Aviary protocol: a simple checklist
By Tony Silva
"Each year I am asked to provide a checklist of steps that an aviculturist should follow to minimize morbidity and mortality. The points below can be applied to most collections and can prove extremely valuable in insuring flock health.
Footbath: This is nothing more than a pan or receptacle at the entrance to a bird room or aviary that contains a disinfectant. The aviculturist steps into the liquid on entering and leaving the aviary or room housing the birds. The intention is to kill bacteria and fungi that adhere to the shoes or sandals being worn.
Footbaths are especially important when visitors come to the collection or when returning from visiting another collection, feed store or place where birds are kept or sold.
Keep in mind the following when using a footbath:
1) Disinfectants lose their properties in the presence of organic matter. Because of this, the disinfectant water must be changed daily. Water of neutral pH (7.0) is best because high alkaline water (say above 7.8 pH) can affect disinfectant properties of some disinfectant compound.
2) Footbath container needs to be cleaned daily. It should not be topped or emptied and refilled. The container should be washed.
Entrance into nursery: The nursery typically has youngsters whose immune system is not fully developed. This makes them especially vulnerable to infection. The steps described below are a must when returning from visiting other facilities that have birds but should also be applied in the collection, where adults could be subclinically infected with a pathogen that could prove deadly to a nestling.
1) Before entering the nursery, pass through footbath and change into sandals or shoes used only in the hand-rearing room. Shoes are best, as organic matter can accumulate under the toenails.
2) The sandals or shoes used in the hand-rearing room should NOT be used outdoors.
3) On entry and before handling chicks proceed to wash your hands. Use a nailbrush to thoroughly disinfect the area around and under the fingernails. If a washbasin is not available in the baby room, wash your hands prior to entering.
4) The arms and face should also be washed.
5) Ideally the person entering the room should change into clothing used only in the hand-rearing room. This attire must not be worn outside the hand-rearing room. This attire must be washed daily as it will become soiled with formula and feces.
Nursery: This area is typically warm and humid if more than a handful of young are being reared. Because of this, in my hand-rearing rooms I employ an air conditioner and dehumidifier to maintain a stable, rather dry environment; the humidity is kept at around 50% or some chicks can develop toe-restricting syndrome.
Chicks hatched in an incubator should be kept in a separate room from those that were parent started. This is to prevent cross contamination. If this is not possible, incubator hatched chicks should be fed first.
1) Each day walls in the nursery should be washed with soap and water and then a disinfectant. These steps should follow the first feeding when chicks are transferred into clean tubs. The reasoning behind this task is to remove feather dander and dust that can carry bacteria and viruses.
2) Babies in bins should be cleaned twice daily; they should be transferred to a clean tub with fresh bedding. The bins should be washed with soap and water and then a disinfectant. They should be allowed to dry before use.
3) All working surfaces must be cleaned with soapy water and then a disinfectant after feeding.
4) If the room has windows and the windows are open, the window screens must be examined daily for tears. If damaged, they must be repaired quickly. This is to prevent biting insects from entering the room.
5) Floor must be mopped with soapy water and disinfectant daily.
6) Ideally small chicks should be kept separate from weaning youngsters, but if they are kept together water bowls should be secured to the cage to prevent the birds from tipping them over. This is a major source of moisture in a hand-rearing room.
7) Exhaust fan should be cleaned of accumulating dust weekly.
8) The minimum complete air exchange daily is four times.
9) Babies in cages should be misted daily with water to induce preening. This should occur before cleaning cages. This step also prevents feather dander and sheaths from becoming aerosolized.
10) Weaning cage pans should be washed with soapy water and then wiped with a disinfectant daily.
11) Weaning cages should be washed and cleaned as needed, insuring that feces does not accumulate
Hand-feeding tools: Every breeder has a preferred tool. I start the young on a spoon and then transition to a syringe with a stainless steel gavage needle. By the commencement of weaning the spoon is again employed. This permits formula containing chopped nuts or pellets to be fed. Whatever the tool used, segregating one set of instruments per brooder (including tubs for holding young) or cage is important to prevent cross contamination.
1) To facilitate segregating the feeding instruments, use plastic cups that have a number corresponding to the cage or brooder written on it with indelible marker.
2) The formula for use in a particular cage and/or tub should be poured into the cup for use. Never should the syringes be used to feed chicks and then pull formula from a common container.
3) When feeding young in an individual brooder or cage, it is a good idea to have a cup with a disinfectant in order to dip the syringe before feeding the next youngster. I use chlorohexidine.
