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Thursday, March 09, 2006
Nina
Two days ago we got a baby S.I.Eclectus from a friend to hand raise. Our friend was overwhelmed by the aftermath of the storm and didn't have the time to devote to a baby. Debra picked her up and brought her home without checking her closely. She was over 4 weeks old and already starting to feather out.
The next morning, Debra asked me to check her feet. Deb didn't have her glasses on during the first feeding the night before but sensed that something was wrong. When I checked, I found a 4-5 week old baby with one front toe on one foot and two front toes on the other and no rear toes on either foot. This condition is caused by low humidity while the toes are developing and can be corrected if caught early. In this case it was too late.
To add to her problems, the mother of this baby had plucked off all of her down so she was pink from the neck down. She was also left in the nest too long and had become a little wild, striking at anything that came within sight. Of course, at 5 weeks, she couldn't hurt anything if she tried.
So here we sit with a baby that is physically challenged, mean and ugly. What to do?
Well, we have a plan. Her feathers will take care of themselves and she will be beautiful without any intervention. We are treating her with a lot of TLC. Every night we wrap her in a hand towel and rock her for an hour to try and calm her down. With her physical disability she can't afford to have a bad personality. This extra attention is the only gift we can give her to help her live a happy life.
We can't fix her feet so she will have to go to a good home with a very nurturing owner. We will only place her locally so the future parent can participate in her early development. She will be given away but not to a person who can't afford a normal bird. We will never clip her wings and at this time we aren't going to place her with an owner who will. All birds are graceful and beautiful when they fly and we want her to have this special ability for the rest of her life.
Nina? We were listening to Nina Simone the night she arrived and decided it was a great name. Stay tuned. We will share photos with you as she grows up. We are already planning modified perches and food stations. We hope she will adapt and thrive. Most handicapped birds find a way. We'll be there to help and encourage. Hopefully, her next owner will build upon the foundation we build.
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:45 PM |
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