African Grey

Your African Grey

Bird: Birds are beautiful pets for all pet lovers. Due to their good looking nature, people are attracted towards birds within short time.

African Grey:

This is a medium sized parrot species and noted as a best talkative and talented bird. Name itself says the colour of bird. It is a dusty-looking grey bird, almost in colour of pigeon. It is capable bird to immediately and easily mimic the sounds what it hears. Grey reaches full talking ability around a year of age or earlier too. Train your bird to make it family friendly. Training stand and clickers might be good tools.

African grey is not only a top talker but also extremely intelligent bird. Bird can lives for 30 Years. Bird is with a bright red tail, intelligent orange eyes. Bird is from a natural habitat of coastal mangroves and forests in the West and Central Africa range. It is also referred as the Congo African grey. Their diet in the wild consists mostly of palm nuts, seeds, fruits, and leafy matter.

African greys need plenty of toys that challenge their intelligence, such as puzzle toys. Never make your bird to undergo the stress environment and surroundings. It impacts your bird a lot. Provide sometime out of bars in a play area.

Types: African Grey variations

There are two distinct subspecies of the African grey parrot: the Congo African grey (Psittacus erithacus erithacus), also called the red-tailed grey and the CAG, and the Timneh African grey (Psittacus erithacus timneh), or TAG.

The CAG is more popular of the two subspecies, being larger and having a scarlet tail and black beak. The TAG is smaller with a much darker grey body, nearly black, with a horn-coloured beak, and its tail ranges in colour from maroon to dark grey or black. Both species make equally fine companions.

Identification of Gender in your African Grey:

It might be helpful to know the sex of your parrot if you intend to breed, or if you’re introducing another bird and want to prevent breeding. Though some Physical features helpful to identify the gender of your bird, it is always recommend to contact an avian veterinarian to have a DNA test. Make sure to get a certified DNA document from Vet for this testing.

Don’t allow any surgical and laboratory tests to check the gender. There is always some risk of harm to your bird.

DNA Test can be done from plucked feathers, eggshells, or toenail clippings. DNA collections from these samples are equally accurate as a DNA test from a blood sample. Blood feathers or moulted feathers contain enough DNA data for accurate testing. You have to pluck feathers directly from your bird.

Gender identification based on external features is applicable only when your bird reaches the maturity stage at the age of 2 years.

The visible physical characteristics as

Adult hood in African Grey:

African greys reaches maturity by the age of 18 months. They get ready to breed. But, never allow your bird to breed till it reaches minimum of 3 years. By that time, the hen’s body get ready for a mate and bear eggs.

Breeding characteristics of African Grey:

The pair interacts with a dance in which both partners droop their wings prior to mating. The male tries to gain attention and trust of female by performing many activities such as mating dance, raising the shoulders, bobbing of head, hopping, coming closer to female, sing loudly.

Once, the male gained the female bird’s attention, then the phase of grooming starts. The pair groom each other which makes the birds bonding themselves. In this stage, the female is ready to accept the male bird and make him in a mating stand and allowing him to mount her. A steady and strong perch is most important in this stage.

It is a mandatory requirement to do placing of the perch in cage before placing the birds. Place shredded newspaper, clean straw / dried grass, saw dust, coconut hull etc. in the nest box to a height of 1 to 2 inches to make your birds comfortable in.

Make sure to provide bathing for the female bird since the mating time without fail as bathing makes your bird to absorb enough moisture which improves the egg-building process in hen. Actual breeding season for greys is the October. They lay a clutch of 3-4 eggs in November and the eggs hatch after 28 incubation days. That happens in December. Twice a year, the bird can be breed.

Parrots usually stop laying eggs once they reach 10-12 years of age. Once both parent birds are done with the 1^st stage of breeding, the hen lays eggs. It is possible to find the hen whether it is about to lay eggs or not by noticing the external signs and symptoms.

Most parrots take between 1-3 days to lay their eggs. While the egg is being developed, ensure that the hen is getting enough calcium. Must provide calcium in the form of cuttle fish bones by using the stand to hold or else calcium supplements and vitamins and minerals to make sure it has enough in.

External Signs of hen which is about to lay eggs:

• Little heavier than normal weight. Check the weight.
• Her abdomen will enlarge and feel firm
• She will drink more water to replace the moisture that it takes to create an egg. Provide bathing for your bird.
• Hen does more chewing, shredding items for her nest
• Hen gains protective and aggressive behaviour. If highly aggressive, give the calming drops.
• Hen spends much time on the floor of the cage instead of perching
• Hen releases larger and nasty smelled droppings. It is always necessary to clean the dropping to avoid infections.
• With an egg forming inside the parrot, the hen may also walk with an awkward texture.
• Tail Twitching is most frequent and vigorous in egg laying hen

It is highly recommendable to feed your female bird a well-nourished food which includes sprouts, crashed egg shells to provide additional calcium and protein. Regular diet can be as wheat bread, fruits and vegetables.

