Chickie's lost three grams in three days

[saroj12]

I cut out her access to any kind of seed and didn't give her top pellets last night. I gave her some today but she's ignoring them right now. Tonight she's had a piece of corn on the cob and a slice of carrot. She's totally obsessed with making spit balls out of tp. Now she is eating the tops, I only gave her a small amount. There is Harrison's fine mash in a dish and green peas too, but she doesn't want them. JoJo has converted nicely to Harrison's pepper coarse and lifetime fine. I'd like to trim her down to under 200 grams as a starting goal. She is 204 g empty weight and has breasts and an embedded keel bone.

 

[WendyN]

Those are pectoral muscles from her flying workouts.
Did the vet say she needed to lose weight?

 

[saroj12]

Those are pectoral muscles from her flying workouts.
Did the vet say she needed to lose weight?

not my regular vet. A couple of years ago a visiting vet remarked how she needs to lose the breasts. We should be able to feel her keel bone. Right now we can't. I'll check with my regular vet too. She hasn't seen her since oct 2015 when we went for polyoma shots (every two years). At that time Chickie was lighter and she had said no more weight gain. Does Joey have pecs?

 

[Macawnutz]

All my great flyers have embedded keels. I think the vets are not used to physically fit birds. My vet has always remarked that they are very healthy weights and not to change a thing.

 

[saroj12]

All my great flyers have embedded keels. I think the vets are not used to physically fit birds. My vet has always remarked that they are very healthy weights and not to change a thing.

oh! I didn't know that! She's not a busy flier but does fly to get from A to B to C. I used to make her fly laps from atom to atom for walnuts but thought it would make her fatter!

 

[WendyN]

I don't think Joey has pecs....
He likes to walk upside down mostly.

 

[saroj12]

I don't think Joey has pecs....
He likes to walk upside down mostly.

Haha, typical caique! JoJo does that too!

 

[Birdbabe]

I wouldn't worry too much about the breast area but rather around the vent area, if it's bulging and or you can see a whitish or yellow fat pad when you move the feathers, then yes, she's chunky. I had to trim down Fallon coz she had the fat belly, which could lead to bumblefoot and liver issues. Most physically fit birds have big " biceps" too!

 

[Macawnutz]

Remember, weight from muscle is heavier than that of fat.

I really can't imagine any bird that flies under there own power being overweight. Not counting a scared hail Mary flight.

 

[WendyN]

Chickie