, put your bird back on the old diet for one week then repeat the switch process, weighing your bird at the start of the switch. Disappearance of food from the food dish is not a reliable way of determining if your bird is eating. Most birds will spill the new food out of the dish, looking for familiar foods. 4. Handfeed as a treat. Some birds will eat almost anything they think you are eating. Act like you are eating the Roudybush then offer some to your bird. This can be sufficient to teach your bird that Roudybush is food. Then the old food can be replaced with Roudybush. Again, watch the droppings when you make the complete switch. 5. Soak the Roudybush in juice. Some birds like moist foods and like certain fruits or fruit juices. Putting a bowl of pellets soaked in orange juice, apple juice, or fruit nectars may entice such a bird to eat the pellets. If this method is used make sure you leave the soaked pellets in the cage for only an hour or so to prevent spoilage. Once the bird is eating the soaked pellets, gradually decrease the amount of juice. Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Handfeeding The following handfeeding guidelines are fairly consistent across species. The amount of food a chick will need at any age or stage of growth is so variable that feeding charts are not useful and may result in underfeeding or overfeeding individuals. Underfeeding can result in reduced growth and overfeeding can result in crop damage or fatty liver syndrome. Follow these guidelines to ensure that each individual chick receives what it needs. Measuring by weight Measuring by volume 10% solids: Mix 1 part Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight to 9 parts water, by weight. For example, put your mixing container on the gram scale, zero it and weigh out 5 grams of Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight. Add 45 cc (5 x 9 = 45) of hot water. Water weighs 1 gram per cc, so you can use grams of water or cc’s of water. 10% solids: Mix 1 part lightly packed Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight with 4 parts water. Best results are obtained when measuring amounts by weight with a gram scale. You should invest in a gram scale to weigh the babies you handfeed anyway. Monitoring daily weight gains is the best indicator of how your chicks are doing and the earliest indicator of a problem. 25% solids: Mix 1 part Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight to 3 parts water, by weight. For example, put your mixing container on the gram scale, zero it and weigh out 10 grams of Formula 3. Add 30 cc (10 x 3 = 30) of hot water. Generally, chicks from hatch to 3 days of age should be fed 10% solids. Chicks from 3 days to about 2-feedings/day stage should be fed 25% solids. Chicks from 2-feedings/day stage to weaning should be fed about 30% solids. These ages and percent solids may vary somewhat among species and individuals, but it is a good starting point to use and see how your chicks do. 30% solids: Mix 1 part Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight to 2.4 parts water, by weight. For example, put your mixing container on the gram scale, zero it and weigh out 10 grams of Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight. Add 24 cc (10 x 2.4 = 24) of hot water. When adding hot water to Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight, heat the water to 120–130° F and add to Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight from the refrigerator or freezer. This will make mixing easier. Feed the formula at 102–104° F. 25% solids: Mix 2 parts lightly packed Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight with 3 parts water. 30% solids: Mix 1 part lightly packed Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight with 1 part water. If the formula is too dry and thick, the chicks will show wrinkled, reddened skin due to dehydration; if this happens, return to a more dilute formula. If you have the formula too dilute you will see poor weight gains and thin, gangly looking chicks; if this happens go to a thicker, higher percent solids mixture. The diet should be fed at about 102–104° F. If several birds are to be fed, put the syringes of food or cup of food in a warm water bath to keep the formula at the right temperature. Feed promptly once the formula is mixed and do not feed leftovers. Chicks grow best if they have food in their crops most of the time. Keep some food in the crop for at least 16 hours each day. Fill the crop at each meal until the food is just starting up the base of the esophagus. Give the next meal when 80–90% of the previous meal has passed out of the crop. As chicks get close to weaning they may not give you a feeding response or they may refuse to eat at certain times. Do not force-feed them. Wait until they will accept the food and give them as much as they will take at that meal. Make High-Energy Breeder crumbles or pellets and fresh water available when the chicks start refusing meals. PHOTOCOPY AS NEEDED 9 Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Handfeeding M acaws There is a commonly held belief among aviculturists that macaws need a higher percent fat diet, especially during the handfeeding period. This is based on some handfeeders having a difficult time maintaining good growth rates and based on observations of what some species of macaws eat in the wild. No research has been done to determine what the fat or fatty acid requirements for growth are in macaws. Some handfeeders get good growth in macaws using Roudybush formulas and some handfeeders feel that they need to add fat to the formulas. In general, the handfeeders that get good results with Roudybush handfeeding formulas are those that feed a little higher percent solids than are used in other species of birds. For example, instead of feeding 25% solids, they are feeding 30%. Instead of feeding 30% solids to older chicks, they are feeding 35% solids. We recommend feeding the higher percent solids to macaws, especially the larger species of macaws. We are concerned about people adding fat to the diet to achieve 15% fat or more. The increased weight gains may not be healthy, lean tissue gains, but excess body fat. 10 P H O TOCOPY AS NEEDED Research needs to be done to determine the optimum dietary fat level for lean muscle mass gain in these chicks. There does seem to be some sort of specialized nutritional need in hyacinth macaw chicks. Again, research is needed to determine what that need is. Handfeeders who include ground macadamia nuts, ground palm nuts, or coconut milk have much better success raising hyacinth chicks. These ingredients are not just high in fat, they all have saturated fat in common. Most vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds have unsaturated fat only. We suspect that when research is done, it will show that hyacinths have a requirement for certain saturated fatty acids. Hyacinths raised on formulas without saturated fats tend to develop crop stasis and “failure to thrive” syndromes. Therefore we recommend that handfeeders add about 10% ground macadamia nuts, palm nuts, or coconut milk to Roudybush formulas when feeding hyacinth macaws. When interpreting observations of what birds eat in the wild it is important to remember that wild birds are searching for the most energy input for the least energy output. They are limited to what is most available and accessible. Of the available and accessible foods, they will choose high-energy (high fat) foods first because they are the highest input for the least amount of energy spent in foraging. It is quite possible, even probable, that we can greatly improve upon a wild bird’s diet and can get better productivity and longevity in our captive birds through these improvements. Also, once we know what a bird’s nutritional requirements are, we can meet these through a variety of feed ingredients that are not a part of the wild bird’s diet. The nutritional composition is what is important, not the ingredients used to arrive at that composition. Therefore, it is not necessary, nor even advisable, to only feed what a bird in the wild would be eating. Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com N u t r i t i o n a n d Av i a n K i d n e y D i s e a s e Recently aviculturists and some avian veterinarians have begun to express concern about processed (pelletted and extruded) bird diets causing kidney disease and gout in birds, especially cockatiels. Frequently fear and reaction has replaced common sense. Some people have actually returned to seed diets and cafeteria style feeding, risking widespread nutritional deficiencies and imbalances. There are many misconceptions circulating in bird circles over this issue. The first misconception is that processed diets are dangerously toxic to birds. The percentage of birds fed these diets that develop kidney disease is very low, probably less than half of one percent. Aviaries experiencing “outbreaks” of kidney disease mostly see this in families of related birds or in the color mutation cockatiels. Why is this problem more prevalent in birds fed processed diets than in birds fed seed diets? Kidney disease can go unrecognized, without clinical signs, when the diet is low in protein and minerals. Seed diets are generally low in protein and extremely low in minerals (to the point of deficiency). A bird with poorly functional kidneys due to diseases (past or present), toxins, hereditary and/or congenital defects, are more likely to show clinical signs of their kidney disease when fed a processed diet, especially a breeder diet. The low incidence of kidney disease being seen is likely to coincide with the incidence of underlying kidney disease in a flock. The diet isn’t causing the kidney disease, but the kidney disease can become obvious when a processed food is fed. Another misconception is that the protein level of breeder diets and handfeeding formulas is harmful to kidneys. In research studies in poultry, turkeys had to be fed diets with 40% protein to produce gout (one clinical sign of kidney disease) and they gradually recovered when put back on a diet with 20% protein (the amount of protein usually seen in breeder diets and handfeeding formulas). Chickens, genetically predisposed to gout, had to be fed diets with 70% protein to produce gout. Tom Roudybush participated in a study at UC Davis in 2000/2001 in which normal grey cockatiels were fed diets with up to 70% protein for one year. No clinical signs of kidney disease were seen. The kidneys were examined microscopically at the end of the experiment and no significant abnormalities were found. All information available for all species of animals, including man, studied so far suggest that there is a wide margin of safety for dietary protein in animals with normal kidney function. The fear over protein probably arises from the fact that a poorly functional kidney cannot process the nitrogenous waste from protein like a normal, healthy kidney can. People hear that too much protein causes gout. Well, it does, in a bird with a damaged kidney. Protein does not cause kidney disease at commonly fed levels, even up to 70% protein in normal cockatiels as demonstrated in research at UC Davis. The nutrients that have lower safety margins and must be fed more wisely are calcium and vitamin D3. Research in poultry shows that feeding too much calcium to birds that aren’t laying eggs, and therefore using up calcium, can cause kidney disease. Calcium levels over 1.2% will cause kidney disease in non-laying chickens. Calcium deficiencies can be demonstrated in psittacine chicks fed diets lower than 0.8% calcium. Therefore, processed diets for breeding and growing birds should have calcium levels between 0.9% and 1.1%, and cuttlebone, mineral blocks, mineral grit, or oystershell should not be offered in addition to the diet. Vitamin D3 has been shown to be toxic to turkeys, quail, and chickens at 4–10 times the recognized dietary requirement. No research has yet been published in psittacines to determine either the requirement or toxic level of vitamin D3. Processed diets generally use the chicken requirement. The recognized chicken requirement is 200 ICU/kg for growth and 500 ICU/kg for egg production. The safe upper limit for long term feeding in chickens is 2,800 ICU/kg. The recognized turkey requirement is 900 ICU/kg for growth and 500 ICU/kg for egg production. The upper safe limit for long term feeding in turkeys is 3,500 ICU/kg. Roudybush Breeder diets have 1,875 ICU/kg; maintenance diets have 1,125 ICU/kg, and Formula 3 or Optimum Preflight Handfeeding Formula has 1,500 ICU/kg. These levels are well within what is regarded as safe for any species studied so far. We plan to perform calcium and vitamin D3 toxicity studies in cockatiels within the next 2 years. The UC Davis cockatiel flock (all normal greys) have been fed nothing but Roudybush crumbles and water since 1981. From 1981 to 1986 they were fed nothing but breeder formula. From 1986 to present they are fed Roudybush Low-Fat Maintenance when they are not set up for breeding and fed Breeder when breeding. There has never been an increase in mortality or kidney disease since the flock was switched in 1981. Most birds that die are necropsied. The Orange-winged Amazons at UC Davis have also been on Roudybush pellets and water since 1981. All birds that die are necropsied. Again, there has been no mortality or increased incidence of kidney disease. Because most of the reports of kidney disease and gout from aviculturists are in color mutation cockatiels, it is possible that there are inherited defects of metabolism or kidney function being bred into some of these lines. PHOTOCOPY AS NEEDED 11 Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Until more information is available in psittacines, Roudybush, Inc. advises bird owners and breeders to exercise common sense and feed their birds diets that lie within safe ranges (safe from both deficiency and toxicity) based on research performed in any avian species studied so far, including poultry. Don’t feed your birds a deficient diet in order to protect the few birds that might have an underlying kidney malfunction. The following table shows just some of the nutritional hazards of feeding a seed diet: Roudybush Low-Fat Maintenance Seed Mix* Fat 3.2% 17.7% Calcium 0.4% 0.09% Phosphorus 0.2% 0.51% 2:1 0.18:1 1,125 ICU/kg 0.0 ICU/kg Vitamin A 8,250 IU/kg 0.0 IU/kg Riboflavin 22 mg/kg 2 mg/kg 250 mg/kg 33 mg/kg Nutrient Calcium: Phosphorus Ratio Vitamin D3 Niacin * Equal parts sunflower, safflower, millet, and oat groats. Remember, if a bird selectively eats more of the sunflower and safflower in a seed mix the percentage of fat could be extremely high, 30% or more. 12 P H O TOCOPY AS NEEDED Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com P r e s e r vat i v e S All Natural Preservatives Unless a food is kept frozen until it is consumed, it undergoes changes over time that decrease vitamin levels and oxidize fats. Excessive oxidation of fats leads to rancidity. To prevent rancidity and loss of necessary nutrients, preservatives are added to foods. These preservatives are primarily antioxidants. Until recently, the most safe and effective preservative available has been ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin became the target of a tremendous amount of adverse publicity due to a poorly designed study of its safety in rats performed many years ago. Since that study, many more tests were conducted in rats, mice, and dogs, showing the preservative was very safe. Unfortunately, these studies did nothing to stop the already building misinformation about ethoxyquin. Roudybush has included ethoxyquin in our formulations in the past. The quality of the food we produced was our utmost concern and until an equally safe and effective preservative was developed, we were unwilling to switch to one of the other inferior or less safe preservatives available just because people were afraid of ethoxyquin. Recently a new, all natural preservative with excellent safety and efficacy was introduced. We have replaced ethoxyquin with this new preservative in our Low-Fat Maintenance, Maintenance, Breeder and High-Energy Breeder pellets. The new preservative is a combination of dtocopherol (a close relative of vitamin E), a major source of vitamin E activity, rosemary, and citric acid. A-tocopherol has antioxidant properties, but it is also biologically active and larger concentrations needed as a preservative have not been tested for safety in birds. The advantage of d-tocopherol is that it has antioxidant properties but it has very little biological activity, so risk of toxicity is eliminated. Rosemary has natural antioxidant properties. Citric acid binds to certain minerals responsible for starting oxidation reactions, preventing those reactions from occuring. Roudybush is committed to providing your birds with the best possible food. Any changes we make to our formulations are thoroughly researched and only made when the data show us there is a clear advantage. Ethoxyquin Questions and concerns regarding the use of the antioxidant, ethoxyquin, in