The best time to feed is first thing in the morning and in the late afternoon or evening. Both parents eat much faster and much quantity to feed the young ones. Obviously, because of more eating, more droppings will be there in the nest box and must be cleaned now and then without disturbing the birds. As a pet owner, please make some noise such as tapping the box to alert the birds about your visit to the nest box.

Breeding complications in African Grey

Male bird complications:

Aggression: Male birds shows this as a normal behaviour and is also linked with testosterone levels. If uncontrolled, then Calming drops might be useful.

Infertility: Poor diet is main causative for the problem of immaturity. Food supplements and vitamin rich foods is the solution to treat the immaturity.

Female bird complications:

Female parrots might be suffering most of time with problems of no eggs or soft shell eggs or egg binding. No eggs might be result of lack of maturity in your bird.

Soft shells and egg binding: This might be result of calcium deficiency in your bird. Feed your bird calcium enriched food such as cuttle bone fish. Holder might be useful. Gentle massage is required in the phase of egg delivery. Apply little oil at the vent and massage the abdomen smoothly. Pushing the abdomen is required in this stage to get the egg out. In these circumstances it is important to ensure that no egg-shell fragments remain inside if egg broken in the process of delivery.

Chronic egg laying: All kinds of Birds encounters the chronic egg laying problem. Most of those are infertile eggs. This is controlled by reducing the daylight exposure time, reduce the activity of bird by removing the toys in the cage. The laid eggs should not be removed all of a sudden from the nest box. Those must be removed in a week to 10 days in a day wise. If removed suddenly, the bird lay more eggs and sometimes bird gets depressed. This phenomenon might further leads to loosing of bird’s calcium and gets weaken. If bird feel sad and dull after removing the eggs from the nest box, better to keep 2 to 3 eggs to maintain the bird’s mood up to the mark for some period. Later on, remove the eggs.

Peritonitis: This is a problematic issue for hens. The eggs inside sometimes might be with leakage which leads to accumulation of egg material inside the abdominal cavity of parent bird. This leakage further results in secondary infections, swelling of parts. This might leads to death of hen.

Growth complications in chick of African Grey:

Death of Embryo in Egg:

Embryos death inside the egg during incubation is most common problem. This occurs mostly because of temperature and humidity.

• Chilling of the egg terminates the development of the embryo. Might kill the embryo.
• Excess heat or less humidity dehydrates the egg. Provide bathing for your bird while laying egg.
• Excess humidity results in a water-logged condition in the egg which results in drowning of the embryo.
• Rarely some infectious agents may enter in to the egg which causes death of embryo.

Death of chick while hatching out: 

This disaster to the chick would be the result of dehydration. Dehydration might happens because of

• Humidity is not good enough during the hatching period
• Insufficient turning of the egg during incubation

Because of this, egg shell membranes dry out and becomes hard. So, the chick gets stuck inside.

Preventive measure: Humidity at this time needs to be around 70% and drops of water may be applied to the chick’s beak tip as it works at the crack in the shell. Bathing is most important.

Note: Sprinkling of water need to be done carefully. Too much interference at this stage might leads to haemorrhage in the egg or the start of infection.

Omphalitis (yolk sac infection):

This condition might results from

• Delay of the yolk sac absorption by the foetus
• Premature hatching
• Too much handling of the chick

Deformity (Stunting):

This condition might be result from

• Too high incubation temperatures
• Poor nutrition of the parents
• Genetic influences

Characters of healthy chick:

• Healthy Chicks is alert and reacts to sound or movement.
• The skin of chick must be smooth and pale pink.

Dehydrated or abnormal chicks:

• Dehydrated chicks appear grey or dark red
• Skin of dehydrated chicks appears wrinkled

Viral infections in African Grey:

Several viruses affect parrot chicks and spreads infections.

Polyomavirus: This virus cause rapid death in young chicks. Chicks affected with this virus shows a very pale skin colour with small spots of haemorrhage.

Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease: PBFD is caused by Psittacine circovirus which affects older chicks, as they start to grow feathers. The new feathers which just arises might clubbed or constricted, and will fall out easily. Infection leads to deformities in feather and beak growth.

