freddie

[Freddie]

hi everyone !:)
my name is freddie and i am a new member.
i have a 1 yr female harris, who is just finishing her ist moult
a wek ago i took her to the vets to find out why she had her beak slightly open, and seemed unable to feed properly( unable to tear her food and only managed small sized pieces) the vet diagnosed a crop infection which was treated with antibiotics.
after the course she appeared brighter and is now feeding better but still struggles to tear food, she appears well in every other respect.
i just wonder if any other member has come across this problem ?
i would be really pleased to hear your views.
cheers freddie:cry:

[Argee]

hi everyone !:)
my name is freddie and i am a new member.
i have a 1 yr female harris, who is just finishing her ist moult
a wek ago i took her to the vets to find out why she had her beak slightly open, and seemed unable to feed properly( unable to tear her food and only managed small sized pieces) the vet diagnosed a crop infection which was treated with antibiotics.
after the course she appeared brighter and is now feeding better but still struggles to tear food, she appears well in every other respect.
i just wonder if any other member has come across this problem ?
i would be really pleased to hear your views.
cheers freddie:cry:

Guddaye freddie,
you don't say what food !!
When i brought Bud home i noticed that he could only manage very small amounts of D.o.C'S but later mused that he was probably only used to being fed very small tid bits as he was flown by a chap who had Bud's weight remarkably low !!! some call it 'fasting weight' ..
In your case it seems it maybe different as yours is still not entered ???
just a thought .. obviuosly wishin you all the best,
(*v*) ...

[MickeyDredd]

Post a picture, does his beak need coped?

[Argee]

Post a picture, does his beak need coped?


allowing for misformaty is it usual for a bird so early in 'it's life to need coping ?
regards ,
(*v*) ..

[Argee]

allowing for misformaty is it usual for a bird so early in 'it's life to need coping ?
regards ,
(*v*) ..
or is that malformity ??? !!!
(*v*) ...

[Gozzhawk]

NEED coping , you got to be sh*tting me .
The bird needs coped when it needs coped ,, and I'm sure his vet would have charged him an extra £25 to do it anyway!!!!!
More details needed to advise on this one. I'm sure Sprout would agree.... if the vet is not an experienced avian vet ( or Raptor) then he may have no clue as to what the problem is.

[Grey_Squirrel_Hawker]

used to fly a FHH that had a slightly squint lower beak that needed a corrective copping now and then, it ment that her beak sat very slightly open most of the time and she would seem to have problems eating aswell, particularly chick legs,as she couldnt grip them properly and they would often be dropped.

[MickeyDredd]

NEED coping , you got to be sh*tting me .
The bird needs coped when it needs coped ,, and I'm sure his vet would have charged him an extra £25 to do it anyway!!!!!
More details needed to advise on this one. I'm sure Sprout would agree.... if the vet is not an experienced avian vet ( or Raptor) then he may have no clue as to what the problem is.

No, I'm not sh*tting you, merely suggesting a reason the hawks beak is "slightly open" :rolleyes: For all you or I know Freddie maybe cant tell if it needs coping... and perhaps the vet doesnt know either! You and I are aware when a hawks beak needs coped but perhaps Freddie isnt, hence asking him to post a pic as you did.

What would you suggest then? How will Sprout be able to give a diagnosis without at least seeing a pic, given the vet hasnt cured the problem after his/her suggested treatment? How would a crop infection stop the hawk from being able to tear food? :rolleyes: It would merely possibly stop it eating, or eating as much as it should. Smacks of a non-raptor experienced vet fobbing him off.

Inability for a hh to tear food suggests to me, in my inexperienced view, a possible beak/mouth problem not a crop infection - as GSH appears to have confirmed is a possibility.

But then again, I dont know....and neither do you , so what is your suggestion?

if you read my post, I merely asked a question.

[MickeyDredd]

allowing for misformaty is it usual for a bird so early in 'it's life to need coping ?
regards ,
(*v*) ..

dont see why not, it is 1 year old

[Freddie]

thanks guys for your replies.
my fhh is fed doc, quail, ( which i rough pluck and gut), small rats, gutted,
ferreted rabbits (gutted and quartered and fed fur on) in the past she has had no problem with tearing these foods and has always been a good feeder,
the first sign i had of her not being well was when she had trouble tearing a doc although she appeared hungry,i remved her food thinking she wasn"t hungry ( she is freeflying in a flight and is fed well for her moult)
when she was still unable to feed properly and looked unwell, i decided to take her to my local vet who has worked with bop and was reccomended by another keeper,
he suggested a crop infection and gave me antibiotics.
these i fed in small pieces of rabbit that had been wetted, she took these well and seems to be back to normal apart from being unable to tear her food properly.
her beak doesn"t appear to be overgrown, may be she has eaten a bone and hurt her throat?

[GregMik]

Freddie,
What do you mean when you say gutted? Are you taking all the organs out? If so, she could be malnurished. They need the nutrience in the organs also.

Greg

[Argee]

This coping thing vexed me so i set out to install substantial perching with hard brittle bark .. i had witnessed Buzzards completly denuding several feet of bark from a tree limb and the bare area was some 1 to 2 metres uncovered ..
i also followed advice from this forum two years back that the lumber area of a rabbit and/ or Grey Squirrel was going to keep the neck / shoulders of the bird in good fettle along with the beak being worn back ..
so maybe coping is accelarated by 'giving' easy to swallow meals instead of making hard work of it ..
(*v*) ...

[MickeyDredd]

Is the hawk simply at full weight and just plucking the docs / playing with the food?

Please post a pic of its beak

[Carol]

welcome to the forum freddie

carol

[Sprout]

i decided to take her to my local vet who has worked with bop and was reccomended by another keeper,
he suggested a crop infection and gave me antibiotics.

seems to be back to normal apart from being unable to tear her food properly.


Not sure what going on here but please post a picture??
Did your vet "suggest" a crop infection, or did they swab the crop and look under the microscope and "diagnose" a crop infection? Normally with crop infections the bird will be off food, have a putrid smell on its breath and have difficulty putting the crop over - not appear hungry but unable to eat?? I agree with Mickey, my first area would be the beak - lets see a photo to see if it needs coping. Was there another problem as you also say it is back to normal now but still unable to tear the food??
Vets with limited experience with birds will often try treating like a cat or dog ie try this, if no better come back - often with birds there is no come back because it is dead, you need a diagnosis at the outset - then the cure. Guess work plays little part in avian medicine.