Abstract
With the summer comes the breeding season. Hopefully, yours has been a successful one. A number of questions have come in this month. A few will be answered below.
First a reader response to a previous letter: In reference to your last column which included a question on where to find Japanese tumblers, I too have been looking for them with no positive results. [The letter then goes on to list other species he is looking for.] JY Delaware.
Reply: This letter and others has raised a continuing problem. Where does one find the rare and the strange? There is the feeling that somewhere out there someone has just what you want. The problem is that there is no real way presently for people to get that type of information. The AFA attempts to maintain a census for education purposes, but the rules are very tight as to who has what birds. (And this is as it should be.) Our dear editor has told me that there is a movement afoot to put people together who have lonesome birds for which they have not been able to find a mate. The Education and Media Committee has plans to provide this service in cooperation with the Watchbird but those plans have to be approved by the Board before they can go into effect.
QUESTION: I have a lovebird that lays four to six eggs, sits fine until approximately a week to four days before the eggs hatch and then starts to peel the egg shell thus killing the young. I have had to foster the eggs each time. [An adequate diet with mineral block and cuttlebone are listed. The other hens in the flock do not have this problem.]
ANSWER: For an answer to this one I called Lee Horton, who has probably raised more species and mutations of lovebirds than any other aviculturist. He said that he has never had, in the multiple thousands of clutches, any similar experience. It appears that you have a hen with a plain nasty habit. Such erratic behaviors are not all that common. I know of a conure hen which loves to lay and then to smash. I have heard of other hens that lay like chickens, and have no interest in incubation. Fortunately, these aberrations are rare. Sorry I can't help more.
I should like to give a plug to The African Lovebird Society. These folk publish a journal ten times a year at the price of $15. Devoted exclusively to lovebirds, it covers maintenance, breeding, housing, etc. It's well worth the expense. Address: P.O. Box 142, San Marcos, California 92069.
QUESTION: [This question represents a couple requests so will paraphrase the problem. RT] I have a lovebird that at first had good feather presentation. Over a period of time it started to look scruffy and later patches of skin could be seen. I have taken it to the veterinarian who said it was a genetic defect and that there was nothing that could be done.
ANSWER: The problem raised by these questions seems especially common amongst lovebird mutations of the lighter shades. At first, an area appears which looks like the bird was in a fight and had some of the underfeathers bent out of shape. The sites commonly appear at the bend of the wing or on the chest and belly. Instead of going away like a normal injury, more and more appear until the bird looks like it has been through a blender. Two courses follow. If the bird is in the outside, it will probably die because of loss of heat so that some cool morning, it will be dead on the floor. The other option is the bird kept as a pet in the house where the temperature extremes are not so great. In this case the bird will gradually become nude. Ultimately, death will come.
The causes are puzzling and cannot be traced to one factor. All cases require testing in a veterinary lab and at some expense. A common possible cause is a bacterial infection in the quill of the feather. To determine if this is the case....