This virus affects the all organs of bird slowly and also impacts the immune system in the later stages if not treated on time. This might leads to death of bird with acute organ failure. The virus prefers to live and grow in the dividing cells. The tissues of young birds which grows rapidly such as are best sites for this virus. Damage of all organs further leads the bird vulnerable to other bacteria and viruses which makes the life of bird as a disaster. The virus survives for months to years in feather dust, faeces, or nest material. This again leads to spreading of virus easily to other birds via

• inhalation of contaminated air with feather dust
• ingestion of contaminated faeces or crop secretions. Clean the Cage and nest box always with cleaners.

Red urine: This condition is particularly noticed in juvenile African grey parrots. This is nothing infectious or serious alarm. Just because of food items. Observe and change the food items.

Mouth and throat infections: These infections are common in baby parrots. Infections spreads via poor feeding, contaminated food. Can be treated with antibiotics and anti-fungal drugs. Place food catchers in cage to collect the left out food or droppings.

Crop Injuries and infections: This happens while the process of hand feeding. Get through on the feeding formula and must be careful with equipment. Those feeding syringes or pipettes should not be with pointed tips or sliding rubber tubes which can easily. Any holes made by these feeding syringes to the chick’s oesophagus needs surgical repair to correct the things. But, this is little complicated process. It is always better to feed the chicks very carefully.

Crop stasis: The ingested food material accumulates in the crop and may fermented instead of digestion. This might leads to many other bacterial infections. Reasons for this problem might include hypothermia, dehydration, foreign bodies, or infections. Large volumes of liquid content need to be massaged out slowly with the chick turned upside down. This technique helps to resolve the problem.

If noticed and untreated, this might leads to distension of crop. The crop slowly sags down below the level of stomach. Because of this, the food remains in the crop and never been digested. So, it is always recommended

1. Feed small and frequent meals for the babies.
2. Give few drops of lemon juice with the food which acidifies the gut and helps in proper digestion.
3. Use crop bra of soft tape wrapped around the lower neck and chest to lift up the crop.

Never feed your bird too hot or too cold food. Hot food leads to ulcers over the long period and cold food leads to indigestion problems over longer period. It may further leads to unnecessary problems to the bird digestive track and it requires surgical repairs to treat this.

Skeletal problems:

Skeletal problems are common in parrot chicks. Most frequently encountered is Metabolic Bone Disease which is commonly known as rickets. Usually a lack of calcium and vitamin D, with too much phosphorus in the diet fed to the parent birds. Greys are much susceptible to this problem.

This might further leads to splayed legs or folding fractures of the long bones of the legs and wings of birds. It is always recommended to take care of food what your bird is having. Focus on the food such a way that the food contains all the required ingredients.

Constricted toes: This is the problem of toes and foot and mostly noticed in medium to large sized birds. The toes will be swollen and cause problems in holding and walking. This swollen tissue must be removed and treated in early stages itself. If not, might further leads to gangrene.

Beak deformities: It is a condition where the lower mandibles extends beyond the upper rostrum. Calcium supplements might somehow useful to treat this condition. Might need of surgery to correct this if beak over grown. This condition is mostly seen in cockatoos and macaws. Trim the beak as per need with the help of Vet.

Incubation

The average duration of incubation is 31 days. All the eggs will be hatched after 28 days. Both parent bird takes part in the process of incubation.

Candling:

Candling is a process to observe the contents of eggs. Take the eggs carefully from the nest box and put some kind of focussed light such as torch light or mobile torch. Rotate the egg slowly to check the fertility, viability and foetus growth. Candling process to be started at 7^th or 8^th day incubation not before that. Because, the bird don’t start sitting on eggs until it lays 2 or 3 eggs. The fertilized eggs stay safe at room temperature for 8 to 10 days even though the bird is not sitting on eggs.

Finish the process of checking as soon as possible. Eggs are not supposed to be with light of more temperature like 104 degrees of foreign-heat. This may kill the embryo.

Tips of checking: 

• Egg which transmits the light brightly and that egg seems to be yellow when light passes into is considered as an infertile or un-incubated egg.
• Eggs showing a ring of blood in the egg or a dark dried spot of the shell or faded blood system says that embryo is dead.
• Dark spot at the large end of egg which is surrounded by outline of blood vessels says that embryo is live and good.
• Egg showing the bill in air sack says that about to hatch in 24-48 hours.

Parenting in African Grey:

After the hatching, the chick’s main requirement is warmth provided by their parents. The parents will not feed the chick for first 8 to 10 hours of hatching as the baby receives nourishment from absorbing its yolk sac. If parent bird is not feeding the young one, then pet owner need to assist the feeding process or else start the hand feeding with proper formula and equipment.

