ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 100, © 2004
No reprints without permission

Our CD of Robirda's canaries singing consists of 12 16-bit true-stereo tracks, each averaging almost 5 minutes long, for a total of 58 minutes and 48 seconds of canary songs.

You can hear a 10 second mp3 sample here. Listen carefully, and you will be able to hear the different positions of each bird!

We are now offering New Songs From The Birdroom for only $12.00, plus $2.99 shipping and handling. Order yours today!

Due to popular demand, Bird and Cage Co is continuing their Big Summer Blow-Out Sale until July 31st! Prices have been slashed, so drop by today for BIG savings on a wide variety of wrought iron cages!

Take a tour of the new Bird & Cage website, while you're there. The aim is to provide birdkeepers with a wide selection of good quality cages and cage accessories for great prices, and the new site shows it.

The annual moult will start soon, so this is a great time to be sure you have the cages and accessories you need on hand. You'll even get free shipping in the continental US on orders over $25!

Do you know of a great bird site which deserves a review? Maybe you have a favourite tip or trick that you like to use, or know of a product that has made your bird's life better or easier to manage in some way? Why not share them with other Flock readers? Send your ideas here.

Our special autographed edition of Robirda's book Brats in Feathers, Keeping Canaries has been getting a great response from readers. Here's just a few of the comments we've received;

"I ordered 'Canary Tales' by Linda Hogan last year... Although I fully recommend buying her book, I find Robirda's book much more complete, easier to read with less difficulty finding information."

"You have a way of making things easy to understand, and I love the look and feel of your book - not to mention that it is so easy to find the information I am looking for. THANK YOU!!!"

"It's SO beautiful, and the photos and illustrations are wonderful, I love it!!!!!! Thanks so much!!!"

"Received your book today, and was surprised how great it is! It's well worth the cost and then some, thank you!"

Learn more about Robirda's book at robirda.com/brats.html.

Try Robirda's ebooks for all the quality at a fraction of the price! See full ebook details here.

We rely on you to help keep this publication and its associated websites alive. If you find help you need in this ezine or on our websites, please consider joining our sponsors. For all those who continue to help out in so many ways, thank you for your warmth and caring.

Click here to read testimonials or for more details on sponsorships. If you're looking for something different, don't forget to check our home page for links to all our great products!

Our next issue is due Aug 1. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we look forward to seeing you all then! 

Robirda
Kelowna, BC
July 18, 2004

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

Hello! Welcome to Flock Talk's 100th issue. Subscribe and unsubscribe information for the email version of this ezine is at the bottom of this webpage.

Table of Contents

Website News

This issue features the first winning story in our contest, a heart-warming tale that qualified for 5th place. We are very pleased to award the winning prize package to Murray Grushka, in Florida. Murray, please send us an email so we can arrange to send you your prizes, yes?

We are also pleased to present a story that was too short to be a feature, but that we enjoyed so much we gave it an honourable mention. This tale of a handicapped budgie comes from South Africa, and we are pleased to award the author a complimentary copy of our Canary Song CD. Buks, send us an email, please, so we can arrange to send it to you?

We'll be giving away more great prize packages over the next four issues of Flock Talk. We have packages ranging in value from $100.00 to $140.00 to give away, but we need your help to do it.

We are looking for stories of living with and keeping birds, until Sept 15. The next four issues will each feature a winning story, and the author will be awarded a prize package, until all prizes have been won. Check them out, then send in your stories while there's still time!

Megabacteria Update

Flock reader Terry wrote in with some updates to last week's article on megabacteria. (Thanks, Terry!)

'Megabacteria' was misnamed and is now known as 'Avian Gastric Yeast (AGY). It is a fungal condition, not a bacterial condition hence the name change and also hence why it responds to antifungals rather than antibacterials.

The disease destroys the proventriculus and results in two main syndromes:

  - chronic form causes slow wasting disease, often with whole seeds seen in the droppings.
  - acute form causes gastric ulceration, haemorrhage into the bowel, malena, anaemia and sudden death whilst in good condition.

Genetic susceptibility is the greatest predisposing factor. Some strains being highly susceptible and others resistant.

Terry Martin, BVSc,
Australia

Bird Site Review

This is a new site with some growing to do, but they've already got a clean, attractive layout and a logical, easy-to-use set of navigation links to and from each area - something some sites never do seem to get around to setting up.

You can already find some great deals on Vetafarm products in the eStore, and you'll also find links to some great photos and useful articles, too. The eStore in particular is a bonus to those who live in the western half of the continent, because now you can order these items without having to pay a small fortune in shipping costs!

I'm hoping to see more development on this promising site soon; if the trend continues it's going to be well worth keeping an eye on!

Feature Story

This first of our contest-winning stories features a heart-warming tale on how a caring owner helped a handicapped little bird to survive - and learned that his little bird would affect his life and heart in unexpected ways.

by Murray Grushka
Miami Beach, Florida
Copyright © 2004

Lefty was the the second 'special' canary this breeding season. His little sibling didn't make it. Lefty has what most breeders consider a flaw, but I look at it as a challenge.

Lefty has only one leg to get about with his daily routine. He's a persistent little guy. He manages to fulfill his needs which admittedly are simple, after all he's a canary, not a rocket scientist (that would be his cousin Jet).

