Your parrots five welfare needs
Bucktons, committed to cleanliness, consistency and quality.
1. A suitable environment
Providing an environment that allows birds to mimic the behaviours of birds in their natural environment, as much as possible, is vitally important to the general wellbeing of your pet birds. It allows birds to use their natural instincts and behaviours, which will ultimately improve their quality of life.
Flying time is essential for birds so they have plenty of exercise, like they would in the wild. That’s why it’s important that birds are outside of their cage as much as possible throughout the day. But when they are in the cage, Parrots need to be assured that that’s ‘their space’ so they don’t claim your whole room as their own!
Here are our recommendations:
Ideally parrots should use their cages as their ‘dining room’ and ‘bedroom’ only. The cage should be sited in a quiet space and covered over when they are put to bed at night.
Ideally build them an aviary in the garden to provide them with space to fly and exercise. It should have an area where they can sunbathe as well as shelter.
If this is not possible, then ensure they have a room where they can exercise, but make sure you ‘bird proof’ if first – they can be destructive and will chew most things!
For any bird the bigger the cage the better. They should be able to spread their wings without touching anything inside the cage, such as toys or treats. Make sure the cage door is sufficiently tall and wide, to allow you to lift your bird out of the cage on your finger, without them hitting their head.
As explorers they love to climb, so horizontal bars are perfect. A square or rectangular cage is recommended make sure the bars on the cage are thick enough so your bird can’t bend them. Ensure your cage is stainless steel and not galvanised, otherwise they may suffer from Zinc poisoning if they chew the bars. For similar reasons, plastic coated bars should also not be used.
Keep curtains open to enjoy the view. On nice days, place them outside in their cage. If birds are kept inside, an ultra violet light should be provided to ensure they get sufficient Vitamin D.
They like to look their best, so love to bathe. Cover the cage with a cloth at night, to ensure that they get a good night’s rest.
Perches. These need to be of a varying diameter to exercise their feet. Although uniform plastic or wooden dowels might be easy to clean they are not as effective as natural branches, which can then be replaced regularly when they become dirty. Some birds will chew the wood, so use branches from fruit trees such as apple or pear. Make sure you clean the branch thoroughly before putting it in the aviary or cage.
On the floor. Shelf liner paper or plain newspaper make suitable covers to catch faeces and can then be easily rolled up and disposed.
2. A proper diet including fresh water
All bird species have different dietary and feeding requirements, that’s why we have developed a range of foods, tailored specifically for your bird’s needs. All birds’ diets require a balanced and varied diet of seed, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as healthy snacks and a constant supply of fresh, clean drinking water. Feed a food that is clean and dust extracted to help limit the risk of respiratory disease.
3. Ability to express normal behaviour
All birds tend to be social creatures and communicate in a variety of different ways, often vocally or by nuzzling up to you whilst you watch television. However, you should never forget that at heart, even if captive bred, they are still wild animals so need a lot of time and patience to train them. In fact, the more time you spend with them the better.
By providing obedience training and consistent handling, a bird will understand what is required and lead to positive behaviour.
Therefore, make sure you develop house rules early on and these will be maintained through good training.
4. Companionship and other pets
Many birds are very sociable. This is related to how they would live in the wild. If birds are naturally flock birds, it’s important that they are kept in pairs, e.g. the Parakeets, to ensure they can have companionship they naturally crave from other birds. Parrots are highly vocal and social creatures, in the wild some parrots live in large groups, such as the African Greys, so these birds enjoy communicating to inform others where they are and what they are up to.
Many psittacines are often hand reared and imprinted. This means that they often see humans as their fellow birds, provided they are given lots of time to be social and interact with people they will be relatively happy without living with other birds.
5. Protection from and treatment of illness and injury
Preventing your bird from getting ill or injured by providing them with a suitable diet and environment to live in. If they do become ill, they should be diagnosed and treated rapidly.