Sometimes, parents may push a chick aside from the other chicks. This might be because of many reasons. Pet owner must have an eye on nest box to check what is happening inside. Those chicks must be taken care with hand feeding. Hand feeding at night times is little difficult. But, the chicks need to be fed 1 to 2 times at night also between 12 AM to 6 AM. The basic and fundamental rule is that, the chick’s stomach never to be empty.

Hand feeding can be done even if the parent is taking care of chick. This practise makes your bird adopt to socialization with humans and become family friendly. Leave the chick most of time to the parent. Check and observe that, your parent bird is feeding all chicks equally or not. If not, those chicks should be with hand feeding. The newly hatched chicks are with closed eyes for a week. Pins of feathers will start appear from 10 to 12 days of hatching. Baby care guide might be much useful.

Weight should be monitored once in two days. Daily if possible. The nest boxes need to be cleaned every other day. Un-Hygienic nest box, cage may cause bacterial or fungal infections in the chicks. 

Behavioural patterns in African Grey :

Birds can’t tell us anything. The only way to understand the bird is through its behaviour.

Preening: Preening is how birds keep their feathers looking clean by cleaning the debris with their beak. Bird’s skin has preen gland which releases oil through the feathers which helps with waterproofing and acts as a precursor to vitamin-D production. A bird that is not preening might be ill. Plumage sprays or Aloe vera spray might be good at this stage.

Eye pupil dilation: In most of parrots, you might notice the pupil dilating in and out. This means that the bird is in excited state. Dot try to touch your bird in this condition as it may bite you strongly.

Contact Calling: In the wild, birds usually call the other birds of their species to know where those are. In captivity, the birds calls in the same way to find their companions and owners.

Beak Clicking, head bobbing and body shivering: The clicking of the beak, head bobbing and body shivering says that, bird is in an excited and anxious state. CBD might be helpful if your bird is too aggressive.

Chattering: This is a normal bird behaviour to show the surroundings that they are alert always.

Regurgitating: Regurgitating is a procedure when an adult bird brings up partially digested food to feed young ones.

Cat Napping: Birds show catnaps many times in a day. It is a normal behaviour of bird.

Screaming: Parrots usually scream which is a normal behaviour for parrot. Mostly the African species. Train the bird to stop unnecessary screaming.

Flapping Wings: This might be sign of happiness or exercise or about to fly.

Infertile egg laying: Female birds can lay eggs with or without a mate presence. This is normal behaviour until and unless the bird tries to hatch them. Prevent the process of bird sitting on eggs to hatch.

Aggression: Sometimes, the birds like cockatiels, cockatoos and African grey parrots are known to show behaviour of hissing and growling. This means they feel fear off and trying to protect themselves. Don’t try to touch the bird in this stage. It may attack you harshly. CBD might be helpful if uncontrolled.

Biting: Biting might be because of many reasons in captivity. Usually birds don’t bite in nature. Biting reasons such as

• Fear Biting: never give fearful situations for your bird. Try to avoid those as much as possible. Try to interact with bird in a very smoother way to bring it back to normal state. Make your bird a family friendly.
• Hormonal Biting: Normally birds bite during breeding season because of hormonal changes. This can be treated by adjusting the amount of day light to less than 10 hrs.
• Bite to protect themselves: If the owner has done something which the bird does not like it. The bird might bite to prevent that activity. Try to avoid the attention of bird from that activity or else stop doing it. Make your bird a family friendly.
• Biting with Jealous: This is such a kind of cute behaviour from birds of parrot species. If they feel that their owner’s love is shared with any others in a bigger way than the bird, the bird feels jealous and shows that behaviour in terms of biting. Show much love towards your bird. Make your bird a family friendly.

Screaming: Birds scream much if it is alone. Get another bird to pair it or else put good attention towards your bird. Generally birds love company. The best way is to get it paired. But, this scenario works out if your bird likes the new bird. Or else, it creates many unnecessary problems to both birds. Birds scream much when they realize that,

• Owner will definitely come to them if they scream
• Housemates gets irritated if they scream
• If it is a noisy environment
• Mate is available for them

It is always recommended that, avoid this kind of attention towards birds. Train your bird to avoid the screaming. Training stand and clickers might be good tools while training.

Plucking: A bird might pluck its feathers because of many reasons. Some are mentioned below

• Because of skin problem
• Because of infections
• Because of hot climate
• Because of hormonal changes
• Because of fearful about surrounding circumstances
• Because of poor nutrition, poor sleep
• Because of poor attention and poor love from owner
• Because of new bird into their cage sometimes
• Because the bird is bored by staying alone

Medical intervention is required to find out the exact cause to deal with. Aloe-vera spray or Plumage spray or feather glow spray might be useful as a preventive measure till the Vet consult.

