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."