a few of our products as well as other manufacturer’s products have become so frequent and so misinformed, that we are compelled to respond in a public forum. We are concerned that unnecessary fear will cause bird owners to begin feeding inferior diets that are not properly stabilized with antioxidants, leading to vitamin deficiencies in their birds. After reviewing the misinformation being widely circulated on the Internet, we have seen a pattern of partial truths being twisted to create fear and irrational conclusions. We will individually address the common ones here. Ethoxyquin is an antioxidant. It prevents certain nutrients from being degraded with exposure to oxygen. This prolongs the life of the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K and prevents the rancidity of fat in feed, keeping the feed nutritious for your bird. Without an antioxidant feed can become rancid or deficient in about three months at room temperature. Ethoxyquin is the safest and most effective antioxidant available, which is why we use it. We include 125 parts per million (ppm); 150 ppm is the allowable level. Research has shown that this level is both safe and effective. Although no specific research has been published regarding safety on pet birds, the cockatiel and Orange-Winged Amazon flocks at UC Davis have been on Roudybush continuously since 1981. Birds that die are necropsied. There has been neither abnormal mortality nor abnormal incidence of tumors or liver disease in flocks. It has been proposed on the Internet that if ethoxyquin is toxic at 0.5% of the diet, which equals 5,000 ppm, that the allowable levels would also be damaging. Please keep in mind that too much of almost anything good can be toxic. Salt is required for life at about 0.25% of the diet but causes illness or mortality at 7.5%. Selenium is required at 0.28 ppm but causes illness and mortality at 10 ppm. If you remove these nutrients for the diet entirely, you would kill the bird. It has also been suggested on the Internet that ethoxyquin must be a deadly poison, because it must be handled with gloves while wearing a facemask. Vitamins and minerals and vitamin and mineral premixes are handled in exactly the same way in premix manufacturing to protect workers from toxic exposure to these nutrients that are required for life. Many supposed reports of birds and dogs dying of ethoxyquin toxicity can be found on the Internet. These reports consist of animals that died from liver disease, tumors, or unknown causes while they happened to be fed diets containing ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin happens to be in the diets of most dogs and birds (fed processed diets), so it seems likely that animals dying of any cause would have been exposed to ethoxyquin. It doesn’t indicate cause and effect. These reported toxicity cases are assumptions made by owners and veterinarians without substantiating test results. There are two grave problems associated with these assumptions. The first is that the suggested cause of death in these animals is never substantiated leaving ethoxyquin, an effective, useful and safe compound, suspect. The second is that blaming ethoxyquin allows us to stop looking for the actual cause if death. It is a lazy way to do medicine and allows the cause of death in many animals to remain unknown. At Roudybush we have reviewed what research data is available on ethoxyquin. Trials conducted with proper controls and testing are the only appropriate ways to assess ethoxyquin’s safety. You cannot assess its safety based on hearsay, conjecture, and assumptions. The research data indicate ethoxyquin is safe. We would not use it in our products if we had any doubts about this. PHOTOCOPY AS NEEDED 13 Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Av i a n F e at h e r P i c k i n g / M u t i l at i o n Feather picking or mutilation and skin mutilation are extremely common problems in pet birds. There are many different causes and a good workup by an avian veterinarian is necessary to rule out or rule in these causes. Some birds feather pick from behavioral or emotional causes, while others do it from a variety of physical conditions that make them feel itchy (pruritic). Indications For Use A pruritic bird will usually act agitated or irritated when preening or feather picking/ mutilating. It might suddenly stop what it’s doing to reach around and dig at itself. It may preen with rapid, rough manipulation of the feathers instead of the normal calm, methodical preening behavior. If you think your bird is pruritic, get it examined by a veterinarian for the many causes of this symptom. If your veterinarian determines that your bird does not have an infection you can feed your bird this maintenance diet as a further diagnostic test to see if your bird might be suffering from food allergies. Food allergies can occur when a bird is exposed to new food items or they can develop with time toward foods the bird has consumed for a while. If your bird has allergies, it might be allergic to several different things, but if food items are one of these things you can still see an improvement by eliminating exposure to that one allergen. How To Use If your bird is already eating a pelletized or extruded diet, switching to Roudybush Rice Diet should be simple. Just mix the Rice Diet in with the old diet and gradually decrease the old diet. When the diet is predominantly Rice Diet, watch your bird’s droppings or weigh your bird to make sure it is eating the Rice Diet well. If your bird is not eating well, the fecal portion of the dropping will turn very dark green or black and be smaller than normal. Feces of birds eating the Rice Diet are pale green. If your bird is not eating a pelletized or extruded diet the most efficient method for switching your bird is a controlled sudden introduction. This should only be done with otherwise healthy birds at normal body weights. Replace the food in the cage with the Rice Diet and change your bird’s cage papers (use paper, not corn cob, walnut shell, or other litters). Watch your bird’s droppings for two full days in small species (under 200 grams), and three full days in larger species (over 200 grams). If your bird’s fecal portion stays very dark green or black and small until the end of that time period, it means your bird is not eating. Give it its old food back and try the switch again in a week. If the fecal portion starts becoming larger and lighter green by the end of the time period, it means the bird has accepted the new diet. Most birds will make the switch the first time but some may take two or three attempts. Many birds will scoop unfamiliar food out of their feeder or pick it up and crush it in their beaks before dropping it, so do not try to determine if your bird is eating the diet by seeing the bird chewing it or by its disappearance from the feeder. Watch the droppings. Once your bird is eating only the Rice Diet, do not give it any other food items for up to 10 weeks. Do not give any treats unless it is unseasoned rice or a rice product with nothing 14 P H O TOCOPY AS NEEDED but rice on the ingredient list. Even one bite of a food your bird is allergic to can cause a reaction. Keep a diary of your bird’s preening and feather picking/mutilation behavior. If you see a decrease in itchy behavior or an improvement in feathering, continue feeding your bird the Rice Diet. This diet is formulated to be a normal maintenance diet for the life of any bird that is not feeding chicks or laying more than 8 eggs per year. Therefore, if you have an allergic bird housed with a normal bird, they can both eat the Rice Diet. Feed the Rice Diet free choice with fresh water. Do not give vitamin or mineral supplements. Once you have been able to fully evaluate the results of the diet, you can give your bird treats by adding them back to the diet one food item at a time. Wait two weeks before trying another food item, and watch your bird to see if the itchy behavior reoccurs. If it does not, then you know your bird tolerates that food item and can have it as a treat. If your bird reacts to the addition of the new food item, remove it, and wait for the itchiness to subside before trying another new food item. Special Homecare Instructions For Your Bird: Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Av i a n O b e s i t y Obesity is a common finding in pet birds. If your bird’s body weight exceeds the normal or expected body weight for that species by 15% or more, it is likely to be obese. This condition is hazardous to your bird’s health due