One-person behaviour: Birds closely bond to one person who shows much affection and attention towards them. Apart from that person, the bird does not deal with others most of time. It might be aggressive towards others. This is a normal behaviour in birds. This can be prevented by handling the bird with many people with equal affection when the bird is young to make it family friendly. But don’t try this in adult stage of bird.

Bird’s behaviour in hormonal phase: Adult birds usually be with hormonal impact once a year in the spring. Birds are sensitive to light and its cycles. The light might change the egg laying process too. In this hormonal phase, birds behave somewhat aggressively. The only way by you can control your bird behaviour is by reducing the day light exposure time to less than 12 hrs. This subsided the hormonal levels of your bird. Relive the stress.

Never cause fearful situations to your bird. It may leads to many disasters in bird behaviour further leads to violent actions from bird. Especially, the bird owner need to have a focussed and undisturbed night environment for bird.

It is always recommended that, provide your bird a nice play area or stand outside of the cage for some time in a day without fail. Change the play area, stand, toys, swings as per your bird’s comfortability. Birds are not meant to maintain in cage. It should have some freedom without bars. In simple words, the better play time and the better bird’s life.

Don’t allow or encourage your bird to bite. Even if you’ve been bitten by your bird, please don’t show that you are afraid of biting. This will spoil the relation of bird towards you. Relax your bird by proper training or pleasant music or favourite toys or with CBD. Tricks also can be taught.

Birds always welcomes you if you touch and rub the cheeks and feathers in a gentle manner. Birds love this kind of pampering from their companions. Train your bird as such. Your bird will be happy spending time with you even if you are not holding him all the time. If your time not permits you for your bird, then at least provide some back ground music or some visuals or some melodious noise or something which is attractive to bird such as ladder or swing or toy. This makes the bird’s mood better.

Health line in African Grey:

Birds can’t tell us anything. The only way to find out the sickness of bird is potential signs and symptoms. Birds can carry infectious organisms such as Chlamydia psittaci which causes and spreads a condition called as parrot fever and Salmonella bacteria causing salmonellosis. Salmonella is a bacterium commonly spreads through an infected animal’s faecal matter. The infected bird passes out this bacterium in their stools.

Excessive feather plucking is a common ailment in African grey parrots. The birds often do it in response to feeling stressed, depressed. Sometimes, it can be seasonal or can be weather change or changing to new feathers. Never stress your bird. Relax your bird by bath. African greys are especially susceptible to feather picking, calcium deficiency, vitamin-A and vitamin-D deficiency, respiratory infection, psittacosis and psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD).

Signs of a sick African Grey bird:

Signs such as red or swollen eyes, persistently closed eyes or sleeping during the day, not eating, runny, bloody or discoloured stools or no stool production are always need to be considered as red flags and need of Vet consultation.

Change in activeness: A bird is always active and playful until and unless it is ill.

Sleeping: A change in your bird’s sleeping style such as sleeping much time, sleeping on two feet.

Down to cage: If the bird is settling down at the bottom of cage. It says that the bird is not doing well.

Nasal or beak discharge: If it is any kind of bubble or liquid discharge from nostrils or beak, then it says that bird is having some respiratory infection.

Clicking sound from the beak: A clicking sound that happens as your bird breathes indicates air sac mites, which finches and canaries are especially prone to.

Tail Bobbing: A bird that bobs his tail feathers (going back and forth), opened mouth, laboured breathing noticeably says that the bird have difficulty in breathing.

Vomiting: Vomiting is different from regurgitating. Regurgitation is to feed young ones. Vomit usually sticks to the feathers around the bird’s face and chest. Vomit says that the bird is not well.

Being pricked on by cage mates Birds will prick on other birds that are ill and may even kill the weakened one.

If you notice any of these signs, take your bird to your avian vet right away. It is always recommended that pet birds need to have Qualified vet visit at least once in a year for complete check-up. Be aware of, not all vets are qualified to work on birds, so you may have to look around to find one.

As a pet owner, you need to find the Avian Vet with the details as

• How long has the Vet been working on birds? Ideally the Vet should have extensive experience working directly with birds.
• Does the vet clinic has admission area for ill birds?
• Do they serve for emergency situations?
• Does the doctor already dealt with your species of bird? The answer should be yes, unless you have a very rare type of bird.
• Vet has to do Physical exams such as body weight, temperature, feathers, abdomen etc.

First Aid for sick bird before taking to Vet:

Ventilate the room enough to avoid the circumstances of toxic fumes and other air toxins. If your bird got accidentally into a household oil, dust the bird thoroughly with baking flour and then gently wipe the oil off. Then sink the bird in like warm water. Use some gentle soap which can remove the oil dirt from the bird. Wipe and allow your bird to dry.

