[sarahjayne87]

As some of you know i got 8 cockatiels the other week, last night i noteced that one of the boys may have a problem, he was relaxing and falling asleep and his throat was pushing in and out (kind of the way a frogs does) ive never seen this with any of my other tiels, any ideas what it could be? he seems in good health (eats, drinks, sleeps,plays, etc normally) so i dont think he is bad but i am a little concerned

 

[Aly]

Was it pushing out alot or was it a full crop? Could it be just his feathers shaking? ...just trying to understand...

 

[sarahjayne87]

He wasnt shacking you know when a frog pushed his throat in and out thats what it looked like it may have been a full crop it was on the left side so where his crop is, is it possible for air to get in to the crop and he needed to burp?
sorry it was on the right side not left

 

[Aly]

Well, birds don't burp as they don't have the same type of digestive system. What I think you were seeing was him grinding his food. Take a look at this picture and this paragraph- it might help. If it's not an actual lump that you are seeing all the time and his behavior is ok I wouldn't worry about it.

"Birds has special digestive tracts because for the most part they do not chew their food. All breakdown must take place within the system itself. First the food travels down through the esophagus and into the crop. The crop is actually just an expanded section of the esophagus. It is used as a holding tank for food before it can enter the proventriculus. The proventriculus produces acid and adds enzymes which aid in breaking down the food, which is next passed to the gizzard. The gizzard helps grind food tougher food like seed............"


Courtesy of http://sprout.phpwebhosting.com/~feistyhome/anatomy.htm

 

[sarahjayne87]

Thats great thanks babyluv12

 

[Babi]

I have to burp the babies sometimes. If they cry alot they can get air into thier crop or if they gulp thier food faster than it is given to them. But that's babies not sure if it happens to older birds.

How is he now?

 

[Bea]

I have to burp the babies sometimes. If they cry alot they can get air into thier crop or if they gulp thier food faster than it is given to them. But that's babies not sure if it happens to older birds.

How is he now?

How do you burp a baby bird? I never thought of birds as needing burping but i guess it makes sense that they could easily swallow air as they ate.

 

[Babi]

I just gently massage the crop and coach the air up the food pipe. That was just the first couple days I had them though. I think the birds and I just had to get used to doing things the way they like. There hasn't been anymore air in their crops.