to increased risks of heart disease (in longer lived parrots), fatty tumor formation, egg binding, and respiratory distress during excitement or exercise. If your bird needs to be anesthetized for any reason, it will have increased risks of complications. In addition to these health risks, breeding success can be decreased in obese birds due to infertility. Clinical Signs of Obesity Table A shows some normal weight ranges for some species of birds. Comparing the body weight of your bird to these reference ranges is one method of diagnosis. Some very large framed individuals may be 15% heavier than these figures and not be obese, but these would be the exception. Obesity may be seen as bald patches in certain areas where the feather tracts have separated due to large deposits of fat under the skin. Your bird may have a wide stance, with legs spread further apart than a normal bird. There may be a roll of fat, a “double chin” visible under the beak. When the bird is handled, yellow or white fat deposits are most likely found in the abdomen, seen as a distended, doughy abdomen, and under the skin along the flanks and inner thighs, and around the crop and upper breast area. Moistening the feathers and skin with alcohol in these areas will help you see the fat. Causes Obesity is caused by a larger calorie intake than calorie use over a period of time. This situation is most likely to occur in pet birds with limited exercise and high calorie and fat diets. Birds that are fed diets with large proportions of sunflower seeds, peanuts, and walnuts are often prone to obesity. If you feed your bird high fat or high calorie human foods such as cheeses, meat, whole milk, cookies, and cake you can create obesity. Boredom may also predispose a bird to obesity. The bird may just sit at the food dish all day, eating. Treatment The most effective way to treat obesity is to increase exercise and decrease calorie intake at the same time. Place the food and water dishes at opposite ends of the cage, especially with one high and one low, forcing the bird to move around the cage more. Make sure your bird finds the new locations of the food and water and is still eating and drinking. Cage or flight size can be increased, or time outside the cage to exercise may be increased. Table A. Approximate Normal Body Weights (grams) Species Average Weight Standard Deviation Scarlet Macaw 1001 151 Blue and Gold Macaw 1039 102 Green Winged Macaw 1194 91 925 57 1355 95 Umbrella Cockatoo 403 57 Moluccan Cockatoo 577 71 Greater Sulfer Crested 843 147 Citron Cockatoo 357 34 Grand Eclectus Parrot 432 40 African Grey Parrot 554 66 Blue-fronted Amazon 432 51 Mexican Red-headed 360 24 Yellow-naped Amazon 596 85 Double Yellow-headed 568 61 Military Macaw Hyacinth Macaw Budgerigar 30 Lovebird 45 Cockatiel 80 * Taken by permission from Clinical Avian Medicine and Surgery, Harrison & Harrison, 1986, Appendix 4,p. 662. PHOTOCOPY AS NEEDED 15 Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com If boredom is a problem, adding toys to the cage or increasing attention to the bird may be a solution. Calorie intake can be regulated by offering a measured amount of food, changing the diet to reduce calorie content, and decreasing the fat intake. Feed restriction will probably not be the most satisfactory method because it does not satisfy your bird’s hunger, and a vitamin or mineral deficiency could occur. Changing the diet to a temporary reducing diet followed by a permanent low fat diet is probably the most efficient and satisfactory way to treat obesity. Significant weight loss, such as occurs when treating obesity, should be done under the guidance from your veterinarian. Your bird must be closely monitored to assess the rate of weight loss and to assess whether any newly substituted diet is being eaten. Higher fat foods taste better than low fat foods, so a bird used to fatty foods may be quite reluctant to eat low fat substitutes. You should clean the bottom of your cage daily, using paper as the lining so that the size and color of the droppings can be checked daily. If your bird is not eating, the droppings will get darker green and will be larger and more fleshed out. Become familiar with what your bird’s normal droppings look like before the switch. Weight loss should not exceed three percent per week. If you are unable to weigh your bird weekly at home, weekly weigh-in appointments should be scheduled with your veterinarian. Birds should be housed individually when making diet changes. If more than one bird is being treated for obesity, they should still be housed separately during the transition to a new diet so that you can monitor the droppings of each bird. If you must house more than one bird together, you should weigh the birds more frequently, twice weekly, to keep track of what each individual is doing. In the case of one obese bird and a normal mate, it is best to separate them during the weight reduction period, so only the obese bird is feed restricted or given a reducing diet. If lipomas are present they may disappear with the weight reduction. If they are still present after a normal weight is achieved, medical management or surgical removal should be pursued by your veterinarian. Dietary Management To achieve weight reduction, a temporary reducing diet may be indicated. The best diet for weight reduction is a low energy, low fat, high fiber diet such as Roudybush Formula AR. Birds used to consuming a large quantity of high energy food will be unable to consume 16 P H O TOCOPY AS NEEDED Table B. Patient Record/Weight Reduction Patient: Species: Beginning Body Wt.: Target Body Wt.: Recommended Diet: Other Recommendations: Week Target Weight Actual Weight Target – Actual 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. the same number of calories with such a diet offered free choice. Formula AR has the same levels of protein, vitamins, and minerals as the maintenance diet, but the metabolizable energy is about 2650 kcal/kg compared to about 3250 kcal/kg in the maintenance diet. Formula AR is formulated to be the sole source of food for the bird, but small amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables can be given as treats. If your bird is already eating pellets as part of its diet, switching to Formula AR should be a simple process. Remove the old diet and replace it with Formula AR. Clean the cage at the time of the switch so you can observe the droppings to make sure your bird is eating. If the bird is on an all seed diet, it may not recognize pellets as food. There are two recommended methods of switching such a bird onto the diet. One method is to remove the old food and offer nothing but the pellets. This should only be done with a bird that can be closely monitored by weighing twice weekly and observing the droppings on a daily basis. If more than 5% body weight is lost in the first week, the bird should be put back on the old diet for a week before repeating the process. The second method is to gradually introduce the pellets mixed with the old diet. Start with 1/4 Formula AR mixed with 3/4 of the original diet. After one week, increase the proportion of Formula AR to 1/3. During the transition you should weigh your bird weekly. If your bird is losing more than 5% of its body weight go back to a proportion of Formula AR so that it will lose 3% or less for a week before continuing with the diet change. Make gradual increases in the proportion of Formula AR on a weekly basis until the diet is 100% Formula AR. At that time you should observe your bird’s droppings daily to make sure it is eating. This is a safer method, especially if you are unable to closely monitor your bird. Once the weight reduction has been achieved, switching your bird’s diet onto a Maintenance or Low-Fat diet can be accomplished by simply substituting the reducing diet with the new diet. Typical seed mixtures have about 17% fat as opposed to 3% fat in the Roudybush Low-Fat Maintenance Diet. Putting your bird back on seeds will increase its chance of becoming obese again. After the bird is put onto a Maintenance or Low-Fat diet it should be weighed every 2–3 weeks for 2–3 months to be sure it is not regaining excessive weight. If the body weight is staying relatively constant, yearly check ups and weigh-ins should be sufficient follow up. Roudybush Formula AR is sold only through veterinarians. Use this diet only as directed by your veterinarian. Feeding this diet to growing birds may result in nutritional disease or death. Obesity can be prevented, treated, and managed by proper feeding and exercise. Your birds have a much better chance to live longer, healthier lives when they are offered proper nutrition and are kept lean. Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Av i a n K i d n e y D i s e a s e Your bird has been diagnosed with kidney disease. this brochure is designed to help you understand your bird’s condition and help you provide it with appropriate care. Kidney disease is any destructive process within the kidney and may be caused by many things in birds. It is a relatively common finding in pet birds. The condition may start suddenly and only damage the kidney for a short period of time, called an acute condition; or it may develop slowly and progress, eventually leading to kidney failure. Kidney disease can be difficult to diagnose, requiring a good history, physical exam, laboratory tests, and quite possibly radiographs and biopsies. Signs of Kidney Disease Kidney disease is generally not detected until at least two thirds of the kidney is damaged. Early signs of kidney disease are drinking more water than normal and having watery droppings. These early signs may be seen by very observant owners. Often kidney disease is not diagnosed in birds until it is severe because the bird can no longer disguise its signs. It will sit fluffed and sleepy, refuse to eat or eat very little, and it will lose weight from the breast until the keel bone (breast bone) is prominent. Sometimes you may also see signs of articular gout. The bird will seem uncomfortable when perching, shifting weight from one leg to the other. The joints of the feet and legs may be swollen, lumpy, and look white. The white lumps are accumulations of urates which can be deposited because the bird’s kidneys aren’t eliminating them normally. In budgerigars (parakeets), especially males over 3 years of age, you may see one leg become weak or paralyzed. This is caused by a tumor growing in the kidney which pushes on the nerves to the leg as they pass through the kidney. Causes Diagnosis Kidney disease may be due to congenital or hereditary defects, toxic substances or toxic levels of certain nutrients, bacterial infections, fungal infections, vitamin A deficiency, or tumors. Parasites rarely affect the kidney. Often the cause of the kidney disease is never determined. If the history and clinical signs are suggestive of kidney disease the diagnostic workup your veterinarian will perform will include complete blood count and chemistry panel, urinalysis, and cloacal bacterial culture. Radiographs may also be needed to arrive at a diagnosis. The kidneys may be affected as part of a systemic disease, such as chlamydiosis, bacterial septicemia, and polyomavirus. Occasional cases of other systemic viruses have also been reported causing kidney disease. In handfed babies kidney damage may result from feeding excessive amounts of vitamin D3 or calcium. If you are feeding a commercial handfeeding formula you should not supplement the diet with vitamin mixes or vitamin D3. Calcium levels over 1.2% of the diet may lead to kidney damage and visceral gout. Visceral gout is an accumulation of urates coating the surfaces of internal organs and is usually diagnosed at necropsy, with biopsy, or with laparoscopy. There is a common misconception that high protein diets can cause kidney damage and the resulting visceral gout. Research has shown that this is not the case. Although a bird with underlying kidney disease will not be able to tolerate normal levels of protein and may develop visceral or articular gout. Articular gout has been caused experimentally in genetically susceptible turkeys by feeding very high levels of protein, up to 40%. In poultry, articular gout seems to be an inherited trait. We do not yet know if that is true for pet birds. Other toxic substances that can cause kidney disease are rhubarb leaves, lead, moldy feed, antifreeze, and plants of the Oxalis spp., such as wood sorrel, fire fern and shamrock. Treatment with certain antibiotics such as gentamicin or amikacin can cause kidney disease, especially if the bird was dehydrated when it was medicated. Diagnostic tests specific for certain systemic diseases may be indicated, such as Chlamydia ELISA or isolation, polyomavirus DNA probe, or virus isolation. Definite diagnosis of kidney disease and its cause may ultimately require a kidney biopsy. Once a diagnosis is obtained and treatment has been started, your veterinarian may need to repeat many of these tests to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment. Treatment Aside from treating any infectious causes with the appropriate antibiotic, treatment is limited to supportive care and dietary management. Dietary management is aimed at reducing stress or workload on the kidneys. Protein and mineral levels must be kept low, while certain vitamin levels are kept high. Roudybush Formula AK is a commercially available pellet or crumble, sold by veterinary prescription, which offers these dietary changes. If your bird is already accustomed to pellets or crumbles the transition to Formula AK should pose no problem. Replace the old diet with Formula AK and clean your bird’s cage, using paper to line the cage bottom. Observe the droppings daily to make sure your bird is eating the Formula AK. Small, dark green or blackish droppings indicate your bird is not eating. Larger, light green, fleshed-out droppings indicate your bird is eating. If your bird has not had pellets or crumbles, the switch should be done gradually and cautiously. Begin by putting your bird on a relatively low protein, low mineral diet that it will readily accept. Normal seed mixes have PHOTOCOPY AS NEEDED 17 Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com an average of 12.9% protein. Choose food items with protein levels of 8% or less. Some acceptable food choices would be: cracked corn, dried fruit (apples, apricots, bananas), pearl or proso millet, potato, rice, white wheat grain, cracked wheat bread, macademia nuts, cooked or dry macaroni, immature peas, sweet potato, tapioca, yams, and zwieback. Such a low protein, low mineral diet should only be used as a transition diet. It would not be adequate for long-term support due to other nutritional considerations. Mix in the Formula AK gradually, starting with 1/4 Formula AK to 3/4 low protein diet. After 3–4 days, mix 1/3 Formula AK to 2/3 low protein diet. Make small increases in the proportion of Formula AK every 3–4 days until the diet is 100% Formula AK. During this transition period observe the droppings daily and weigh your bird twice weekly. Your veterinarian may suggest you bring your bird in for rechecks and weigh-ins weekly. In a bird with kidney disease which is probably starting out in an underweight condition, weight loss should be kept to a minimum during the transition, less than 1% between weighings. If your bird loses more weight than this, return it to a diet which it will maintain, or gain, weight on for one to two weeks before proceeding with the diet change. If your bird is very ill or if you are unable to monitor it and weigh it, your bird should probably be hospitalized during the transition process. 18 P H O TOCOPY AS NEEDED Once the bird is maintaining or gaining weight on Formula AK, you may offer occasional fresh fruit and vegetable treats, but you should avoid major changes from the diet. Remember that the length and quality of your bird’s life may depend on how strictly you follow the treatment plan. Formula AK is sold only through veterinarians. Improper use of the diet in normal or growing birds may cause nutritional disease or even death. Use the diet only as directed by your veterinarian. If your bird has articular gout, your veterinarian may also prescribe allopurinol and or aspirin to put in its drinking water. With proper supportive care and dietary management, your bird’s life may be extended and the quality of that life may be improved. The kidney damage that has occurred will not heal, however, so you must try to prevent further damage and keep the remaining kidney tissue from having to work too hard. Special Homecare Instructions For Your Bird: Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Av i a n L i v e r D i s e a s e Your bird has been diagnosed with liver disease. Liver disease is caused by many things and is found quite often in pet birds. It may be part of a systemic disease process or the liver itself may be specifically affected. Whatever the cause, supportive care is needed to help the bird recover while its liver is not functioning properly. The bird’s liver provides the same