I don't view the extra effort it takes to care for him a burden, but a gift to me and a lesson in compassion. He needs to have a special dish to drink from and his food sprinkled about the cage to make it accessable to him.

He's not imtimidated by his cagemates. Indeed I believe they have grown to respect him. He finds his way each evening to the uppermost reaches of the flight cage to bed down for the night, and is the first one at the breakfast table in the morning. He's only two months old now, but he's a gifted flyer.

He patiently goes through his physical therapy every day, which consists of flying to a perch and making every effort to get a foothold. I have faith that he'll eventually join his siblings and roommates and be all that he can be. I see him as a proud papa (or mama) sometime next season. I do have the feeling that he's a male, and I just know he'll have a glorious song.

All too often breeders euthanize a bird in his predicament, with good reason, I suppose. They just don't have the time or patience to deal with a less than perfect bird.

I have no problem with that, but I know first hand how a disability can affect one's life. I too am disabled, or special, and have dealt with it for thirteen years now.

I don't want anyone's pity or special dispenstaions from society, just a chance to live and be productive in my life. I don't equate a little canary with a human being, but I do believe that all creatures should have the opporunity if possble, to fulfill their destiny. Lefty is an inspiration to me, not a burden. He gives me a little extra reason to try harder myself to strive for my own potential in my life.

Lefty is one of many, but a bird unto himself. Glancing at the flight one doesn't immediately notice anything amiss. Lefty blends into his surroundings as just another bird in the flock.

That too is an example of the outlook that I like to think would translate to the human world. He has renewed my love of these beautiful birds with his resolve to survive against all odds in the hectic reality in which he's found himself thrust. All the other birds swoop about, flying from perch to perch with grace and ease while he goes about at his slower pace getting the job of living done with dignity and relative composure.

I started in the fancy of Roller Canaries with the tutelidge of a man advanced in years but young in spirit. He has been breeding these marvellous songsters for almost forty years. He survived a harrowing exodus from Cuba to find freedom in America, when that freedom was denied in his homeland.

I believe that experience influenced almost everything he pursued in his life. That even applies to his involvement with Roller Canaries. He started as a hobbyist and went on to become a master breeder and judge and founder of a Canary club. With all these achievements he still keeps his perspective on life true to his beliefs.

For the last six years he has kept and cared for a blind canary. "How absurd", some say. "What breeder in his right mind would do such a thing?"

Well, he would and does to this day. He told me in his broken english that this bird has the right to live as much as any 'Champion' in his aviary.

That touched me deeply. I don't know what the future holds for Lefty. He may survive and be the star I dream of, but no matter. He will have the chance to go on along with all the others of his kind. I will continue to make sure that Lefty has the chance to be a champion in his own right. He's already my little champion.

by Murray Grushka
Miami Beach, Florida
Copyright © 2004

Honourable Mention

by Buks de Jongh
South Africa
Copyright © 2004

My wife is a teacher at a Christian school. Three weeks ago one of her students, a girl of 12, came to school with a big frown on her face. When asked what bothered her, she replied that her budgies had a little one that is "handycapped" and the breeding pair kicked it out of the nest.

The little budgie was born with legs sticking out to the side instead of underneath his body. Her parents suggested that the little bird be put out, but my wife, being a big pet lover, said that she would not like to see that happen and that she would look after the bird.

So did 'Sweetie' arive at our home. He is already fully grown and beautiful except for his legs. At first we put him in a cage and put some soft cloth in the one corner for a resting place. All his food and water was put in low containers at 'ground level' for easy access. This worked well and we saw this little one move himself to his food and back to his bed.

Movement came by pulling himself forward with his beak and with a little help of his wings. Sometimes we were worried that this little bird was frustrated with his disability.

One day we were sitting in the TV room, and we saw Sweetie trying to pull himself onto the wooden perch. Within a day from first trying, he managed to 'sit' on the perch. One wing steady-ing him on the side of the cage. It was a miracle!

We decided to change his cage and give him one with horizontal bars in stead of vertical. This opened up a world of new things to do for Sweetie. He would pull himself up with his beak and then support himself by holding onto the cage sides with his legs. Although his legs are sticking out to the side of his body, they can still hold him and support him if he climbs up the inside of the cage. As he exercises his legs, they get stronger and stronger.

With the new cage came a 'balcony' inside the cage. This is heaven for him because he can sit on it and look outside the cage, due to the balcony being the same height as the perches. He will sit there for a long time, then climb, fly or sometimes fall down to ground level to eat. When he is done he will fly or climb back to his balcony.

The courage and dilligence in trying and coping that this little budgie shows, is an inspiration for any human...

by Buks de Jongh
South Africa
Copyright © 2004

Ask Robirda

Robirda's customers find her answers to be detailed and reliable, caring and supportive. Robirda can help you learn to understand your birds better. Learn more here.

A recent consultee says, "I really cannot thank you enough... since following suggestions from you, I enjoy my birds a million times more than I did. After all the canaries I have owned, I finally feel confident that I am caring for them well. Confidence has made me more relaxed with them and instead of worrying, I am enjoying!!!

"Pets have a great sense about their caregivers... they, too, are more relaxed with me. They see me coming toward their cages and know something good is going to happen... no longer do they flutter about in fright. Again, instead of worrying, I am able to talk to them, sing to them, etc. A very big change!!!

"This is all very amazing and new to me... and I love every minute of it! Thanks SO much!!"