So very sad

[Pips mom]

I recieved news yesterday from someone I know that their little lovie boy got sick and died, then when she tried contacting the breeder she got this lovie from, she found out that her site was shut down and a note was posted that her flock was infected with PBFD. I found the site.....http://www.littlewingaviary.com/ I think she told me there were 81 birds that were put down because of this.....this breeder had all her birds euthanized.....I think most, if not all were lovies. To make matter worse, anyone who got a lovie from this breeder has now exposed any other birds they have to PBFD including someone I know.....her flock....several budgies and several parrotlets,two lovebirds, two cockatiels and their two babies that are probably around weaning age, a male eclectus, a meyers, and a green cheek conure. Little Buttercup, her baby boy that died, she had him for three months, so even quarantine for one month would have been not enough. I feel just terrible for her now.......her parrotlets were breeding and having babies she could sell to good homes.....cockatiels had two babies too....now, no more babies, and all of her flock has probably been exposed. How very sad to read that site and see that this woman put down all those birds....I sure hope that they get the vaccine for this soon!

[linda040899]

I am very sorry to hear about this! PBFD is a devestating disease and there seems to be more of it around than I realized. Each and every time you purchase a new bird, go to a pet shop, bird show or anywhere there are birds, you run the risk of bringing disease back with you attached to your clothing, hair or even skin.

There is a vaccine in the works but it's a preventative, not a cure. Not sure when it will be ready for avian use.

[Flip]

Oh my god I burst into tears when I read her note. This is just devastating, and I can't even imagine.

[Jally]

Ohno! That is just devastating! I feel so badly for that breeder and for the lady who lost her baby boy.

[Jally]

I reread her letter on her site because I missed the part where she had her flock put down. I couldn't imagine having to make that decision. Was that really necessary for her to do?

[LovelySydney]

I just went to her site - I feel so bad for her!! Having to make the decision to put all her birds downI cant even imagine, those helpless birds. I know that these things DO happen and they are probably relatively easy but I hate seeing it happen to people who do everything by the book and really care about their birds. I have heard of this aviary before and Im positive I have been to the website before this news.

That is just so sad - makes you really think about getting your birds a well bird exam before ever concluding that they are healthy.

[linda040899]

Was that really necessary for her to do?

Unfortunately, yes.

If you are a single bird owner or only have a couple, that choice becomes a personal one. However, her aviary is a business. Theoretically, a business is supposed to support itself or the breeder has to find a way to support/feed a lot of birds with no revenue to offset expenses.

While I'm a breeder, I haven't declared my aviary to be a business. It's a personal hobby and I foot the expenses when there are no sales to offset what I spend on my birds. In all the years I've owned Lovebirds Plus Aviary, I don't remember even one year where I even broke even. Too bad I can't claim my birds as my dependents for income tax purposes!

[Pips mom]

If you ask me, people shouldn't be allowed to have that many birds to breed, that they can't afford them if they aren't making money off of them....at least not until after a vaccine is found for this. For now people should only have smaller aviaries that they could afford to care for if something like this happened, instead of putting ALL those birds down...poor little innocent things. I see now why there are groups that try to stop the breeding of birds.....who could blame them for feeling this way after something like this. Not that breeding birds should cease, but there shouldn't be situations like this where the birds have to be put down because of the money.

[linda040899]

Best case scenario for her situation would have been to have kept all the birds alive and see who displayed visual symptoms. With PBFD, abnormal new feathers are a sure sign and the bird would have to be put down at that point or let the disease run its course. Very few survive so even smaller aviaries could have resulted in the same end, just not quite as fast.

In the case of my own birds (again), I have 2 aviaries in completely different locations and air spaces. Should I have something like this develop in one, it's not an automatic death sentence for everyone. Housing larger numbers of birds in different locations is also a possibility.

Here is a link to a site called Ellen's Parrots - http://www.ellen-parrots.com/ She lost a young African Grey to PBFD (Tommy) and, as a result of Tommy having PBFD, many of her other birds had to be euthanized.

[Enko_chan]

This is the hardest part of loving our birds. I just read Ellen's story. How awful.

After what happened with Enko chan and Loki, every time I look in my bird's cages my insides are in knots until I see them looking whole and healthy. Before this, we'd lost birds to a cat, to grief from loss of a partner, from old age (liver disease, tumors, heart failure, infection), one from horrible neglect of a bird-sitter while my mother was in the hospital when we were kids, and one flying out an open door... but nothing hits as hard as a disease that can affect the whole aviary. I'll never forget the grief that poor Enko's breeder went through. Fortunately, her main aviary was separate from the place where she bred the lovebirds and it wasn't affected. As for my other poor lost bird, his breeder, to this day, has not admitted the disease came from his aviary (the bird died less than 2 days after bringing him home from a virus that takes 2 weeks to incubate) and actively tried to sell this bird's parents to a friend of mine after finding out they were infected. I never asked him for money, not what I paid for the bird, or for the vet and necropsy bills, which were exorbitant. Even if everyone were careful and scrupulous these diseases would still be a threat, and some breeders and shop owners are considerably less-than.

Kudos to the breeder for alerting her customers. As for why she had to euthanize- I know how hard it must have been for her, and I am sure it had, in part, to do with money, but the way this disease is- highly contagious and up to 90-day incubation, and even more time until the birds are symptomatic- AND the birds that survive could still infect other birds! This is something she would be dealing with- emotionally and financially- for years to come. Every time she had all negative tests, she would have to wait 90 days and re-test everyone. Every time another one came up positive, all the anguish and vet bills, and the knowledge that more birds are likely to become infected. Think of all this while not making any income from your primary business!

With my fish- each fish is in an individual tank, except the babies until they are juvenile, at which time the males are separated out, and the females I wish to keep for my breeding program. Each fish has an individual net. Its a pain, but I used to keep my breeder females all together, and had ONE who managed to hide her parasite infection past quarantine and infected and killed most of my stock and caused the rest to require treatment. Now, treatment of fish is done in the home, and the meds are pricy but NOWEHERE near the costs of keeping an aviary running, and paying for medical treatment. It breaks the heart, and I am not sure I wouldn't have gone the more painful and expensive route myself, but I completely understand why she had to do it. How very very sad.