A blue hen was sitting on 8 fertile eggs, the owner lifted the lid to find the hen dead. Upon necropsy (it was a hen of mine which I had sold) you will never guess what was found, there was a seed hull in the lung! It had started to fester and caused an infection which killed the bird.
When I feed my birds, I take 40 seed cups outside (one at a time) where I stand and blow off the hulls. I also use a sifter (flour sifter, or mesh sifter with handle will work as well, NOT a colander) and I pour the contents of the seed cup in it to take out the dust, I have always felt it could not be good for the bird to be inhaling the dust from under the seeds.
There are two important lessons here; first, obviously don't let hulls build up, blow off the hulls daily. This also allows you to see how much your birds are actually eating.. Secondly and most importantly, NECROPSY, NECROPSY AND NECROPSY. Had this responsible bird owner NOT taken the bird in, it would have been speculation and wonder, also the fear of whether the male was, 1. Infected with something from the hen or, 2. the male was sick and infected the hen. There is only one way to define your problem and that is with necropsy. This is a bizarre thing to have happened but strange things can and do happen and you always want to rule out illness; you can live with accidents such as this, but it is foolish to worry yourself sick when you have an available tool to rule out sickness.
If you are trying to decide whether to bury a fond pet or necropsy and the decision is tearing you up, let me tell you this: A lab I can send directly to has a little box that I can check if I want the body returned, you can also have a gross necropsy done and the doctor can close the body with a little surgical glue and you can pick up your animal for burial.
You may ask, "Why if my bird is a pet would I need a necropsy?" well, you may want another bird and you want to make sure you did not have an illness that could be transferred to the new bird, many illness are airborne....you NEED to know that.
Lastly there are illness that are zoonotics, you could get some of these.
Please, always consider Necropsy, it may not shed any light on what killed your bird but it may help you sleep better to know the cause.
Necropsy Procedures:
If you wake up one day and find your bird dead. Cry and then get down to business. Mix a mild soapy, dish detergent, solution. Take the bird immerse it in the water ruffle the feathers and then pat it dry just to remove the dripping water. Place the bird in a plastic zip lock bag and put in the refrigerator NOT THE FREEZER. Call you veterinarian. Ask where to send the bird or where to take the bird if you are fortunate enough to have one within driving distance.
If you drive to the vet take a six pack cooler put some ice in it place the bird in the bag in the cooler and transport it that way. The key is to keep it cool. 40 degrees is nice but not critical.
If the bird must be shipped do it early in the morning and ship it either USPS Next day air or Fed Ex. I personally ship USPS. If packed properly it will cost about $17.00 over night coast to coast.
In a plastic bag place an already frozen pack of water or frozen chemical. You can either buy these packs from your Vet, or maybe they will give you some to keep in your freezer, or you can make them. I prefer the Vets package it has something in it that keeps it frozen longer than just freezing water. I place the frozen pack in a zip lock bag. I now wrap the ice pack and the bird, still in it's own zip lock bag, in some newspaper, then into the USPS Priority box and go to the PO to mail it or send Fed Ex. Never ship to a P.O Box. Always use a street address. Prior to mailing call the Vets office or Lab where you are sending the bird. Make sure they know you are shipping the bird and when it is due to arrive ( normally within 24 hours is fine). Your veterinarian may prefer to contact the lab or another vet that is another option. I prefer do to it myself. Make sure you tell them who you are, what type of bird you are sending (species), when it died, what you know about the birds death, ( was it sick or was it sudden). If you were treating the bird make sure to list all medication when it began and when it ended. What the bird ate last. Anything that you think will help. Write it all down also and include it in the package with the bird. Make sure they have your phone number ask for a call if possible and definitely a written report to be mailed to you. You will have to take the report to a vet to be interpreted unless you are real adept at understanding medical terms.
I use the same clinic whenever I loose a bird. There are no exceptions here, everything must be necropsied. If a bird dies that I have sold to someone else I beg them to send it to my vet for necropsy. If you are a breeder I personally feel it is a must do part of your program. If you are a pet owner it may be harder for you to deal with this but if you have other birds you should try to set aside the emotional feelings and do what you can.
Some of the most common causes of death other than accidents are Aspergillosis, Candidiasis, Chlamydiosis, Pacheco's, Papillomavirus, PDD, Hypovitaminosis of A vitamin, Egg Binding, Egg Yolk peritonitis and Liver Disease and in Parrotlets Mega Bacteria. There are many other causes including virus and serious organ dysfunctions.
April Winger, C.A.S.
Catfood Aviaries
International Parrotlet Society, President