Don’t let your bird in hot areas. If your bird shows signs as beak open, holding the wings slightly away from the body, it seems like the bird is under heat stroke.  Take the bird to cool area immediately and use a mist of cool water. Feed some cool water.

Maintenance of your African Grey:

Bird’s care:

Greys are charming and brilliant. Even a small mismatch or change in their routine can make the bird unhappy and can lead to behavioural issues. They are creatures of habit. Unhappy bird mostly prone to plucking and chewing their feathers. Train your bird for basic level and move further for tricks with the help of training tools such as clickers and stands.

African greys are social parrots that need a lot of hands-on time. Every bird has individual tastes and preferences.  A grey can also become a one person bird even if every member of the household socializes with it from the beginning.

Birds are sensitive creatures that are prone to injury or illness from common household items. Things we don’t often see as dangerous can be deadly for birds.

Bird must be taken care from circumstances such as

• Ceiling Fans: Switch off your ceiling fans when your bird is out of cage.
• Scents and Perfumes: Air Fresheners and anything that scents the air using chemicals can be very dangerous for your bird.
• Threats: Cats, rats, rabbits have Pasteurella bacteria on their teeth and claws which is deadly to birds. Even a small scratch from a cat can leads to the death of bird.
• Electrical appliances: Must be very careful towards these and never allow your bird closer to these.
• Perches: Perches for the birds in the cage must be at least 5 inches in length and half inch in diameter. So that, your bird feels little relaxed in sitting on perches. To avoid contaminating food dishes with droppings, do not place food or water containers directly under perches.
• Toys: Birds are considered as beauties of sky. Give enough toys such as climbing threads with knots, small toy ladders, perches etc. keep changing the toys to make your bird always active.
• Cleaning: Please make a habit of cleaning of the cage daily. Thoroughly wash and dry the food bowls, water bowls daily. Never leave any droppings behind in the cage. Trays might be good option. Unhygienic conditions may spread the diseases. Use little concentration (less than 3%) of bleach powder to clean the cage floor once in every two months. Never use any aerosol cleaning agents as the bird’s respiratory tracts are very sensitive.
• Bathing: Provide the water dishes which are large enough for birds to bathe in. Birds who don’t bathe regularly can be misted a few times a week with warm water.
• Toxic fumes from kitchen: Let your home well ventilated and with exhaust fans to get away all the toxic fumes which will be delivered in your kitchen. Your bird may become woozy, have a seizure or even lose consciousness.
• Vinegar: Heated vinegar emits toxic fumes similar to carbon dioxide. Using of vinegar rich products to clean the bowls and utensils need to be strictly prohibited. This might leads to death of your bird.
• Kitchen utensils: Be cautious about Hot Pots, Pans, knives, scissors and sharp items. It is always better to stay your bird away from kitchen.
• Doors and windows: Never allow your bird to fly towards corners of doors and windows.
• Broken mirrors and glass ware: These sharp items may kill your bird. Be cautious.
• New Carpets in your home: New carpet emits fumes that can be deadly to birds. Keep your carpet out of the bad emits to save your bird.
• Wing Feather Clipping: Trimming of wing-feathers should never hurt the bird. Only the lower half of the bird’s seven to 10 flight feathers on the wing should be clipped as these don’t have a blood supply or nerve endings.
• Holding of your bird: Never hold your bird at chest region. It may trouble the bird with respect to breathing. Better to use hareness.
• Trimming of nails: Nails has a blood supply. Nail will bleed with deeper cuts. Using of nail clipper is the most comfortable way to trim the nails. Trim very tip of the nail. One week span is good enough to trim nails smoothly to give a picture as if nothing done to bird. A bird’s beak can get flaky and overgrown. This can be sometimes, the result of a poor diet. Beak trimming must be done by Qualified Vet.
• Moulting Care: Moulting is the process by which a bird replaces old feathers with new. Feathers are replaced on all parts of the bird’s body simultaneously. This happens once or twice a year. It is noticeable that a quite lot of feathers on a bottom of the cage. Moulting usually determined by exposure of bird to daily light. Poor nourishment impacts the production of new feathers. Need of extra protein diet while the bird is moulting. Bird takes rest for more time in this stage. Plumage or Aloe-vera or Feather glow spray might be useful.

The best food for your African Grey:

In the wild, birds eat a vast variety of foods from the seeds, nuts, grasses, flowers, fruits, insects etc. Bird is captivity need to be provided with a balanced diet which includes all elements of their growth and metabolism.

Especially small birds have a very fast metabolism and most of those choose to eat all day long. Provide food as per their size and activity. Get through knowledge on what to feed.

