Genetic defects

[Raleighwheels]

A while back I bought two penguin zebras from a breeder nearby. It wasn't until after I got home that I noticed that one of them looked different. He looked like he didn't have much of a neck, and his legs were very long. I also took notice that he slept a lot. The other penguin, his brother slept a lot too, but not as much as him. Both birds were very active, other than lots of sleeping, and at all the new food that I introduced to them.

A few weeks ago, the visually deformed bird was on the bottom of the cage and fluttering around. I moved him to the hospital cage, and he was gone within an hour.

Today, the brother is the same way. He was very active yesterday and ate all of his vegetables that I gave in the morning. He's in a hospital cage, but I don't think it'll be long.

Could there have been a genetic issue that just took this long to finally get them? I went to a bird show in November as a vendor and had two birds that I didn't sell die in quarantine within the next week. Could those birds have died from a sickness and it just took this long for that to get to these birds? I think it's unlikely since they are both brothers though.

[lovezebs]

Raleighwheels

Sorry about your birdlings.....

The birds that went to show , more than likely either picked something up while there, or simply became over stressed.

These two slightly handicapped brothers, who knows.... (?) To me it sounds like a possible case of inbreeding birds for too long, to a point, where you start to see deformities. Who knows what sort of deformities are internal, and not outwardly apparent (just my opinion).

I guess sometimes the only way to find out, is with very costly lab tests, (and or an extremely costly autopsy after the fact) which doesn't really help, sigh....

They are so tiny, and hide their illnesses so well , that by the time we notice something, it's usually too late.

[Raleighwheels]

Raleighwheels

Sorry about your birdlings.....

The birds that went to show , more than likely either picked something up while there, or simply became over stressed.

These two slightly handicapped brothers, who knows.... (?) To me it sounds like a possible case of inbreeding birds for too long, to a point, where you start to see deformities. Who knows what sort of deformities are internal, and not outwardly apparent (just my opinion).

I guess sometimes the only way to find out, is with very costly lab tests, (and or an extremely costly autopsy after the fact) which doesn't really help, sigh....

They are so tiny, and hide their illnesses so well , that by the time we notice something, it's usually too late.

Thanks. I don't know what happened exactly to the show birds. I assume that one bird picked up something, because I sold it to a gouldian breeder who later switched it out for a boy that I had. Maybe his birds had something and it spread?

On this last brother, I'm not getting my hopes up, but he went from laying on the cage floor to hopping around and is now eating. We'll see I guess.

[lovezebs]

Raleighwheels

Wishing your little boy all the best . I really hope that he makes a full recovery. However, I would be very hesitant to breed this little guy in the future .

[Raleighwheels]

Raleighwheels

Wishing your little boy all the best . I really hope that he makes a full recovery. However, I would be very hesitant to breed this little guy in the future .

Thanks. He made it through the night, so that's a positive. I took him out of the breeding program when I figured out his brother had those issues.

[Kelly]

Raleighwheels

How's your little one doing?

[Raleighwheels]

Raleighwheels

How's your little one doing?

He's still around. Now he's perching instead of just hopping on the cage floor. I'm keeping him away from the other birds just I case.

[hanabi]

Raleighwheels

He looked like he didn't have much of a neck, and his legs were very long.

Do you think he might have been a hybrid? Perhaps a child of forbidden love?

Do you have a photo of him that you could post?

[Raleighwheels]

I'm pretty positive that he wasn't a hybrid. I have some pictures, but I'm terrible at getting good ones, so I don't have any of his legs that show the length. I liken it to those desert hawks.

[lovezebs]

Raleighwheels

Pretty little boy.

I wish him good luck.

[Raleighwheels]

Unfortunately the little guy just passed this morning. It sort of looks like he stopped eating or something. His keel was very sharp. He kind of tricked me by sitting in his food dish and kicking seeds around. After looking closer at his hospital cage, I could only see a few hulls scattered around. I was really hoping he was better. He was hopping around the cage and just relaxing during his separation.

[debbie276]

So sorry for your loss

[lovezebs]

Raleighwheels

I'm sorry.....
If it was something genetic, then I'm afraid there is nothing that you could have done really, sigh....

[Raleighwheels]

Raleighwheels

I'm sorry.....
If it was something genetic, then I'm afraid there is nothing that you could have done really, sigh....

Thanks. I know that there most likely wasn't anything else that I could have done. I just really got my hopes up when he came back from not being able to stand to perching.

[cindy]

looked like a nice penguin pied...sorry for your loss.