functions as our own livers: to store fat and sugar, to produce bile, to process and make certain proteins, to cleanse blood of bacteria, and to get rid of waste products. So a bird with liver disease has less ability to do these things. Causes Primary liver disease may be caused by bacterial, fungal, viral, or parasitic infections. Liver disease may also be seen as part of a systemic infection caused by chlamydia, Pacheco’s disease, pox, polyomavirus, Psittacine Beak and Feather disease. Cirrhosis of the liver is found as part of chronic congestive heart failure. Tumors may also affect the liver. There is a condition called fatty liver syndrome which is being found more and more frequently. The liver stores too much fat and cannot function normally. This condition may be due to certain nutritional deficiencies, stress, or metabolic problems. Hemochromatosis, or Iron Storage Disease, mainly affects toucans and birds of paradise, but has been found in other species of pet birds. A commonly held belief is that this syndrome is caused by too much iron in the diet. This theory does not appear to be true because out of the total number of birds fed diets in excess of 250 to 300 ppm iron, a very small percentage develop iron storage disease, If the diet were the cause, this percentage should be quite high. Other factors need to be investigated. Research in birds and mammals so far indicates that stress, genetics, and lead poisoning may all be factors that can lead to iron storage disease. Clinical Signs Clinical signs of liver disease may include loss of appetite and weight loss, depression, increased thirst and urination, regurgitation, yellow urine or urates, and/or feather, beak, nail and skin abnormalities. Nervous signs, such as incoordination or seizures, may be seen. Diagnosis Because the clinical signs of liver disease are mostly nonspecific, a diagnostic workup may need to include many tests. A more definite diagnosis of liver disease and its cause may require a liver biopsy or surgery to allow your veterianian to see the liver. Treatment If possible, specific treatment of the underlying cause of the liver disease must be started. In addition, supportive care measures should be used during the recovery process. Your veterinarian may recommend lactulose syrup to help reduce blood ammonia levels which rise due to your bird’s inability to process nitrogen properly. A specialized diet which addresses the special needs of the bird with liver disease is also important. Roudybush Formula AL is formulated to compensate for some of the problems your bird faces with an improperly functioning liver. Formula AL helps your bird function as normally as possible. If your bird is already accustomed to a pelletted diet, switching to Formula AL should be a simple process. Clean your bird’s cage at the time of the switch, using paper to line the cage bottom so you can observe the size and color of the droppings to determine if your bird is accepting the new diet. If your bird is eating, the droppings will be light green and fleshed-out. If your bird is not eating, the droppings will be very small and dark green or blackish. If your bird is on a seed diet and is very ill, it would be advisable to hospitalize it during the transition process so your veterinarian can closely monitor its well being and body weight. If you are able to observe your bird closely and weigh it twice weekly, you may try to make the transition at home. It will be safer to switch your bird to Formula AL gradually, starting with 1/4 Formula AL and 3/4 low protein diet. The low protein diet should be composed of food items with 8% or less protein that your bird will readily accept. Some possible food items are: cracked corn, rice, dried fruits (apples, apricots, bananas), pearl or proso millet, potato, white wheat grain, cracked wheat bread, cooked or dry macaroni, immature peas, sweet potato, tapioca, yams, or zwieback. This transitional low protein diet is not suitable for long term support because it is not adequate in other nutrients. After about 3–4 days, increase the proportion of Formula AL to 1/3. Continue to increase the proportion of Formula AL every 3–4 days until the diet is 100% Formula AL. If your bird loses more than 1% of its body weight from one weighing to the next, return it to the proportion of Formula AL it will maintain, or gain, weight for 1 week before proceeding with the diet change. Weigh-ins and observations of droppings are especially important once the bird is on 100% Formula AL. Formula AL should be fed until the liver function has returned to normal. At that time it would be wise to switch your bird onto Roudybush Maintenance pellets. This diet will provide your bird with known, state-ofthe-art nutrition and if your bird ever needs a specialized diet again, it will be easy to switch it over. In the case of chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis, your bird may need to be maintained on Formula AL for the rest of its life. Maintaining it on Formula AL will allow it to live a more normal, better quality life. Formula AL is sold only through veterinarians. Improper use of the diet in normal or growing birds can cause nutritional disease or even death. Use the diet only as directed by your veterinarian. PHOTOCOPY AS NEEDED 19 Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com T h e C r i t i c a l C a r e Av i a n Pat i e n t Because birds are so skilled at masking signs of illness and because many birds are not closely observed or frequently handled by their owners, it is easy to miss your bird’s illness until you find him down at the bottom of the cage or flight. Birds often fluff out their breast feathers so you cannot see that they have become extremely thin. Unless you feel its breast you won’t know his condition. Birds that are extremely depressed or unable to perch are usually extremely weak, cold, dehydrated, and have lost an excessive amount of weight. When a bird is in critical condition, diagnostic tests must wait until the bird is stabilized. Handling should be minimized and limited to what is necessary to support your bird’s life. Your veterinarian will probably do the bare minimum of examination and testing at first. They will then administer treatments that will support your bird’s life. When your bird has stabilized, further examination and diagnostic tests may be performed. Supportive Care While a diagnosis is being obtained and while specific treatments are being initiated, your veterinarian will probably want to hospitalize your bird because it will need specialized and intensive supportive care which will be difficult or impossible for you to provide at home. When your bird is out of immediate danger, your veterinarian may send your bird home so it will be in a familiar environment. Supportive care will often consist of regulating the temperature for your bird and tube feeding. Homecare Adult birds have relatively small crops which are not as expandable as in chicks. The crop capacity therefore limits the volume of food that can be given at one time. It is difficult to get an adult to gain weight when fed a regular handfeeding diet due to the limitations of vol20 P H O TOCOPY AS NEEDED ume. A high calorie, nutrient dense diet must be used. Roudybush Formula AA provides these nutritional considerations. The diet is available as a convenient gavage formula, just add warm water to the dry powder and feed. Tube feeding a weak, emaciated patient can often be the deciding factor in its survival. Mix up only the amount of food you’ll use at that feeding and throw away any leftovers. Do not feed leftover formula. Heat the water to about 100–105 F, add powder until the formula is the consistency of thick pea soup or until it is the thickest that you can squeeze through the tube with minimal effort. Feed the formula as soon as you have mixed it up. Moisten the end of the tube with water or a thin film of KY jelly and slide the tube into your bird’s mouth from either corner of the beak. Slide the tube down the throat, looking to see that you have guided it past the opening to the trachea located in the base of the tongue. You should be able to feel the tube through the skin on the right side of the neck. When the tip of the tube is in the crop at the base of the neck, push on the syringe plunger and fill the crop. Feedings should be given as soon as the bird’s crop empties or when there is only a small amount left in the crop. The crop should be filled to capacity and not overfilled. Overfilling could result in regurgitation with risk of