African greys are more prone to deficiency in vitamin-A/beta-carotene. It is always recommended to feed vegetables which are high in beta-carotene, such as cooked sweet potato and fresh kale. Vitamin-D deficiency is another concern, especially for greys on a poor diet. Offering a balanced, pelleted diet for the main diet of an African grey helps prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies. A grey that consumes a pelleted diet generally does not need vitamin supplements added to its food.

The best food for an African grey in captivity is a high-qualitied, formulated pellet supplemented food of

• Boiled Eggs Yolks
• Veggies: Maize, corn, millets
• Nuts: Cashew, Almonds, Pistachio
• Seeds: Sunflower Seeds, flax seeds
• Leafy greens like arugula, watercress, kale, sprouts
• Fruits: Apple, Strawberry, Banana, Papaya, pomegranate, mango, melon

Remove and discard all uneaten fresh food by the end of each day. Better to place food trays.

Please make sure that the food have Omega fatty acids and enriches its diets with vitamins and minerals. Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids in the diet are good for body functions. Common sources for omega 6 fatty acids are eggs, poultry food, cereals, vegetable oils and baked goods.

Foods that are high in the omega 3 fatty acids are flax seed, walnuts. Foods high in the omega 6 fatty acids are sunflower seeds. The balance between these two fatty acid families is important, because higher levels of omega 6 than 3 appear to promote inflammation, while higher omega 3 than 6 are anti- inflammatory.

Fruits of choice for birds such as apple, banana, berries, melon, orange, pineapple and veggies such as cooked beans, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, leafy greens, peas, soybeans, sprouts, etc.

Parrots can eat herbs like cilantro (coriander), basil, oregano, peppermint, rosemary, ginger. It is always good for a bird to have a vitamin and mineral supplement along with regular food. Fruits in orange colour and dark green veggies make great daily food for all birds.

Vegetables and fruits which are kept and not eaten within a few hours should be discarded. Never share food from your plate or your mouth. People have microorganisms in their mouths that can cause illness in birds.

Sunflower seeds: Seeds are with mild, nutty flavour and a firm but tender texture. So rich in healthy fats, beneficial plant compounds and several vitamins and minerals. Seeds are composed of Saturated, polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats, Protein, Carbohydrates, fibre, Vitamin B6 and E, Niacin, Folate, Pantothenic acid and micro elements like Iron, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Selenium etc.

Flavonoids helps in reduction of inflammation. The magnesium helps to reduce blood pressure. Linoleic acid relaxes the blood vessels. It is better to give sprouted and roasted sunflower seeds because sprouting will boost the capability of absorption and activity. Roasting will eliminate the bacterial contamination.

Bajra (Pearl Millet): Bajra on Regular diet may help in preventing chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. Bajra consists of components Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates, Fibre, Sodium, Folates and micro elements like Iron, Magnesium, Thiamine, Niacin, Phosphorus, Zinc, Riboflavin, and Vitamin B6. In general, cooked millet is good enough as nutrient source. Bajra is high in plant components like antioxidants, polyphenols, and phytochemicals which are contributing to good health.

Jowar (sorghum): Jowar is a high energy bird food with nutrients and easily digestible food source. Suitable to feed all birds throughout the year.

Coriander leaves: It is also known as cilantro. It is leaf with anti-microbial property. If your bird is with infection, then this leaf is good meal to treat. It’s packed of vitamins such as A, C, E, K and minerals.

Basil: Basil is known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Leaf is ideal food for sick birds or birds with weak immune system.

Rosemary: This herb is rich in antioxidants. Herb also has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.

Oregano: This herb contains high amounts of antioxidants. Herb prevent oxidative stress and shows good antibacterial properties.

Thyme: Thyme is herb of anti-bacterial properties which can treat respiratory issues due to the essential oil thymol present in the plant. It is composed of Vitamin A, C, B6 and micro elements like Zinc, Calcium, Iron, and Manganese.

Peppermint: This herb contains much of vitamin C.

Sweet corn: Corn is as nutritious for many birds. Corn is rich in vitamin C, carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin. Because of it’s an antioxidant property, it helps cells from damage.

Spinach: Leaf with abundant Vitamin A, C and K. Leaf also with micro nutrients like iron, folate, and potassium.

Mint leaves: Parrots can eat almost every type of mint. Leaves does not contains any harmful compounds or chemicals.

Boiled egg: It is a known fact that egg is good food. It sounds a little weird to feed eggs to birds. Feeding of your bird a boiled and crushed egg is always recommended. Egg is such a kind of food with protein abundance. Egg yolks contain choline which is a great food for brain functioning. It also enhances liver functioning.

