Pulled Joe and Sasta's Baby for Handfeeding (Blue Crown)

Written by Jodie Friday, 24 July 2009 19:00

Well, yesterday we pulled the baby Blue Crown Conure for handfeeding.  It was very difficult to get the dedicated mom to leave the nest so I could pull the baby.  It was a little disappointing once I brought the baby into the nursery and was able to examine him/her more thoroughly.  The poor little guy is suffering from an extreme case of Splayed Leg.  I have tied his little legs and positioned him in a small bowl with towels all the way around to keep him from falling over.  He certainly doesn't like it, but it's something that must be done if he/she ever has a chance to live a normal life.  We are just praying at this point that his legs will return to normal and he/she will be able to be a normal bird as far as being able to walk.  I dealt with this situation many times when I had my pet shop. At that time I only bred small birds and all my large birds were purchased from local breeders.  Almost all of the umbrella cockatoos that I received from my breeder had splayed leg, and I was always able to correct the problem.  For those of you who don't know.....splayed leg can be caused by a number of different things.  Being that Shasta is such a devoted mom and never left the nest box, we believe that by her sitting on the baby constantly is what contributed the most to his condition.  Only time will tell at this point weather or not he recovers completely.  It is a very extreme case and if for some reason he doesn't recover completely with the therapy and all that we will give then he will be a special needs bird.  He will still have the opportunity to live a full and happy life weather it be with a caring and compassionate customer, or with us here at the aviary.   We will definately keep you updated on his/her progress.  We will all keep our fingers crossed that everything turns out for the best.