4) Hand-feeding tools need to be washed with soapy water and then a disinfectant, rinsed with water and allowed to dry. This is important because formulas contain fat that leave a greasy residue. Since I use plastic cups that are numbered, the spoon or syringe is returned to its cup for drying.
5) Water is a common source of illness in young parrots. Make sure the water is from a clean source.
6) Hand should be washed between cages and brooder or alternately disposable gloves should be used; the gloves should be discarded after feeding every cage or brooder.
Formula: During visits to nurseries having problems, I have found three common denominators.
1) The hand rearing formula contains nutrients that easily grow bacteria. Excess formula should be discarded; it should NOT refrigerated and stored for later use. If the feeding process takes longer than 30 minutes, formula should be prepared in small batches.
2) Water for formula must come from a clean source. If your water is suspect use bottled water. Bear in mind that if the suspect water is used for cleaning feeding instruments and associated equipment, it should be allowed to dry thoroughly, or the chick can be contaminated.
3) The formula target temperature should be 40ºC. If the formula is prepared in a microwave understand that hot spots will be created and that the temperature will continue to rise after the food is heated. I use a microwave to heat the water and dissolve the additional fat that I add to the diet of most chicks. The water and fat (peanut or almond butter) is stirred vigorously, the powdered formula is added and then I check the formula temperature. The process allows the maximum temperature to be reached long before the first chick is fed.
Ill babies: Nestling parrots can fall ill unexpectedly. A sick chick needs immediate attention or the likelihood of it surviving diminishes quickly. These are the steps that I recommend.
1) Any sick baby should be isolated immediately in a sick ward. If a sick ward is not available, the chick should be placed in a room away from the healthy youngsters to prevent cross contamination.
2) Sick babies should be kept warm (about 33-35 deg C) and fed water with electrolytes. Dehydration is a serious problem and this is why electrolytes are important.
3) Papaya cream made from liquefying papaya pulp with the seeds works very well in helping a slow crop move. The cream can be prepared in batches and refrigerated for up to three days.
4) Apple cider vinegar works well in controlling yeast, but potent drugs may be necessary in stubborn cases.
5) All babies should have a dry mouth; a slimy mouth, sour smell or plaques suggest fungal and bacterial infection. These should be treated accordingly.
6) Work with an experienced veterinarian to establish a protocol for ill chicks. Do this before the start of the breeding season and NOT when a problem is at hand.
Aviaries: Pathogens that enter the nursery typically come from the aviary, especially if hygiene is poor, the diet fed to the adults is deficient and a strict husbandry protocol that includes quarantining all newly acquired birds is not followed. Here are tips for the aviary.
1) If the birds are housed indoors, window screens and a double door (one of insect screening and the other of stronger mesh to prevent a flying bird from impacting the screen and escaping) must be used. They are important to keep out birds and insects.
2) Never allow water to accumulate in open containers. This includes bowls sitting around, soda cans, plastic containers and more. Mosquitoes carry many diseases and are a vector of pox, which affects countless birds (especially lovebirds) each year in Asia. When I have visited some collections experiencing problems I am shocked at the waste that was sitting around and which, when examined closely, often contained water with mosquito larvae.
3) Outdoors, the food must be offered under cover to prevent both captive and wild birds from defecating on the food and water.
4) Perches should also be covered so that wild birds cannot defecate on them; transmission occurs when a parrot that has walked over a dropping preens its feet clean and this act bring it into contact with fecal matter.
5) Rodents carry countless diseases. Employ an active rodent control program. This means constant cleaning, eliminating trash and inspecting nesting boxes (used and disused) continuously.
6) Food for the birds should be stored away from fuel, chemicals, cleaning agents, acids, and other compounds. Rodents, insects and other vermin must be kept away from the food. My policy is to store only a week´s supply. This eliminates stored food becoming fodder for rodents, roaches and other vermin. All food should be stored in sealed containers.
7) Food storage area must be kept clean.
8) Understand proper cleaning. Dishes, work surfaces and storage areas should always be mopped with soapy water first and then a disinfectant. This is because most cleaning agents lose their active property in the presence of organic matter.
9) Observe your birds daily. If you know their habits, you can detect problems early, know when they are about to nest and if they are serious about incubation and rearing their young.
The above is not an inclusive list. It is intended to get the breeder to think and review his or her husbandry protocol. For the person hoping to become a breeder, it will show that the aviculture is much more than placing a male and female together. Finally for the non-breeder it will give them a vignette of what breeding entails."