Foods That Are Toxic For African Grey:

These foods are not as immediately dangerous to parrots. However, they’re still toxic foods in the technical sense. They may lead to health issues if fed often, prepared incorrectly, or given in large amounts. Please don’t feed cold or hot items to your bird. Never please.

Eggplant: Eggplants are a member of the nightshade family. So, it contains solanine, which is a type of poison. In parrots, solanine can cause gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. Never feed your bird an eggplant.

Raw Meat: Meat can be fed to birds depends on their size. Avoid meat feeding for small bird species. Can be fed to Parrots as these are considered as omnivorous birds. Meat which is properly cooked is good enough to feed parrots. But, never feed raw meat. Raw meat is host of dangerous bacteria, such as Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli which leads your bird to severe disasters like Vomiting, Nausea, Diarrhoea, Stomach cramps, Dehydration and finally death if not treated on time.

Peanuts: As Peanuts grow in the ground, they are likely to contain aflatoxin which has been known to harm the liver.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes are not poisonous to birds. But they are acidic. Too much can cause ulcers.

Whole Celery Stalks: Celery stalks can lead to dehydration and hypoglycaemia. When left untreated, crop impaction can lead to death.

Cassava starch: Cassava is a starch product which is toxic to birds. Products of this component is dangerous to birds.

Carbonated Beverages, Alcohol: Carbonated beverages contains sugar, caffeine, artificial colouring and flavouring agents, preservatives. Alcohol also comes under this category. These components are not good for humans itself. How come good for pets. Not at all good. Never try to feed your pet.

Fried Food: You should never feed your parrot food that is been fried. It does not matter what extent the item is fried. Neither little nor much fried. Fried food impacts the metabolism of bird. Always avoid fried items whatever the item is.

Chocolate and coffee: Theobromine and caffeine comes under category of methyl xanthine. For humans, these components can stimulate the brain activity. But, for birds, it can cause hyperactivity, heart rate irregularity, tremors, seizures, and further leads to death. Caffeine is present in carbonated drinks, energy drinks, black tea etc. avoid all products of caffeine and theobromine.

Avocado: Every part of the avocado plant contain a fungicidal toxin called Persin. This has been reported as a cardiac toxin to birds. Within hours of time since the feeding of avocado, your bird get worsen with clinical signs like respiratory distress and death.

Seeds of cyanide: The apple seeds contain cyanide and should always be removed prior to feeding apple to your bird. The larger the seed or pit, the more cyanide it contains. Seeds from cherries, plums, apricots, and peaches also contain cyanide, so never allow your bird to chew on them.

Table Foods: Always avoid table foods such as fat, salt, and sugar. Boiled pasta without addition of salt, cheese, sauce, butter is good enough to feed. Salt intake leads to excessive thirst, dehydration, kidney dysfunction, and even death. Avoid salty foods such as chips and crackers etc. 

Candy: Candies contains xylitol which is toxic and has been associated with severe hypoglycaemia and liver damage in dogs. Never feed candies to your pet bird or pet dog.

Milk products: Birds cannot digest lactose. This component is found in milk and other dairy products. Feeding of dairy products causes diarrhoea. Not all dairy products contains lactulose. For a common man, it is not possible to find which dairy products contains lactulose. So, it is always recommended to avoid all of these.

Dried beans: Raw, dry bean are toxic food for birds and considered as poisonous foods for parrots. Uncooked beans contain a poison called hemagglutinin.

Mushrooms: Mushrooms are fungus. Some of mushrooms are good protein food for humans but not for birds. Morel mushroom (Gyromitra) is one poisonous mushroom. It is not possible to decide which mushroom species is not toxic to birds. So, it is always recommended to avoid all kinds of mushrooms to birds. Feeding of mushrooms may results in digestive upset for birds and may even induce liver failure.

Onion: Feeding of onions on long standing will impact the bird’s digestive system by causing problems such as vomiting and diarrhoea. Sometimes may leads to blood condition called as haemolytic anaemia, respiratory problems and ultimately death of your bird. Some reports in the internet already confirmed the toxicity from these foods.

Garlic: Garlic is another ingredient that can’t be given to parrots because it contains Alliin and Alliinase. When the Garlic is sliced, the cell walls are broken and the two compounds are mixed. When combined, they create allicin. This component eliminates pungent odour. Just like onion, garlic also been toxic on long standing. Allicin on long use causes haemolytic anaemia.

Stems and vines of Plants: The plants comes under night shade family such as tomato, potato, egg plants, pepper etc. are toxic to birds. The stems and vines of those plants contains tropane alkaloids. It is not possible for a common man to find which plants contains these toxic alkaloids. So, it is always better to avoid the feeding of stems and vines of plants.

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