Got Pigeon Milk – For Real?
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Got Pigeon Milk – For Real?

Birds can have weird habits. I knew a Cherry-Headed Conure that loved to attack toes. Some birds will only eat food that has been through their water dish or will fall in love with a particular pair of shoes on your closet floor.

African Green Pigeons take weird habits to a new level. Pigeons in spite of not being mammals meaning I have no breasts are able to in fact produce milk. Pigeons generally incubate their eggs for about three weeks.

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Your Government Wants to Outlaw Your Pet Bird!
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Your Government Wants to Outlaw Your Pet Bird!

We’ve all heard about all those government perks Swedes get – 97% of their healthcare is picked up by various Swedish taxing bodies (about 9% of Sweden’s costs for health and medical care amount to approximately 9 percent of Sweden’s gross domestic product GDP)

Stuff like 5 weeks paid vacation when you start a job, increasing with your length of tenure – 480 days of paid parental leave – it’s cold and dark and then sunny and perfect and all those beautiful women (although I’m reminded here in edit by Catherine that the beautiful women are not supplied by the government 🙁

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Diverse Birds With One Thing in Common – a Softbill Picture Story
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Diverse Birds With One Thing in Common – a Softbill Picture Story

Caged bird keepers know that bills are not something you pay, it’s the thing in front of your bird’s face.

Birds Unlimited posted a comment in last week’s blog about light and vitamin deficiencies. The incriminating statement I made was. “Finches are softbill birds & not able to crack the husks of seeds larger birds or “hookbills” never giving it a second thought having always lumped finches with softbills in the same category – which is incorrect I’ve come to find. Let’s do some fact-checking, shall we? 

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Birds, Light and Vitamin Deficiency Misconceptions
Galah bird Cockatoo sitting on a pinnacle in the pinnacles desert Western Australia.

Birds, Light and Vitamin Deficiency Misconceptions

Hi,

I am a bird lover and have a few pairs of budgies, cockatiels, finches, Love birds and Alexender Raw.

Due to space issues, I have all in one room where Sunlight comes only for a few minutes. I think due to lack of sunlight, my birds have a deficiency of D3 and Calcium. Could you please guide me if Hagon’s PRIME will work for me or if I have to add any other vitamins?

Waiting for your response,

Regards,

A.Qadir

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Questions Just Over the Bird Cage Wire week of 12/14/14
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Questions Just Over the Bird Cage Wire week of 12/14/14

Hi,
I’m looking for an old toy – I know this is a tricky one, it’s a wooden cube it came in a couple of different sizes. Unfortunately, I do not remember what co. made it. It was dowelled which connected to 4 different color square wood pieces with a colored large rope knot in the middle. 

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Is Wing Clipping a Screaming Trigger?
Blue and yellow macaw parrot with clipped stretched wings on branch in bird park

Is Wing Clipping a Screaming Trigger?

Okay all you cage bird keepers whose birds have clipped wings, I can see all of you rolling your eyes from here. “What’s he up to now Virginia? How in the world can wing clipping and screaming be related?”

Today I have science on my side – and who can argue with science? From the blog “the Scorpion in the Frog… It’s in our nature” by Miss Behavior who’s real name is Sarah Jane Alger and she is a biologist

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Your Resume Has Bird Poop and Beak Bite Marks – You’re Hired!
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Your Resume Has Bird Poop and Beak Bite Marks – You’re Hired!

In an effort to show you reasons we should be your bird supplies purveyor of choice, we feel it’s important that you know we offer expertise, answers and solutions to the endless problems associated with caged bird care. 
 
To that end having people on our team that can fulfill these needs is essential. So you’d think it would be easy to find someone to write relevant content keeping our website what we call “sticky”. We want you to come back.  

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Have We Finally Found a Cure for Feather Plucking?
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Have We Finally Found a Cure for Feather Plucking?

From Facebook fan last night
“I’ve got a Catalina macaw that has a problem of plucking, I took her to the vet, she has a clean bill of health, now if anyone can help with the feather plucking problem, I would appreciate it , Thanks.”
 
From a customer on the West Coast during a phone call this week
“My 14-year-old lovebird began to pluck for no reason at all. We have him on the best foods we can provide like Harrison’s pellets but we had to put a collar on her to stop the feather loss. Nothing has changed in her life and she is fully flighted”

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Egg Laying Umbrella Cockatoo
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Egg Laying Umbrella Cockatoo

We have a female Umbrella Cockatoo, age 26 who, despite head-only petting when she is ‘broody’ will lay an occasional egg or two (maybe once a year, sometimes not for a couple of years). 
 
I have never been able to find the answer to: Is it better to let her sit on the eggs or take them away immediately? We have tried both methods. She gets a very healthy diet and supplemental calcium when she is going to lay.
 
I have read that if you take away the eggs, it encourages them to lay more, but I worry that sitting on the eggs for several weeks isn’t good for her either. Has any research been done on this topic?

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