By Tony Silva
"Each year I am asked to provide a checklist of steps that an aviculturist should follow to minimize morbidity and mortality. The points below can be applied to most collections and can prove extremely valuable in insuring flock health.
Footbath: This is nothing more than a pan or receptacle at the entrance to a bird room or aviary that contains a disinfectant. The aviculturist steps into the liquid on entering and leaving the aviary or room housing the birds. The intention is to kill bacteria and fungi that adhere to the shoes or sandals being worn.
Footbaths are especially important when visitors come to the collection or when returning from visiting another collection, feed store or place where birds are kept or sold.
Keep in mind the following when using a footbath:
1) Disinfectants lose their properties in the presence of organic matter. Because of this, the disinfectant water must be changed daily. Water of neutral pH (7.0) is best because high alkaline water (say above 7.8 pH) can affect disinfectant properties of some disinfectant compound.
2) Footbath container needs to be cleaned daily. It should not be topped or emptied and refilled. The container should be washed.
Entrance into nursery: The nursery typically has youngsters whose immune system is not fully developed. This makes them especially vulnerable to infection. The steps described below are a must when returning from visiting other facilities that have birds but should also be applied in the collection, where adults could be subclinically infected with a pathogen that could prove deadly to a nestling.
1) Before entering the nursery, pass through footbath and change into sandals or shoes used only in the hand-rearing room. Shoes are best, as organic matter can accumulate under the toenails.
2) The sandals or shoes used in the hand-rearing room should NOT be used outdoors.
3) On entry and before handling chicks proceed to wash your hands. Use a nailbrush to thoroughly disinfect the area around and under the fingernails. If a washbasin is not available in the baby room, wash your hands prior to entering.
4) The arms and face should also be washed.
5) Ideally the person entering the room should change into clothing used only in the hand-rearing room. This attire must not be worn outside the hand-rearing room. This attire must be washed daily as it will become soiled with formula and feces.
Nursery: This area is typically warm and humid if more than a handful of young are being reared. Because of this, in my hand-rearing rooms I employ an air conditioner and dehumidifier to maintain a stable, rather dry environment; the humidity is kept at around 50% or some chicks can develop toe-restricting syndrome.
Chicks hatched in an incubator should be kept in a separate room from those that were parent started. This is to prevent cross contamination. If this is not possible, incubator hatched chicks should be fed first.
1) Each day walls in the nursery should be washed with soap and water and then a disinfectant. These steps should follow the first feeding when chicks are transferred into clean tubs. The reasoning behind this task is to remove feather dander and dust that can carry bacteria and viruses.
2) Babies in bins should be cleaned twice daily; they should be transferred to a clean tub with fresh bedding. The bins should be washed with soap and water and then a disinfectant. They should be allowed to dry before use.
3) All working surfaces must be cleaned with soapy water and then a disinfectant after feeding.
4) If the room has windows and the windows are open, the window screens must be examined daily for tears. If damaged, they must be repaired quickly. This is to prevent biting insects from entering the room.
5) Floor must be mopped with soapy water and disinfectant daily.
6) Ideally small chicks should be kept separate from weaning youngsters, but if they are kept together water bowls should be secured to the cage to prevent the birds from tipping them over. This is a major source of moisture in a hand-rearing room.
7) Exhaust fan should be cleaned of accumulating dust weekly.
8) The minimum complete air exchange daily is four times.
9) Babies in cages should be misted daily with water to induce preening. This should occur before cleaning cages. This step also prevents feather dander and sheaths from becoming aerosolized.
10) Weaning cage pans should be washed with soapy water and then wiped with a disinfectant daily.
11) Weaning cages should be washed and cleaned as needed, insuring that feces does not accumulate
Hand-feeding tools: Every breeder has a preferred tool. I start the young on a spoon and then transition to a syringe with a stainless steel gavage needle. By the commencement of weaning the spoon is again employed. This permits formula containing chopped nuts or pellets to be fed. Whatever the tool used, segregating one set of instruments per brooder (including tubs for holding young) or cage is important to prevent cross contamination.
1) To facilitate segregating the feeding instruments, use plastic cups that have a number corresponding to the cage or brooder written on it with indelible marker.
2) The formula for use in a particular cage and/or tub should be poured into the cup for use. Never should the syringes be used to feed chicks and then pull formula from a common container.
3) When feeding young in an individual brooder or cage, it is a good idea to have a cup with a disinfectant in order to dip the syringe before feeding the next youngster. I use chlorohexidine.
