chicken lice and parrots?

[chickenjones]

Hi Everyone,
My MIL is trying to downsize or rehome all of their breeder birds. They were in the business for awhile, but they are getting up in years and they are afraid they won't be able to give them a quality life for much longer. Before that happens, they are trying to rehome them. I told her I would LOVE to have her pair of Blue Crowns. However we have chickens. I have been told and read chickens and birds don't mix. These Blue Crowns have lived outdoors their whole courted life together. They have a HUGE enclosure to live it. I have three acres my chickens range on. I was thinking I would put the Blue Crowns in a dog run we don't use anymore that the chickens wouldn't go in. So they would be inside their enclosure inside the dog run. Would that keep them safe from chicken lice and chicken illnesses? I read chickens get mites from wild birds...is that how they get lice? is it transferable to the birds?

Thanks for any info you may have!

ChickenJones

 

[Imp]

I really don't know about chicken diseases in parrots. I hope someone more knowledgable about parrots, will chime in. I googled it and the lists I saw had different names than I see here on BYC, but I suppose it could be the same, just using different names.

As far as mites & lice, I read that outdoor parrots can get mites & lice from wild birds, so it seems that they are not species specific. So I would say that yes parrots can get lice & mites from chickens.

Good luck with the parrots

Imp

 

[chickenjones]

Hi Imp,
Thanks for the reply. I talked to my MIL and she said she thought it specifically had to do with chicken droppings (the dangers to parrots). My new parrot friends will be in a cage that is more than four feet off the ground so I am not to worried about that and my MIL told me I can keep mites at bay by treating their perches, much like you can do with chickens...I am very excited to have these guys!!

Oh she also said, care for the parrots first and you are less likely to give them anything. Never do the chickens first. That makes sense

 

[onthespot]

i have been using my lovebird flights for growout pens for young chickens and none of them have gotten sick. The lovebirds stay up high, the chickens stay down low. I can't imagine a lovebird trying to eat chicken poo. They are pretty picky about even what seeds they will eat out of their mix.

 

[Alkonost]

The only communicable diseases between chickens and parrots are Avian Flu, protozoa like Coccidia, and parasites like roundworms, mites, and lice. Sprinkling DE under the parrot cages is the safest way to prevent lice and mites. That, and keeping the enclosures clean and, yes, taking care of the parrots first and then the chickens second. It's also a good idea to create a foot bath of water and Chlorhexidine at the threshold of your parrot enclosure so that you don't inadvertently track in feces and pathogens on your shoes. I just use a litter box and fill it with just a couple of inches of water, and then add a splash of Chlorhexidine. Then you just dip the bottoms of your shoes in and you're good to go.

 

[chickenjones]

OOOH Good advice Alkonost! We love DE around here...why didn't I think of that? I think I am OVER Thinking everything and then I can't think of what I already know...

 

[ellend]

I wouldn't spray the perches; parrots chew everything. What is safe to spray on birds is not always safe to be ingested. Provide the parrots with plenty of safe but destructible toys. Check out PEAC; they are the absolute EXPERT parrot rescue group, very knowledgeable, and willing to help. They give free classes, too, which teach you MANY VALUABLE things about care and behavior (especially the "don't do this..."!!!) Parrots are very sensitive birds in EVERY sense of the word. Please read PEAC approved books, as there is MUCH very harmful misinformation in print out there--especially in older books, and books about "training."

Good luck!

 

[chickenjones]

Thanks Ellend! I have never heard of that group and I will definitely look into it.