the worst part of caring for babies :*(

[BMustee]

As many of you know I have been caring for 4 baby greys...3 TAGS and a CAG. I've had them about a week now and all was going great...they all pumped great, crops emptied, everything was fine. Today I was, as my boss put it, Initiated into the grim side of breeding and caring for hatchling chicks. Last night the 2 week old Congo died. I was in hysterics as soon as I found him when I went to feed them as soon as I woke up. My boss calmed me down when I called her and told me to just bring him with me when I went into work. He was then taken by one of the other girls to our vet for a necropsy and from the amount of hemorrhaging in the organs he said it looks like Polyomavirus. It's now a waiting game to get the labs back on the baby and see if the others were also infected.

 

I want all of you to hold your babies a little tighter tonight, because I have seen how fast they can be taken from you and you never really know how long you will have with them.

 

 

RIP little man...

<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/07/01 04:01

[judygram]

OMG Berna, how sad for you to find him like that and even though he was not your own baby you were feeding him and tending to him and I know it hurts like hell to lose him. And to think that the rest may die because they were exposed to it is devastating to comprehend, I am so sorry but this is the reality of the business and you have been initiated into it for real.

[spookyhurst]

That is so sad . I would have been in hysterics too! Is Elmo safe, or will she need tested for the virus too?

[BMustee]

Thank God I had him vaccinated when I first started woring in the store...so he is protected from the virus. Just incase it was a bacteria they were exposed to I'm giving them Nystatin and Baytril (not sure if those are spelled right) with their first feeding and their last feeding each day. I'm really hoping it was an infection and not Polyoma.

 

It hurts just as bad as it would be to loose Elmo...I got so attacked to that little guy. It was cute, after he ate I would lean down to talk to them...telling them that if I give them anymore they'll explode...and he would reach up and nibble the tip of my nose. I'm going to miss him so bad.

[M2MM]

I can't imagine the stress of having a baby CAG die! You must have been absolutely sick. It makes me very sad to think of it.

 

{Feel-bad-00020072}

[lovemyGreys]

Sorry you had to go through that Berna,i can only imagine your pain right now,i do know through my friend the heartache it causes when you loose a baby (((hugs)))

[codysmom]

This is so sad. Sorry you are going thru this.,

[mas]

Berna, I am so sorry to hear this sad news. *hugs*

It must have been really shocking; however from what you have described it sounds like your baba did not suffer so much, and now he's at peace in birdy heaven.

Not all can be fun and games an happy endings - unfortunately this is life.

Just seek comfort in knowing, that you were always there for him, you did your best for him and for the short life he had - he had all the love anyone's little heart could desire!

Keep up the brilliant work!

-Sameera

[danmcq]

Berna, I am so sorry to hear of your traumatic experience in feeding the babies. It is very sad to lose such a helpless baby that gave no warning. It is a very common experience to large scale breeders, that know it is a part of life that can not be changed or avoided in most instances.

 

If it is due to the Polyomavirus, all the other chicks are in danger also. As well as any other non-vaccinated chicks that clutch has been around.

 

Please let us know the out come of the necropsy and how the rest of the chicks are doing.

 

Also, I would assume that your store knows the breeder the chicks came from and can follow up with them?

[BMustee]

Oh yes, we get a lot of our grey from him and I'm sure someone has already called him. I'm also preparing myself for loosing another chick. We did the vaccination on the other 3 but it could very well have been a little too late. The one good thing in the baby greys being so young they were not kept on the showroom yet, but in the back office away from all the other birds.

 

Sense I have been breeding finches I have lost my share of babies, but that never really hurt too bad. They can have the "failure to thrive" or just not be strong enough to make it on their own. Everyone at the store has lost a baby or two but they all agreed that it really sucks for me because I am still new to caring for a large scale of babies. Steph was telling me her first baby lost was an 8 week old U2 and it was fine one day and the next morning it was gone. It was an infection that had gone undetected and just took hold of the poor thing. She had also lost a Greenwing macaw from Polyoma year ago...it died right in her arms. At least now I don't feel like it was my fault, but it's still heartbreaking to thin I could lose another one.

[danmcq]

It's good to hear that you don't think it's your fault Berna. I know you care for those babies just as if they were your own. :-)

 

Every loss of life is always saddening, but it is the way of all the Earth. It is a hard fact of life, that none of us ever get used, because life is so precious.

 

You have chosen a hard path, but I know that you make a difference everyday in the life's of those Parrots, the store workers and also the customers as you cull out the bad prospective Parrot purchasers and assist the well informed and experienced ones.

 

I truly do hope it is not the virus and the other babies make it.

[Tycos_mom]

I feel so sad for you I can only inagine how awful it must be to lose a baby thats been in your care. I know your doing everything you can do for those little guys. I pray that its not that awful virus and that all the other babys thrive and live long healthy lives.

 

[HeatherStrella]

I'm so sorry! A big hug to you. Take care...