4) Hand-feeding tools need to be washed with soapy water and then a disinfectant, rinsed with water and allowed to dry. This is important because formulas contain fat that leave a greasy residue. Since I use plastic cups that are numbered, the spoon or syringe is returned to its cup for drying.
5) Water is a common source of illness in young parrots. Make sure the water is from a clean source.
6) Hand should be washed between cages and brooder or alternately disposable gloves should be used; the gloves should be discarded after feeding every cage or brooder.
Formula: During visits to nurseries having problems, I have found three common denominators.
1) The hand rearing formula contains nutrients that easily grow bacteria. Excess formula should be discarded; it should NOT refrigerated and stored for later use. If the feeding process takes longer than 30 minutes, formula should be prepared in small batches.
2) Water for formula must come from a clean source. If your water is suspect use bottled water. Bear in mind that if the suspect water is used for cleaning feeding instruments and associated equipment, it should be allowed to dry thoroughly, or the chick can be contaminated.
3) The formula target temperature should be 40ºC. If the formula is prepared in a microwave understand that hot spots will be created and that the temperature will continue to rise after the food is heated. I use a microwave to heat the water and dissolve the additional fat that I add to the diet of most chicks. The water and fat (peanut or almond butter) is stirred vigorously, the powdered formula is added and then I check the formula temperature. The process allows the maximum temperature to be reached long before the first chick is fed.
Ill babies: Nestling parrots can fall ill unexpectedly. A sick chick needs immediate attention or the likelihood of it surviving diminishes quickly. These are the steps that I recommend.
1) Any sick baby should be isolated immediately in a sick ward. If a sick ward is not available, the chick should be placed in a room away from the healthy youngsters to prevent cross contamination.
2) Sick babies should be kept warm (about 33-35 deg C) and fed water with electrolytes. Dehydration is a serious problem and this is why electrolytes are important.
3) Papaya cream made from liquefying papaya pulp with the seeds works very well in helping a slow crop move. The cream can be prepared in batches and refrigerated for up to three days.
4) Apple cider vinegar works well in controlling yeast, but potent drugs may be necessary in stubborn cases.
5) All babies should have a dry mouth; a slimy mouth, sour smell or plaques suggest fungal and bacterial infection. These should be treated accordingly.
6) Work with an experienced veterinarian to establish a protocol for ill chicks. Do this before the start of the breeding season and NOT when a problem is at hand.
Aviaries: Pathogens that enter the nursery typically come from the aviary, especially if hygiene is poor, the diet fed to the adults is deficient and a strict husbandry protocol that includes quarantining all newly acquired birds is not followed. Here are tips for the aviary.
1) If the birds are housed indoors, window screens and a double door (one of insect screening and the other of stronger mesh to prevent a flying bird from impacting the screen and escaping) must be used. They are important to keep out birds and insects.
2) Never allow water to accumulate in open containers. This includes bowls sitting around, soda cans, plastic containers and more. Mosquitoes carry many diseases and are a vector of pox, which affects countless birds (especially lovebirds) each year in Asia. When I have visited some collections experiencing problems I am shocked at the waste that was sitting around and which, when examined closely, often contained water with mosquito larvae.
3) Outdoors, the food must be offered under cover to prevent both captive and wild birds from defecating on the food and water.
4) Perches should also be covered so that wild birds cannot defecate on them; transmission occurs when a parrot that has walked over a dropping preens its feet clean and this act bring it into contact with fecal matter.
5) Rodents carry countless diseases. Employ an active rodent control program. This means constant cleaning, eliminating trash and inspecting nesting boxes (used and disused) continuously.
6) Food for the birds should be stored away from fuel, chemicals, cleaning agents, acids, and other compounds. Rodents, insects and other vermin must be kept away from the food. My policy is to store only a week´s supply. This eliminates stored food becoming fodder for rodents, roaches and other vermin. All food should be stored in sealed containers.
7) Food storage area must be kept clean.
8) Understand proper cleaning. Dishes, work surfaces and storage areas should always be mopped with soapy water first and then a disinfectant. This is because most cleaning agents lose their active property in the presence of organic matter.
9) Observe your birds daily. If you know their habits, you can detect problems early, know when they are about to nest and if they are serious about incubation and rearing their young.
The above is not an inclusive list. It is intended to get the breeder to think and review his or her husbandry protocol. For the person hoping to become a breeder, it will show that the aviculture is much more than placing a male and female together. Finally for the non-breeder it will give them a vignette of what breeding entails."
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