Ask Ash

assisted by Crista Kangas
Autumn 2003

Welcome to Ask Ash!
This is the place to have your avian questions answered. In every newsletter, Ash will answer selected questions submitted by you, our readers.

Learning about Herbs

Dear Ash,
I am a very new beginner at this "herbal stuff".
I would like to learn more and have some herbs at my disposal for various uses. Anyone know some very beginner books and articles to get me started?
I sure would appreciate it.
Georgia

Hi Georgia,
If you are interested in learning about herbs, your best route is to enroll in one of the excellent herbal schools, some of which are available through distance studies or online. The American Herbalist's Guild has compiled a list herb schools and also provides a searchable registry of herb professionals. http://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/ Henriette's Herbal Homepage publishes a list of hands-on and online herb schools, as well. http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/faqs/medi-7.html

Here are a couple of books to read:

Herbs for Pets by Mary L. Wulff-Tilford
Holistic Care for Birds by David McCluggage, DVM.
This book only has a few pages on herbs but there is a lot of other good information.

Here are some links for herb articles:
http://www.beaktreats.com/article_index.htm

This page has terms to familiarize yourself with:
http://www.holisticbird.org/resrc/termsherbal.htm

Check out the articles “Healing with Herbs” and “Nature’s Garden”.
http://www.holisticbirds.com/back.htm

Please be aware that herbs are not necessarily safer than drugs. After all, many drugs were developed from herbs. Birds can have reactions to an herb that might not cause a reaction in humans. Herbs can also interact negatively with each other and with some foods and drugs.

Used with knowledge, herbs can be a great tool, but used unwisely they can do great harm. Be sure you learn all about an herb, including any possible side effects and appropriate dosage before you administer it to your bird. Always observe your bird closely for several hours after medicating a bird with drugs or herbs.

The best strategy is to ask for supervision of your vet and/or a reputable master herbalist until you have completed your own herbal studies.

Safe Toy Making

Dear Ash,
I am thinking of making my lovebird some beaded toys (his toys are
playing havoc on my budget). I need to use a type of yarn or sting to
put the beads together. Could I use hemp string? I don't know if it
will harm him or not, because some people feed hemp seed to their
birds. If you could e-mail me soon that would be wonderful. Thank you.
Sarah

Sarah,
I do not believe that hemp string would be toxic to your bird, but its strength and flexibility might cause problems if your bird were to get tangled in it. String of any kind can cause great damage or death to our feathered friends when it gets wrapped around feet, legs, and other body parts. It is very important to keep a close eye on all toys made with string and rope.

Some other things you can use to string toys on are vegetable tanned leather, non-toxic wire, and even raffia. Here are some links to toy and enrichment ideas for your bird.

http://www.birdsnways.com/birds/ideas.htm

http://www.parrotchronicles.com/janfeb2003/toystory.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Super_Chic85/ToyIdeas.html

Birds with Disabilities

Ash,
How do I find birds with disabilities to adopt? We have hand fed all 3 macaws of our own and I am looking for a BIG bird with disabilities
Thanks, terry

Hi Terry,

Let’s see what Shauna Roberts has to say.
” It’s very commendable that you would like to open up your home to a disabled bird. As you've hopefully taken into consideration, this type of bird often requires that you or a capable person be at home to care for it, due to special needs, 24/7, which can very much limit a person's lifestyle. Even for a person that is home all of the time, if a chance to go on vacation or a job opportunity arises, care of the bird is a huge concern and vacations or such may be a thing of the past due to the needed commitment.

Another consideration, depending on the disability, can be veterinary or medical costs. The bird may require frequent veterinary care, check ups, operations, medication, etc.

These two hard considerations are often why when special needs birds do fall into the care of a parrot welfare facility, they are harder to find homes for. Facilities often screen people before adopting out birds, but to adopt out a special needs bird, screening can be even more rigid, due to the special requirements. Even the most caring person may not be able to give the commitment needed for such special birds. Many special needs birds are kept in a sanctuary rather than in the adoption program to assure their needed care.

There are a lot of birds out there that do need homes, disabled or not. In my opinion, a screaming or biting bird can be considered to have its own disability...it's certainly dysfunctional until it's loved and shown a better way.  I would hope that perhaps you'd consider bringing a bird into your home, due to it's individual personality, and how it might match up to your own and fit into your existing flock, rather than looking only for one with a disability. “

Shauna Roberts
Rescue Column-HBNewsletter

Thank you to all our readers for your letters and comments. Keep sending them in. If your question was not answered in this column it will be in the next.

Give your birds a scritch!
Christa and Ash