All About Birds

New Bird Checklist
A list of things you'll need for your new pet bird.

Tips for a Safe & Warm Bird This Winter  While your dog or cat might be nice and content to curl up with you in front of the heater, your bird is most likely to feel a little snuffly and sneezy... Check out these great winter warmers for your bird this winter...

Harmful Foods for your Bird 
Even if the thought of feeding your bird from your own table or plate has never crossed your mind have you given thought to what your bird might be able to help themselves to when your back is turned?  If your bird has freedom inside then there needs to be caution.

Recognising Signs of Ill Health in Your Bird
Is your bird a picture of health or does it look more like a feather duster with an identity crisis? Recognising when your bird is unwell is important because by the time it looks unwell it can be in serious strife. The following information may help to ensure you  treat your feathered friend quickly should it be suffering from an illness.

Scaley Face and Scaley Leg Mite Infestations in Aviary Birds
Scaley Face is caused by a mite known as either the Scaley Face Mite or the Scaley Leg Mite. In canaries the same mite causes a condition commonly called Tassel-Foot. The mite's scientific name is Cnemidocoptes. Being an arachnid, it is an eight-legged beastie and is the smaller cousin of the spider, the tick and the scorpion. It burrows under the scales of the legs and into the keratin of the bird's beak. However, it can also be found around the vent of birds and on their wing tips. More...

Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD)
Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) is a disease that leads to feather loss and can eventually lead to the bald parrot syndrome. This disease is, to say the least, a nuisance. It affects parrots (Psittacines) of all types but a form of the disease can also affect doves and pigeons. In Budgerigars the disease is sometimes called French Moult. More...

In Fine Feather...
If your parrot is a paranoid feather plucker and resembles a feather duster with an identity crisis then you will want to know what causes feather plucking and what can you do about it. Recent advances in the treatment of this complicated condition are included below.

Battery Cages - Crook for Chooks?
What do you know about Battery cages for Poultry? Many folk are in total opposition to the way in which eggs are produced form poultry that are housed in battery cages and there are good reasons for their criticism...

Housing Poultry
Chickens make wonderful pets and unlike dogs and cats, you can eat their produce! If your considering getting a few chooks (as they are known affectionately in Australia) for your back yard you need to know how to make a chicken friendly chook house.

Training Parrots to Talk
Taming and training a pet bird is, to say the least, amusing. A bird can be trained to perform so many feats of skill that a clever bird can give new meaning to the phrase 'bird brain'. However, taking your bird's training to the stage where it can talk and perhaps sing like a Pavarotti Parrot is very rewarding! 

Crook Chooks
If you have never had chickens as pets then you are missing out on one of life's rich experiences. They are absorbing pets and produce consumable by-products! They are also easy to keep healthy but there are some common conditions and diseases that you need to watch or you may end up having a crook chook.

Poultry Aint Paltry
I was against the idea - at first. Sure, I'm a vet and love all creatures great and small but  . . .  a chook as a pet? Then it was all my daughter's teacher's fault. She was the one who decided to let the grade six class learn about chickens, hatching, birth and the cabbage leaf principle and hence two dozen fertilized eggs arrived at the school at exactly the same time that my daughter's blue eyes developed that 'Dad-I-will-die-if-I-don't-have-a-chicken-as-a-pet' look.

Christmas Presents for Pets
If its Christmas time and you're a Sensitive New Age Pet Owner, then you have already compiled a long list of the presents that you are going to give to your pampered pet. If you're a little short on ideas though, maybe the following will help.

Santa Claws Applause
If you need a Christmas gift for your favourite pet lover, or even for your favourite pet, the choice this Christmas is bigger that it's ever been.  Use this list to get your Santa's sack bulging.

More coming... stay tuned...