I had an awesome lecture about bird handling and flock management and care, by one of the top avian vets in the country and an interesting point came up that I thought would benefit those here. Ivermectin is not soluble in water, thus if you manage your flock by giving them ivermectin in their water, it is not very effective, as it precipitates into crystals and gathers on the bottom of the water bowl and is not dissolved. Meaning that when your birds have a drink of the water they are not actually getting any of the drug.

 

He also made another point that I immediately thought of the topic that is currently being discussed here about detecting psittacosis carriers. If you have a carrier they may not be affected by the disease but they are still shedding it. Thus the only way you can detect it is to introduce a sacrifical bird after the quarantine period and see if it is affected. Carriers apparently have had the disease in the past ( i'm not too sure on that though).

It was a very exciting lecture and I'm impatiently looking forward to our bird handling prac where we get to handle budgies through to cockatoos and maybe a Kea!!! We are also going to be taught how to do crop washes. Much excitement!

Edited April 30, 200817 yr by Sailorwolf

Jealous! I adore Keas, we hiked in NZ and they followed us all the way along the tracks, they are jut beautiful. They are like an NZ version of an African Grey parrot, I believe you can actually keep them as pets in Aus and if I ever got the chance I'd have one in a snap.

Oooh I don't think you can keep them as pets in Aus as they are a protected species and if you can (like you can with kakarikis) I will be extremely annoyed as they would have been smuggled out.

I believe there are a few in Aus from way back which are still bred. I think they are EXTREMELY expensive. They are definately in the list of species which the department of Environment believes are in Australia in the pet trade.