I am a Newbie on here - good to meet you all

Kim-Marie

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Hello Everyone
My name is Kim-Marie and I have a number of feathered friends: Chaaku - a female African Grey I got 21 years ago at about 4 months of age, Lectus - a male Eclectus who I have had for the last 19 years from a baby, Cookie - a male Umbrella Cockatoo who I have had for the last 16 years and got as a 2 year old and Violet - a female Eclectus who I have had for nearly 12 years again from a baby.
My birds have all enjoyed good health historically, however I am having a few issues with my Eclectus parrots and would like some advice. Is there someone on here who can help me?
I would really appreciate if someone could give some advice.
Many thanks
 
:welcome: You have a very nice flock.
If you can say what type of issues you are having with the Ekkies our members may be able to offer advice.
Also can we have some photos of your flock as we do so love photos :thumbsup:
 
Hello Diana
Thank you for your warm welcome and prompt reply.
To set the scene - the Eclectus parrots are in a large double cage with a divider between them. They generally do not come out together and when they do there is always someone with them - we are sure that they have not mated.... About a month ago the male (Lectus) developed watery stools and then the female (Violet) laid and egg (her first and obviously infertile). I took Lectus to a specialist vet who did mention that stress could cause this and put him on the bird equivalent of kaolin for 5 days. This did nothing to improve his stools. Violet laid another egg two weeks ago.
Lectus continues to have watery stools, but is otherwise very much himself and is not unwell in his appearance or behaviour - he has a good appetite.
I am concerned and have just bought so Guardian Angel to add to his water.
Here are some pictures of my 'flock'
 

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Beautiful birds.
Is there a reason you do not want them to mate , I am no expert but it is only natural for them to want to do this and maybe Lectus and possibly Violet would be far happier.
Guardian Angel is very good indeed and I always have a pot of it here for use when needed.
Perhaps you vet could test a sample of Lectus stool and see if anything untoward is found? You may be able to obtain a container from the vet so you can scoop it up and then pass it on to the vet.
Lets hope some other members also come along with advice.
 
Thanks Diana for your sound advice. I will contact the vet about giving him a stool sample to test.
I have just started the Guardian Angel today so will see how he gets on over the weekend. With regard to breeding, I have a few concerns here 1 - I would not know what to do to assist them if they did breed (paraphernalia etc) and 2 - I would get too attached to the baby chicks, would want to keep it/them and I have no move space.....
 
Hello and welcome from me and my two birds! I have a female parolete who is 10 months old and an 8 month old male African grey!

Your birds are lovely!😍
 
Hello and welcome, you have a nice flock and love the photos. watery droppings may well be down to the feed your bird is preferring what are you feeding your Eclectus on at the moment. it is there breeding time so hormones' may also play a part. dose he have any funny habits, My Poppy is on eggs at the moment How demanding is your female when on eggs? I have a few flock members myself, including a too, amazons, greys, conurs, macaws, Ringnecks, and some Australian birds
 
Hi and welcome. U do have lovely birdies.
We have two boys ourselves Cag and Senegal
 
Hello and welcome, you have a nice flock and love the photos. watery droppings may well be down to the feed your bird is preferring what are you feeding your Eclectus on at the moment. it is there breeding time so hormones' may also play a part. dose he have any funny habits, My Poppy is on eggs at the moment How demanding is your female when on eggs? I have a few flock members myself, including a too, amazons, greys, conurs, macaws, Ringnecks, and some Australian birds

Hello Michael
Thank you for your message. I have no experience of parrots laying eggs - the female Eclectus is nearly 12 and her laying two in the last month is the first experience. They both broke on the bottom of her cage.
I did not know that now is their breeding season - thanks for letting me know that. That could be the explanation for the watery diarrhoea in the male if he is stressed by it. They have been in their current set up for the last 12 years and this has not happened before.
In terms of food - they get a large variety - they have Skygold fruit and aniseed mix as their basic plus a few banana chip, pine nuts, cranberries, nutriberries. They also get a varitey of fresh fruit/vegetables every day
 
they should be on a mainly vegetable diet, 70 per cent fresh veg, 20 per cent fruit and 10 percent dry mix. they have a slow metabolism so too much fruit or nutrient's may not be good for them, I did ask about the habit side. the reason I asked is that with these lovely birds if they have a dietary problem and start to develop unusual movements (normally stepping or foot movements) it can be a sign that your bird is in difficulty. I will never give extra nutrients with out avian vet advice and this includes Nutra berries. never remove an egg until your bird abandons it. give a pinch of calcium powder over the food twice a week and once every other day for the female at egg laying time. she may lay another set in three or four weeks. there diet is so much different to all other parrots. IMG_0680.JPG
 
Thank-you Lauraj
Do you have photos of yours?

Evening! Yeah i have posted a good few pictures of my birds in the parrot media album on here 😊
Everyone on the forum is great help and very experienced! My first parrot who we thought was a boy laid an egg a couple of weeks ago and everyone has walked me through it step by step, as it was very unexpected and the first time anything like this has happened. It's a wonderful forum to be part of.
 