aspiration. Make the feeding the last thing you do at that handling. Further handling after feeding may result in regurgitation. Every morning the bird should be weighed before feeding. If there is no weight gain, the bird is not receiving enough solids. This could be due to feeding the diet too dilute, not feeding frequently enough, or not feeding enough volume at each feeding. A rule-of-thumb is to give 10–15 grams dry weight formula per 100 grams of body weight per 24 hours. The amount of fluids needed to mix with the formula is generally more than the amount needed by the bird for maintenance and rehydration, so you generally will not need to give additional fluids. Once your bird has gained back some weight and has begun eating on its own you can start to cut back on the number and volume of feedings. Continue to weigh your bird to make sure it continues to gain weight. Although birds lose weight very quickly, adults gain weight back very slowly if they are not supplemented with a fortified diet. Continue supplementing your bird’s diet with Formula AA until it has returned to a normal body weight. Roudybush Formula AA is sold only through veterinarians. Improper use of this product in growing birds can cause nutritional disease or death. Use Formula AA only as directed by your veterinarian. Approximate adult crop volumes: Budgerigars Lovebirds Cockatiels Conures Amazons Cockatoos Macaws 1–2 ml 2–3 ml 3–6 ml 4–12 ml* 15–35 ml* 20–40 ml* 35–60 ml* * Larger volume for the larger species. Special Homecare Instructions For Your Bird: Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Proventricular D i l atat i o n D i s e a s e Your bird has been diagnosed with Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD), also known as Macaw Wasting Syndrome, Psittacine Proventricular Dilatation Syndrome (PPDS), and myenteric ganglioneuritis. At first avian veterinarians were only seeing it in macaws, leading to the term Macaw Wasting Syndrome. Since the early 1970’s it has become clear that this disease affects most of the species of parrots kept in captivity. debilitated bird. It is also possible to miss the characteristic lesions of PDD in the biopsy sample. The cause of PDD is unknown. It is believed to be caused by a virus, but the identity of the virus is the subject of controversy. There is also a theory that an initial viral infection starts an auto-immune reaction which causes the disease. Research is currently being done to learn more about this disease. The disease appears to be slowly contagious within a flock and between cagemates. There is no known specific treatment for PDD; however, birds can be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs to resolve the clinical signs. If there is an underlying virus infection, it is unknown whether the bird remains infected or infectious to other birds. Birds can be maintained during anti-inflammatory treatment with supportive care, mainly consisting of a specialized diet. The diet should be relatively high (higher than the normal daily requirements) in vitamins, minerals, and protein to compensate for the decreased digestion and absorption of nutrients. The diet should also be high in soluble fiber, enhancing digestion and absorption. Roudybush Formula APD provides these nutritional considerations. The diet is available in pellets, crumbles, or a gavage formula. If your bird is already familiar with pellets or crumbles, there should be no problem making the transition to Formula APD, simply clean the bird’s cage at the time of the switch, using paper to line the bottom so you can monitor the size and color of the droppings daily to be sure that your bird is consuming the new diet. If the droppings are light green and bulky, your bird is eating the diet. If the droppings are small and very dark green or black, the bird is not eating the new diet. If your bird is on a seed diet and is only mildly ill, introduce the diet gradually, starting with 1/4 Formula APD mixed with 3/4 seed mix. After 3–4 days increase the amount of Formula APD to 1/ 3 of the diet. Continue to gradually increase the proportion of Formula APD over a 10–14 day period, monitoring the bird’s body weight twice weekly and droppings daily to be sure it is eating the new Clinical Signs Birds affected by PDD generally show weight loss, regurgitation, and/or passage of undigested food in their droppings. Often there are also nervous signs such as incoordination, frequent falls off the perch, or weakness. Diagnosis Diagnosis of PDD in a live bird is very difficult. A tentative diagnosis can be made by X-rays showing an enlarged proventriculus without evidence of obstruction of the intestinal tract. Other causes of proventricular enlargement must be ruled out. Vent (and possibly proventricular) cultures and special stains should be performed to rule out various infections. Blood or tissue lead and zinc levels should be determined to rule out heavy metal toxicosis. Complete blood counts and serum chemistries should be performed to rule out other possible causes. Biopsies of the proventriculus may be taken to arrive at a definite diagnosis, however, this procedure is invasive and risky to an already Diagnosis can be more definite in a dead bird on post mortem examination, based on microscopic or electron microscopic examination of the esophagus and stomach. Treatment diet. If your bird loses more than 1% of its body weight between weighings, put the bird back on a diet that it will maintain, or gain, weight on for a week before continuing with the diet change. If your bird is severely ill or if you are unable to closely monitor droppings and body weight, it is advisable to hospitalize your bird so your veterinarian can begin dietary management with gavage formula until the bird is stabilized. Hospitalization may also be advisable during the transition from the original diet to Formula APD pellets or crumbles so the bird’s condition and body weight can be monitored closely. Roudybush Formula APD is sold only through veterinarians. Improper use of this diet in normal or growing birds can cause nutritional disease or even death. Use this product only as directed by your veterinarian. If a bird is found to be affected by PDD, it must be kept isolated from other birds and should not be bred. PDD is slowly contagious. There are reports of exposed birds first showing signs of the disease ten years after exposure. Parents can pass the disease on to their babies in the nest. Mates of birds that die of PDD may show no clinical signs themselves but may pass the disease on to new mates years later. To date, there is no vaccine or other preventive measures available. Special Homecare Instructions For Your Bird: PHOTOCOPY AS NEEDED 21 Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Av i a n E n t e r i t i s Your bird has been diagnosed with an intestinal tract inflammation or infection, called enteritis. Enteritis occurs frequently in pet birds. The enteritis may be nonspecific, stress-related, or may be due to several specific causes. Clinical Signs Weight loss and diarrhea are the most common signs of enteritis. Loss of appetite of varying degrees is also commonly seen. Occasionally you will see your bird eating droppings, grit, or litter. In a bird that has stopped eating, you may not see diarrhea but you may see small, dark green droppings. Sometimes your bird will also vomit or regurgitate when it has enteritis. If you examine your bird you will usually find a prominent breast bone, indicating that the bird has lost breast muscling. The abdomen may be gaunt or it may feel full with fluid and gas filled intestines. The vent feathers may be stained and pasted with droppings. With long standing enteritis, nutritional deficiencies may occur, resulting in flakey skin and dull, tattered feathers. Causes Non-specific enteritis or stress related enteritis may be caused by sudden changes in diet or environment, cold or heat stress. The stress may cause certain bacteria or yeasts which normally occur in the intestinal tract in low numbers to overgrow. Stress may also cause your bird to become less able to fight off infections from organisms that are common in the environment or that aren’t normally causes of infection. An imbalance of normal bacterial flora resulting in enteritis may also be seen after treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics, such as chlortetracycline. Specific causes of enteritis include pathogenic bacteri (Salmonella spp., Clostridia perfringens, Chlamydophilia psittaci, avian tubercu22 P H O TOCOPY AS NEEDED losis), parasites (Giardia spp., coccidia, other single-cell parasites, roundworms, tapeworms), toxins (lead, various plants, household chemicals, rapeseed, sprouted sunflower seeds, avocado, caustic chemicals, rodenticides), and viruses (paramyxovirus, poxvirus, Pacheco’s Disease, polyomavirus, Proventricular Dilatation Disease, reovirus, and Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease). A class of yeast called gastric yeast have been found associated with enteritis and proventriculitis, but we do not yet know if it is a pathogenic, a secondary invader, or a member of the normal bacterial flora that becomes imbalanced. Diagnosis Because there are so many possible causes of enteritis your veterinarian must perform several diagnostic tests to determine the cause and find the best treatment. Usually these tests will include a fecal exam, cultures, special stains on fecal specimens, and complete blood count and serum chemistries. Treatment Whenever possible the underlying cause of the enteritis must be identified and treated. In addition to specific treatment, nutritional supportive care is helpful until the enteritis is resolved. Birds that refuse to eat may need to be supported by force feeding a diet which is fortified with extra nutrients to compensate for poor digestion and absorption. The diet should travel slowly through the intestinal tract to aid digestion and absorption and to decrease diarrhea. The diet should also be gentle to the irritated intestine. Roudybush Formula AI provides these nutritional considerations. Formula AI is available as a gavage formula, a dry powder easily mixed with warm water to be fed by syringe or tube. It is also available as pellets or crumbles for birds that are still eating on their own. If your bird is already eating pellets or crumbles, switching it to Formula AI should be a simple procedure. Replace the old diet with Formula AI and clean the cage at the time of the switch. Observe the size and color of the droppings daily to make sure your bird is eating the new diet. Small, dark green droppings indicate that your bird is not eating the new diet. Light green, fleshed-out droppings indicate that your bird is eating the new diet. If your bird is not familiar with pellets or crumbles, a gradual transition is advisable. Begin by feeding 1/4 Formula AI and 3/4 original diet. After 3–4 days increase the proportion of Formula AI to 1/3. Continue increasing the proportion of Formula AI every 3–4 days, monitoring droppings daily and body weight twice weekly to determine if it is eating. If your bird loses more than 1% of its body weight in one week, put it back on a diet it will maintain, or gain, weight on for a week before continuing with the diet change. Continue to feed Formula AI for several days after the enteritis is gone to allow your bird to replenish any depleted vitamin and mineral stores and to protect the healing intestine from damage. Your bird may then be gradually weaned back onto the original diet or onto a maintenance pellet or crumble. The transition should be gradual to avoid further disturbance of the intestinal tract. It is wise to wean your bird onto a maintenance pellet or crumble such as Roudybush Maintenance Diet. Maintenance Diet provides your bird with known, state-of-the art nutrition and if your bird ever requires a specialized diet in the future he or she will readily accept it because they are already familiar with pellets. Roudybush Formula AI is sold only through veterinarians. Improper use of the diet in normal or growing birds may cause nutritional disease or death. Use the diet only as directed by your veterinarian. Special Homecare Instructions For Your Bird: Premium Food For Your Valuable Pet • To Order Call (800) 326-1726 • www.roudybush.com Switching a Flock to M e d i c at e d P e l l e t s Roudybush Medicated pellets or crumbles are formulated specifically for the flock treatment and prevention of Chlamydiosis, or Psittacosis, caused by Chlamydophila psittaci. They contain 1% chlortetracycline (CTC) and a low level of calcium as required by law for the 45-day treatment. Other drugs via injections or individual oral dosing may treat Chlamydiosis, but in flock situations where it is not feasible to catch each bird daily, feed must be the vehicle to administer the medication. Food consumption to maintain body weight is relatively constant. The medicated pellets should not be used alone initially for moderately or severely ill birds. These individuals should be treated with injectable or orally dosed drugs. The pellets are intended for use to control Chlamydophila psittaci in subclinically infected birds, and mildly affected birds. In any given flock of birds, some individuals will not switch readily to the medicated diet. This will be more of a widespread problem if the birds are not already familiar with a pellet or crumble. In that case the birds do not even recognize the diet as food. Even in flocks that are already eating a pellet or crumble, some individuals will detect the slightly bitter taste or slightly different odor of the medicated diet. This can be a dangerous problem because you probably will not be able to tell who is eating the diet and who is not when several birds are housed together. If the problem isn’t detected and resolved, birds have been known to starve to death before choosing to eat the diet. You cannot supply treats or non-medicated food for them to eat because they will not eat enough of the medicated food to kill the chlamydia. You can monitor your birds by weighing them or handling them and feeling for the prominence of their keel bones every few days. Pull birds that are losing significant amounts of weight and house them together and offer them other medicated choices, continuing to monitor them—they are identified as your problem birds. If this is not feasible, a relatively safe switching technique is to offer all the birds other medicated choices. Because the pellets or crumbles will be less expensive and more convenient than the other choices, you will want to try to wean the birds off the other choices, or at least cut back to a minimum amount, offering predominantly pellets or crumbles. Your other choices can be doxycycline medicated water or a homemade doxycycline mash. It is much more likely that all your birds will eat at least one of these three choices. To make the doxycycline mash you will need to get a prescription of doxycycline capsules from your veterinarian. The veterinarian who diagnosed Chlamydiosis in your flock should be happy to do so. Mix the following ingredients thoroughly using a blender or food processor: 290 grams cooked corn (10 ounces), 290 grams cooked kidney beans, 290 grams cooked brown rice, 130 grams (5 ounces) dry oatmeal, 500 mg doxycycline. are known to be able to become silent carriers of the disease. They may act normal and shed the organism into the environment in their droppings or respiratory secretions. They can also act normal and not shed any organisms until they become stressed by something. At that time they may or may not show clinical signs again and start shedding the organism into the environment. Treatment with 45 days of medicated pellets does not prevent that carrier state from occurring. Also, sometimes you may find that you will need to go longer than 45 days to control the current outbreak. Sometimes this is related to the fact that some birds weren’t eating enough food to maintain their body weight for the first week or two of treatment so they weren’t maintaining a therapeutic dose of CTC in their bodies for that time. Special Homecare Instructions For Your Bird: Doxycycline medicated water should not be given in addition to the medicated pellets or mash. It is an alternative treatment option for birds that do not accept the medicated foods. Effective and safe dose levels have been established for three species to date, doses may vary between species. Consult your veterinarian regarding safe dosing for the species you need to medicate. Remember to remove calcium supplements from the flights and cages when you start medicating. The calcium binds with the CTC and makes it unavailable to the bird. The federal government currently does not approve any other drugs for use in commercially manufactured exotic bird foods. So as yet it is not possible to manufacture a doxycycline pellet. Feeding a medicated diet for 45 days is not a guaranteed cure or eradication of Chlamydophila psittaci from your flock. Birds PHOTOCOPY AS NEEDED 23 NOTES 340 Hanson Way, Woodland, CA 95776, USA 1 (800) 326-1726 www.roudybush.com