Can I ask how often do you spray your birds?
Sorry for me as I like to ask questions but I am not being nosy as I do not have a nose truly (I just love to help you and your flock,
Looking at your photos of your flock I hope you do not mind me making comments to help you and your birds.
how much out of cage time do they get? and how active are each of them whilst out the cage?
Ok it may be just the photo at the time but looking at Chaaku she dose look a little over weight but as I say it may be the way her Brest feathers are laying. can you weigh her and let me now her weight please.
Cookie looks great.
Lectus, I notice his beak is quite long this may be caused by the wrong diet and I would expect the green to be more vibrant in his feathers both are slight concerning that can be rectified with a change in his diet, it will not shorten the beak but may stop it over growing.
Lucky looks great but love too know more about him his age and his ways ect.
Violet well I think this is down to a bad photo if you look at the photo of Poppy your bird should be just as vibrant, yet again Diet and bathing is very important, I will advise not to use Guardian angle with an eccie unless avian vet advices. the biggest problems are caused buy too much nutrition getting in there bodies too quickly
 
I'd agree with Michael that your male Ekkie's beak is a little long although it won't cause a problem for him when eating, in its current state. The beak profile should be more like Voilet's.

Eclectus Frankie had the same issue when he joined us. His vet trimmed it a little at his first visit. We made sure that Frankie had plenty of chew toys on and his beak has been fine ever since, as per the attached photo. Some birds still have beak problems, even with things to chew, but your avian vet can easily trim it every 3 or 6 months if necessary, and the procedure is painless and quite quick in the hands of an experienced vet.
20200122_175307.jpg

As for diet, I have always thought that the best indicator was their first poop of the day. It should be dense, with a dark centre and white outer. Throughout the day Frankie's can be less dense - more watery - towards the end of the day and I put that down to his higher fruit & veg intake than the other birds. He eats plenty of greens - fresh peas, fine beans, sugar snaps, mange tout, rocket, water cress, regular/black kale, broccoli, etc. As Michael says, a high proportion of veg is important for ekkies and supplements are not necessary unless advised by an avian vet. His dry mix is AS30 which has no sunflower seeds or peanuts. Supper is a chopped mix of beans & pulses with finely chopped veg.
 
Thank you folk for your fabulous advice.
Michael - I tend to spray them a couple of times a month. They probably could do with more 'out of the cage' time, but I do work full-time. Lectus is the one who spends most time out of the cage - at least half an hour a day. Chaaku is not overweight, you are right, it is the way she is sitting in that picture. You are also right about Violet's picture - she is as bright and vibrant as yours. I think that Lectus' diarrhoea could be hormonal/due to excitement as it has coincided with Violet's egg laying. And Violet is quite aggressive at the moment.
Lucky is a splendid parrokeet. We are not sure how old he is as he had been found in a field and handed in to a pet shop. We bought him from there about 3 years ago.
JackAndRob - the vet does trim Lectus' beak from time to time. I will look at getting some chew toys for him. I am going to get some AS30 for them and ween them off the other parrot food with sunflower seeds / peanuts. I have also increased their fresh veg and fruit.
I really do appreciate you advice...... thank-you
 
Hi Kim-Marie, welcome! It is not unheard of for some female Ekkie's to be prolific egg layers even as single companion birds, her health is important especially at this time. Have you had bloods done on your male with diarrhoea lately? If not I think I would hun. BTW you can get a Galah seed mix which is low fat seeds. Does your male eat a lot of the seed, they like nuts and sunflower seeds and will eat these to their detriment. Up their fresh to include a good/wide variety of things, do you know about adding safe flowers/foraged foods? Give your male lots to do, challenge his clever little head! Thought about doing just 15 mins of flight drills from a stand to you? Flying uses a good amount of calories and really does them good.

Ekkie's can be very diet sensitive so will need to have fruit kept to a much lower proportion of their intake.

Warm mushy foods can affect a female to want to lay btw.
 
Hi Kim-Marie, welcome! It is not unheard of for some female Ekkie's to be prolific egg layers even as single companion birds, her health is important especially at this time. Have you had bloods done on your male with diarrhoea lately? If not I think I would hun. BTW you can get a Galah seed mix which is low fat seeds. Does your male eat a lot of the seed, they like nuts and sunflower seeds and will eat these to their detriment. Up their fresh to include a good/wide variety of things, do you know about adding safe flowers/foraged foods? Give your male lots to do, challenge his clever little head! Thought about doing just 15 mins of flight drills from a stand to you? Flying uses a good amount of calories and really does them good.

Ekkie's can be very diet sensitive so will need to have fruit kept to a much lower proportion of their intake.

Warm mushy foods can affect a female to want to lay btw.

Thanks plumsmum
I took the male ekkie to the vet shortly after he had developed the diarrhoea and the vet put him on the bird equivalent of kaolin for 5 days. He also gave hime a thorough examination and tested his stool. This coincided with the female laying her first egg. That was over a month ago and made no difference. He is very happy in himself, good appetite and normal behaviour. I think that Michael is right in that he is sensitive to the females' hormones. I have noticed over the years with all of my birds that if the get excited their stools become loose. He is not too keen on flying, but I can try that and get him some more toys.
 
Female being more aggressive during laying period, this is quite normal with many Ekkies, they expect you to provide food each time you see them. have you watched !Australia the land of parrots" on you tube, there is some interesting observations on the Ekkies
 
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